Welcome to Week 5 of the 2026 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
Let's roll...
Matt Waldman: Which WR's Week 4 performance is a sign of things to come?
Who is your choice?
Meng Song: This may be low-hanging fruit, but fantasy drafters appear to have anointed George Pickens far too quickly on the back of an outlier season in 2025. Last year, Pickens was the WR6 in PPR points per game (PPG), and Lamb was the WR10. However, Lamb suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 3 last year. And although he returned after just three games missed and played the rest of the season, Lamb was never quite 100 percent himself.
In the first couple of weeks of 2025 prior to the high ankle sprain, Lamb was the WR10 in PPR PPG, and Pickens was the WR34. From Weeks 7 to 17, with both wide receivers active, Lamb was the WR14 in PPR PPG, and Pickens was the WR12. Thus far in 2026, Lamb is the WR2 in PPR PPG, and Pickens is the WR39. It's a small sample size, but the splits are looking eerily similar to the first couple of games of last year when Lamb was healthy.
Better days are coming for Pickens, as he's had some near-miss downfield connections with Dak Prescott in these first few games. Still, I think it's safe to say that Lamb is still Prescott's go-to guy when fully healthy and dynamic, and the preseason ADP got it wrong by having an elite WR1 like Lamb being drafted outside of the first round.
Maurile Tremblay: Carnell Tate's 9-catch, 145-yard game at Baltimore was the breakout we'd been waiting for. He had been playing about 82 percent of the snaps from the opener on, more than any other Tennessee receiver.
He also led the team in receiving yards in two of the first three games, even while Cam Ward was sailing throws over his head. He'd been getting good separation against single coverage all along. He just needed catchable balls.
Corey Spala: I am tagging along to nominate Carnell Tate. He had all the nerdy, advanced metric stats indicating he was a great player through three weeks. The issue was that Tennessee’s offense had held back his box score production.
His usage changed in Week 4, as he totaled 117 catchable air yards, while only having 107 across the first three 3 combined. That shift is encouraging because it suggests Tennessee may finally be putting Tate in positions to make more plays down the field rather than relying on him primarily as a short-to-intermediate option. I agree that Week 4 was the starting point for Tate and the better weeks ahead.