Fantasy Football: 11 Players to Avoid in 2017

Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals backfield is certainly a messy one -- Giovani Bernard tore his ACL last season, but was able to avoid the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. Then, in the draft, the Bengals spent a pretty penny to draft rookie Joe Mixon with the 48th overall pick.

Given that his competition is a banged-up player recovering from major knee surgery and a rookie running back, Jeremy Hill is the guy to own, right?

Wrong.

Hill enjoyed a fantastic rookie campaign, rushing for 1,124 yards at 5.1 yards per carry. Hill's Rushing NEP per attempt was 0.09, good for fifth-best among ball carriers rushing 100 times or more in 2014.

It's all been downhill since then, though. In 2015, Hill's second season, the LSU product recorded his most ineffective campaign, logging a -0.06 Rushing NEP per attempt, which ranked 32nd of the 44 running backs with 100 rushes or more. And while he improved that mark to 0.03 in 2016, his Success Rate -- which is the percentage of runs that resulted in a positive NEP -- was just 39.09%, which was 23rd out of the 42 qualified rushers.

Not only will playing time seem to be an issue, especially once Bernard gets up to speed, but Hill continues to regress from that fantastic rookie campaign. —Matt Kupferle