It's not the kind of column you'd expect to be written, yet the title so quickly grabs you: Analyzing the Top 10 Most Disappointing Fantasy Seasons of the Last 25 Years. After all, if you play fantasy football, then you know the joys and sorrows of expectations met or dashed. And as Sean McCormick quickly realizes is that there are plenty of seasons to write about.
Particularly of interest to Chiefs fans is the season listed at No. 3 overall in disappointments: the 2001 version of Derrick Alexander. Anyone familiar with the expectations of Alexander that fateful will remember the tremendous season he put up beforehand (1,300+ yards) and the ensuing results. McCormick writes:
From 1996-99, Derrick Alexander was a remarkably consistent receiver, good for at least 50 catches and about 1,000 yards every year. In 2000, he took the next step, hauling in 78 receptions for 1,391 yards and 10 touchdowns, and establishing himself as a dangerous deep threat who could take advantage whenever the defense got too concerned with Tony Gonzalez. Heading into 2001, Alexander looked like a legitimate No. 1 receiver option for fantasy owners. But a persistent abdominal injury and the loss of Elvis Grbac -- who had a good connection with Alexander dating back to their Michigan days -- brought the curtains down on Alexander's days as an elite receiver. He hauled in a measly 27 receptions for 470 yards, his catch rate dropped from 54 percent to 40 percent and he had a DYAR of just nine (good for 59th in the NFL).
So goes the unpredictable fantasy football wheel. To cap the story of Alexander, the wide receiver was out of Kansas City after that last season described by McCormick and he played only one more in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings -- from setting team receiving records to out of football in the span of two years.