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A turnover in football is always unexpected and the vast majority of the time causes chaos on the field. Delayed reaction from coaches to challenge the play, turns into referees going to the monitor for an extended amount of minutes to see if the play was correct or not. Once the call is upheld or over turned that delay turns into an instantaneous move on your stat tracker. Minus two to such and such a player occurs, and can derail momentum for your fantasy player.
On the field that turnover produced by your fantasy player could mean a negative impact the rest of the game. Maybe he got hurt on the play, or his head coach may decide he needs to alter the runs or throws that player is doing. Occasionally that player may even be told to take a seat or he may see his carries reduced heavily the rest of the game.

Unfortunately in fantasy football your bench is non-existent when it comes to being interchangeable on game day. With all the advents in scoring and league changes, I would not be surprised to see leagues that allow roster moves live. There’d be kinks to it, but a move of a player could only happen with a player that is ahead on the game clock in terms of quarters to be allowed to be substituted for a player. Seemingly you would not be allowed to sub an athlete out that scored four points in three quarters for one that’s playing in the late game.

I’ve seen it all too often where an athlete has eight to ten fantasy points and then a turnover rattles them to the point they’re ineffective the rest of the way. You have to know who are the prone athletes to turning the football over. Here are fantasy worthy positional players that were at the top of the league in fumbling and interceptions last season. Quarterbacks I have showcased both interceptions and fumbles.

QB INTS QB Fumbles RB Fumbles WR Fumbles TE Fumbles
Romo 19 Rivers 7 Chris Johnson 4 B. Brown 3 D. Thomas 3 Pettigrew 2
Brees 19 Vick 5 McGahee 4 Morris 3 Megatron 3
Luck 18 Luck 5 Redman 4 McCoy 3 Colston 2
Stafford 17 Cutler 4 Jackson 4 LeShoure 3 Amendola 2
Rivers 15 Rodgers 4 Spiller 3 E. Sanders 2
Ryan 14 Stafford 4 Charles 3

At quarterback you see two names linked to both interceptions and fumbles. If they’re not considered a tier one or two fantasy quarterback I left their names void on this list. We’re only considering starter stats that affect your results in fantasy scoring. Matt Stafford and Philip Rivers were both in the top six for fumbles and interceptions, and each drove their fantasy owners crazy a season ago. Stafford owners more than Rivers because of the notoriety that came with selecting Stafford as a high round draft pick. Linking Stafford to such non-illustrious fantasy weeks is easy now that we see the turnover issues. Not only was he forced to throw the football too many times, but defenses were able to unload with pressure because they knew the Lions were throwing the football. Even though Rivers is a downgraded fantasy player these days, you have to wonder if a revamped change in coaching may help protect Rivers a bit more.
Running backs main goal on the football field is to protect the football. A coach does not care if it’s for a one yard pile plunger, or an open field burst. The ball carrier is taught to protect the football, and it is harped on every day in practice. Punching the football out and gang tackling to produce a fumble is becoming more of a skill by defenders. All in all fumbles are going to happen but they need to be analyzed versus the amount of carries a back has received.
Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller combined had seven fumbles on the season in 2012. That’s not acceptable from a backfield that is supposed to try and aide their new rookie quarterback. When news broke out of Le’Veon Bell’s foot injury many would think Isaac Redman has a solid chance to reclaim a role like he had a year ago. He may get a few carries in the mean time but the Steelers will likely look elsewhere after Redman’s four fumbles on just 110 carries last season.

At wide receiver and tight end the fumbles are not as worrisome. One they’re handling the football on a much less of a ratio than a quarterback or running back. Secondly, if a fumble occurs with a receiver or tight end they are more than likely flying down the football field. If the ball pops out chances are they’re close to the sideline, or in the open field. Further away from the line of scrimmage increases the opportunity of a recovery by the offense because the defensive lineman and linebackers usually are not down the field.

The only player I’d be concerned about would be Marques Colston. His total fumbles were only two but four were forced on him. He is a taller body that never necessarily had speed coming into the league. Ball protection will be heightened for emphasis when it comes to Colston by his coaching staff.