With another NFL season starting up, fantasy football hype is bound to follow. The fantasy landscape has been shaken up this year by a series of game changing injuries and last minute depth chart decisions. With many fantasy leagues having buy-ins ranging from $5 to $150, a lot of money is riding on these players performing and staying healthy.

The main injury crisis in football hits close to home as UNI graduate David Johnson found himself with a dislocated wrist, leaving him out for several months. He was the number one projected fantasy player this year, and it hurt a lot of people’s chances.

However, injuries like this are not the only thing throwing off league owners. The underperformance of many top 10 draft picks is also a troubling sign. Only one of the top 10 projected picks is currently ranked in the top 10 in their respective position.

This list of upsetting performances does not stop there: Ezekiel Elliott is starting off slowly this year, rushing for a career low eight yards against a struggling Denver defensive line. Titan’s running back DeMarco Murray, ranked third overall in running backs last year, is not touching the ball enough to make him a fantasy contender; and finally, star wide receivers Julio Jones and Antonio Brown have yet to catch a touchdown pass between them.

However, this lack of performance is allowing less known and often undrafted players to come to the forefront with solid performances. Jermaine Kearse and J.J Nelson, from the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals, respectively, have both enjoyed early successes this season and find themselves in the top five wide receivers with the likes of Antonio Brown and Michael Crabtree.

There is some consistency to be found, as top rated tight-end for the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce continues his dominance in the league, finding himself in the top two of tight-ends, only behind Dallas Cowboy’s veteran Jason Witten.

This year has seen a surge of first and second year starters doing real damage. Chiefs rookie Kareem Hunt started off the year right, quickly becoming the number one running back in the league, while quarterbacks like Trevor Siemian and Carson Wentz do real damage against opposing teams.

Tyreek Hill, wideout from the Kansas City Chiefs was one of the best receivers in the rookie class of last year, and he is continuing to showcase his talents by making big plays against a solid defense such as New England’s.

In conclusion, this year of fantasy football is one of the most chaotic to be a part of. Poor quarterback and offensive line play is causing only big yardage plays to be a reliable source of points, with wideouts like J.J. Nelson and Tyreek Hill scoring big points on big yardage plays.

We’re only two to three weeks into the regular season, so the rest of the year is hard to predict with so much chaos going on in the world of football.