The leading rookie wide receiver in the league so far this year is the Chiefs' Dwayne Bowe. Bowe, the 23rd overall pick in last year's draft, was the third WR taken after the Lions' ultra-hyped Calvin Johnson and the Dolphins' Ted Ginn Jr. Bowe's 28 catches for 499 yards and 3 touchdowns lead all rookies, but place him only 31st in the league in receiving yards.
Even with that pedestrian 31st place ranking, Bowe has become a regular on fantasy football rosters. He finished with 70+ yards in four of the five games the Chiefs played between Week 3 and Week 7. The Chiefs were on bye for Week 8 and there was every reason to believe Bowe would have a good Week 9, as the Chiefs would probably have to throw against the Packers.
But Bowe came up empty. Nada. Zilch. No catches for no yards.
What happened?
Bowe started the game and had a pass thrown to him on the Chiefs second possesion of the game. After that, Bowe simply disappeared until an unsuccesful two-point conversion with 5:23 left in the game. Bowe simply didn't factor into the Kansas City offense at all. For the entire game. It was maddening.
Anybody who relies on the Kansas City passing offense has to accept that this sort of thing is going to happen occasionally to anybody not named Tony Gonzalez. The Chiefs just don't throw the ball enough to make any of their WR reliable fantasy options.
Having said that, Bowe will be back this week against a Denver team that was lit up for 44 points last week. If you have to start Dwayne Bowe, it looks like a promising matchup. If you have a WR option that might possibly be better, you should probably go with it.