What You Need to Know From Week 4

Photo: Jake Roth, USA Today Sports

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JAX @ CIN

• James Robinson is back! He’s a borderline fantasy RB1 resuming peak 2020 form with Carlos Hyde a healthy scratch.
• Laviska Shenault and Marvin Jones could get a few more targets with D.J. Chark (broken ankle) likely out for the year, but this pass offense isn’t going to produce overachievers.
• Joe Burrow was hyperaccurate and led his team to a huge comeback win, he’s back into fantasy starter consideration against the Packers this week with Tee Higgins also returning.
• Joe Mixon left with an ankle injury and is week-to-week, so check on see if Samaje Perine is on your waiver wire.
• C.J. Uzomah was the man on his two receiving scores, set up by perfect Burrow throws and tough, swift running after the catch. He’s worth a pickup and streamer play against Green Bay.

TEN @ NYJ

• It turns out not having Julio Jones and A.J. Brown will bog down a pass offense. Ryan Tannehill only trusted Jeremy McNichols and Josh Reynolds as the game went on. The Titans couldn’t do enough to beat the Jets.
• Zach Wilson has a deep connection with Corey Davis on extended plays. The two hooked up for their second long score of the year. Err on the side of starting Davis vs. Atlanta.
• Jamison Crowder was back and he looked like Wilson’s most trusted target. He adjusted to a late throw on a key score and is a good fit for the run after catch opportunities in the Mike LaFleur offense.
• Michael Carter appeared to emerge from the pack at running back with a score, but he was still not very efficient and not a big part of the passing game. He’s worth a pickup but only as bye/injury/emergency depth.

DET @ CHI

• Jared Goff is producing well as long as the Lions aren’t competitive. His fumble and the team bogging down in the red zone in the first half was part of the reason they weren’t competitive in this one.
• D’Andre Swift got the majority of snaps, but not the majority of carries. We might not be able to trust him for a full workload until he is practicing in full.
• Justin Fields hooked up with Darnell Mooney on the deep ball and favored the second year receiver in a very low volume passing game. Andy Dalton will start when healthy, but Fields will take over eventually, so Mooney has a lot of potential as the year goes on. Allen Robinson… not as much.
• David Montgomery went down with a knee injury that will sideline him for 4-5 weeks. Damien Williams will replace him but is nursing a thigh bruise. Still, he’s worth a good amount of your remaining waiver wire bucks. Sixth round pick Khalil Herbert is the next man up if Williams goes down.

IND @ MIA

• Carson Wentz isn’t airing it out, but he looks more effective and healthier. With lots of AFC South defenses on the schedule, he’s a buy.
• Jonathan Taylor showed no ill effects from the knee issue that put him on the injury report. He should also benefit from the upcoming schedule after the Monday night game against the Ravens (HOU @ SF TEN NYJ JAX).
• Michael is the #1 receiver and playing well. Only getting tackled at the one prevented him from having a bigger day.
• Mo Alie-Cox can play, but his two touchdown game was likely a blip and not to be chased except in deep leagues.
• Will Fuller left with a broken finger, but it’s not a reason to get too excited about DeVante Parker or Jaylen Waddle in this limited pass offense.
• The Dolphins went away from Myles Gaskin, playing him on only 12 snaps, so there might not be a reason to hold him.
• Mike Gesicki is Jacoby Brissett’s favorite target, so keep him in for at least this week against the Bucs before Tua Tagovailoa’s expected return in Week 6.

CLE @ MIN

• Baker Mayfield had one of his worst games as a pro and missed a wide open Odell Beckham on what would have been a game clinching score. Stick with Beckham, but know that Mayfield hasn’t cinched himself as the team’s quarterback of the future.
• Kirk Cousins had his worst game of the year as Cleveland’s defensive line looks like a wrecking crew. They’ll test Justin Herbert this week. Cousins will bounce back against Detroit, who just lost their best edge rusher, Romeo Okwara.
• Dalvin Cook limped off and had to be replaced for a bit. The matchup dictates playing him this week, but he might not be 100% again any time soon. Don’t let Alexander Mattison sit on the waiver wire if he was dropped when Cook returned to the lineup.

WAS @ ATL

• Taylor Heinicke has some Fitzmagic in him, letting Terry McLaurin win a jumpball and J.D. McKissic streak down the sideline for a score on inspired extended plays. The Atlanta matchup helped as Washington faces the Jekyll and Hyde Saints defense this week. Don’t sleep on McKissic as someone with lasting value as Antonio Gibson has been on the injury report with a shin issue.
• Logan Thomas left with a hamstring injury that has him week-to-week in terms of availability. Ricky Seals-Jones is the backup and he had one of the prettiest scores of the year against the Giants in Week 2, but there’s nothing there for fantasy.
• Matt Ryan had a solid game, mostly because of inspired plays from Cordarrelle Patterson in every aspect of the wide receiver position. Patterson is more of a buy high than a sell high since no one is going to pay or seek the value his production has actually been worth.
• Kyle Pitts day is coming, but he was mugged on a target at the one, and Patterson decided to take most of the scoring on himself. Don’t bail on Pitts ahead of a matchup with the Jets.

HOU @ BUF

• Brandin Cooks getting 5-47 from Davis Mills in poncho weather is actually what an everyweek fantasy starter looks like.
• The Buffalo offense is feeling their oats and they get the woeful Chiefs defense this week. Zack Moss is an everyweek RB2 until he cools off, and don’t move off of Cole Beasley too quickly. Don’t drop Devin Singletary, who has a high ceiling if Moss goes down (Moss has already missed a game this year due to injury). Don’t forget Gabriel Davis, who will be fantasy relevant if any of the top three receivers go down.
• Dawson Knox just has to be competent to be a fantasy TE1 considering the number of red zone opportunities this offense is likely to create.

NYG @ NO

• Don’t look now but Daniel Jones is breaking out, the Giants offensive line behind 2020 first rounder Andrew Thomas is playing better, and the myriad of weapons is showing why the Giants invested so much in speed, size, and playmaking ability at wide receiver.
• Kadarius Toney is absolutely electric with the ball in his hands, but Sterling Shepard is due back soon. It will be interested to see how the team handles the logjam at receiver with John Ross also shining in a limited opportunity.
• Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay look like their prime selves heading into a showdown with the budding Dallas defense. Barkley would be a top five if we drafted today, congrats if you had the faith to take him.
• Taysom Hill ran in two scores, but also threw an interception in a game that encapsulates why he gets touches, but isn’t the starter.
• Alvin Kamara is being used like 2020 Derrick Henry, which might not be the best thing for his fantasy value.
• The Saints passing game is a fantasy wasteland without Michael Thomas.

KC @ PHI

• Tyreek Hill is gonna be ok after a couple of down weeks.
• Clyde Edwards-Helaire has put his fumble behind him and looks good closing out games. He’s a solid RB2 right now.
• Jalen Hurts is getting it done for fantasy, but not in terms of showing that he’s the team’s quarterback of the future.
• Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, and Kenny Gainwell’s big week may be more a function of the game script and Kansas City defense weakness than an impending breakout.
• Miles Sanders is in a timeshare with Gainwell and has to improve to play his way out of it. Bench him until he makes you regret doing it.

CAR @ DAL

• Sam Darnold the runner can’t be stopped in the red zone, scoring twice to make it five on the year.
• D.J. Moore is still the clear #1 receiver, but Robby Anderson got 11 targets in a sign of a possible value revival.
• Chuba Hubbard was a disappointment as the starter in a blowout loss and gave way to Rodney Smith more as the game went on, notching less than 50% of the snaps.
• Dak Prescott is going to be a low volume passer as long as the defense is good. And he likes throwing to Dalton Schultz, who is now a legit fantasy TE1 (and he easily could have had two scores). CeeDee Lamb is healthy so he has no excuse, while Amari Cooper is banged with rib and hamstring issues. Start them both against the Giants but cross your fingers.
• Ezekiel Elliott is going to get scoring opportunities even when Tony Pollard runs the ball to the one on first and goal. He’s back to being an RB1 in this new balanced offense.

SEA @ SF

• The Seahawks offense was miserable and couldn’t move the ball for most of the first half. Alex Collins burst in the running game helped them get out of the slump in the second half. Collins might not force a committee, but he obviously has Chris Carson injury upside going forward and should be picked up in most leagues.
• Jimmy Garoppolo left with a calf injury but could still play in Week 5. Trey Lance was hesitant at times, but used his legs and Deebo Samuel, his clear favorite receiver, to put up a nice half of fantasy production and encourage us to pick him up whether or not he starts at Arizona.
• Trey Sermon looked a lot better this week, throwing a bit of doubt into the equation of who will be the lead back when Elijah Mitchell is healthy enough to play, which should be this week.
• George Kittle was a game time decision, but played. Ross Dwelley scored the tight end touchdown, making him the 12th 49ers to score on their first 12 touchdowns this year.
• Brandon Aiyuk is back in Deebo Samuel’s shadow, but Samuel isn’t known for staying healthy, so don’t drop the talented second year #2 receiver in a low volume pass offense.

ARI @ LAR

• Maxx Williams has some budding fantasy value as teams try to contend with a new fully stocked passing game and better Kyler Murray.
• DeAndre Hopkins is just blending in with A.J. Green and four other Cardinals who have at least 16 targets so far this year. He’s a WR2, not the WR1 he was drafted to be in fantasy leagues.
• James Conner is going to give you multi-touchdown upside every week and his value is borderline RB2.
• Matthew Stafford is not bulletproof in this offense, and neither is Cooper Kupp. The Cardinals defense put together their best game of the year. We’ll see how the Rams respond against the Seahawks on Thursday.
• Darrell Henderson is clearly the #1 running back and Sony Michel had a costly fumble in very limited duty. Michel is still the clear #2 and rosterable as long as bench size allows.
• Van Jefferson is a what the heck flex and rosterable in every league. If one of the top two receivers goes down, he’ll be an everyweek start.

PIT @ GB

• Ben Roethlisberger can still support the value of Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris in his current state but that might be about it, even against a weak defense like the Packers.
• A.J. Dillon might be brought in more this year to finish games and lower Aaron Jones floor a bit in games where he doesn’t score.
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s hamstring injury opened up opportunity for Randall Cobb, who is still a part-time player in the offense, but could be a full-time presence in the box score now that he and Aaron Rodgers have rekindled their chemistry.
• A reasonably stocked wide receiver group that has Aaron Rodgers trust is going to hurt Robert Tonyan Jr’s reliability enough to make it hard to start him. He’ll have a few outbursts this year, but it looks like floor games will be the norm unless injuries continue to thin the wide receiver group.

BAL @ DEN

• Lamar Jackson is growing up as a passer and should be able to support at least Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews weekly value. This development is also making Rashod Bateman a higher priority as a preemptive pick up.
• Latavius Murray is the man in the Ravens backfield for now, but he wasn’t very impressive and we could see more from Le’Veon Bell going forward.
• Teddy Bridgewater left with a concussion and Drew Lock was as frustrating as ever. It doesn’t look like he has progressed so there might not be a safe start in this offense if Bridgewater can’t play this weekend in Pittsburgh.
• It’s hard to know how much of it was Bridgewater leaving, but the Broncos offense underwhelmed in the first game that they didn’t win comfortably against an outflanked opposing defense.

TB @ NE

• Tom Brady was ineffective as Leonard Fournette and the running game was the better part of the offense. Rob Gronkowski might have been more important to this offense’s success than we thought, but we also have to give credit to Bill Belichick and impact free agent pickup Matt Judon. Fournette could have lasting value if opponents continue to show Brady light boxes to contain the passing game.
• Antonio Brown was a big part of the pass offense in his return from the covid list and has showed enough upside to merit regular WR3/Flex starts.
• Mac Jones is getting better, but still mostly on conservative passing. This is going to help Jakobi Meyers the most. The Patriots abandoned the run as any smart team facing the Bucs will this year. Miami is next. Damien Harris can still have a bounceback this week against the Texans.

LV @ LAC

• Derek Carr was held down by the emerging Chargers defense. We’ll see if it was just the Chargers or maybe Carr can be rattled when he faces the Bears this week. The Chargers are quickly turning into an avoid defense for fantasy.
• Josh Jacobs was back but looked unimpressive and is only a low end RB2 at best until he shows more.
• Austin Ekeler looks great and would likely go in the top five of drafts held today.
• Mike Williams was a disappointment but a long touchdown was there if Justin Herbert would have made a better throw when Williams roasted his coverage.
• Jared Cook is in top form and Herbert will support his low TE1 value.