If you are new to fantasy football you have likely heard some of the many slang terms that come with this hobby. One question new fantasy football managers have is what does boom or bust mean.
Boom or bust in fantasy football refers to a player that either performs incredibly well or incredibly poorly. These players cannot be counted on for consistent points each week.
When a player booms in fantasy football it means they scored a lot of fantasy points. Usually, when using the term boom to refer to a fantasy performance it was a big day.
Getting slightly better than average for a player is not considered a booming. Instead, a player that is booming is someone that any team would want in their fantasy lineup.
Alternatively when a player busts this means they are going to put up an abysmal performance. A player busting in your fantasy lineup can be devastating for your chances of winning your matchup.
For this reason, more conservative fantasy managers may avoid players that have this title.
Examples of boom or bust players in football
Now that you know what boom or bust means in fantasy football you may be wondering what it looks like on the field.
Below we will cover some examples of boom or bust players so you can get an idea of how to identify these players.
Deep ball receiver
One classic boom or bust player in fantasy football is the deep ball wide receiver.
In fantasy football, deep-ball receivers can be risky players to have on your fantasy team. This is because these players do not receive many targets throughout a game.
Though when these players due receive a pass it is often deep down the field. This is great for fantasy output as that means lots of receiving yards and on occasion multiple touchdowns.
These sorts of players will often hit the 100-yard bonus on big days which makes the fantasy output even better.
On slow days these wide receivers may find themselves unable to get open. When this happens these players are going to produce a very small amount of fantasy points.
This style of wide receiver does not get many targets especially if they are not getting open downfield.
When a team plays a more conservative defense like a cover 2 they are going to have multiple players waiting in the deep areas of the field.
These wide receivers do not get passes often on short and intermediate routes. This results in a low fantasy output in a decent amount of games.
This is the risk of these sorts of players as they have the possibility of laying a dud in your lineup.
Goal-line back
A goal-line back is another fantasy football position that can be considered boom or bust.
The reason that these players are boom or bust is due to the fact that they are touchdown-dependent. This means that these players tend to get the majority of their fantasy production from catching passes in the endzone.
On a good day these players are going to be getting several carries near the goal line and will often score multiple touchdowns.
This results in a big day fantasy wise for these types of players. On the other side of the coin these players may get stuffed at the goal line on their few attempts.
Since goal line backs do not rack up many yards when it comes to rushing the ball the touchdowns are often going to be the main part of their fantasy production.
Without the touchdowns these players tend to put up fairly poor fantasy scores.
Red zone tight end
Another position in football that can earn the boom or bust title is the red zone tight end. These players are virtually the same as goal line backs in the sense they are fantasy output is tied to touchdowns.
These players still get targets on other parts of the field but they are not usually going to rac up that many yards.
In order to have solid fantasy production, these players are going to have to catch some passes in the endzone.
And just like the goal line back when that doesn’t happen these players are going to bust for your fantasy team that week.
Though on the days when these players get a lot of targets in the redzone you know you have a great shot at getting some touchdowns.
That is all on boom or bust players in fantasy football learn more about fantasy terminology from our guides on why leagues use snake drafts or what the acronym JAG stands for.
