Welcome to Week 4!

Just when we think we have the NFL figured out… it delivers a healthy dose of madness. Raise your hand if you had the Commanders beating the Seahawks with a backup QB, the Raiders starting 3-0 with wins over New Orleans and Los Angeles, and 38-year-old Case Keenum demolishing the Eagles on Monday Night Football. Didn’t think so. Your fantasy squad probably got an uptick in production from a weather-ridden Week 2 (unless you started anyone in the New York - Tennessee game), but injuries were a damper on what was otherwise a very fun week 3. If you lost De’Von Achane for the rest of the season, my condolences. Hopefully you got yourself a backup option off the waiver wire.

This week could end up being really fun. We have 8 games with 47+ implied point totals, including expected shootouts between Cincinnati and Jacksonville, Detroit and Carolina, and maybe even New Orleans and Atlanta? Green Bay and Tampa Bay headline what could be the fantasy stinker of the week with backup Bucs QB Jalon Daniels facing off against a Green Bay team that looked dead in the water a week ago. I mentioned the Raiders up top: could you imagine a world where Kirk Cousins takes down Patrick Mahomes to start 4-0, all but delaying Fernando Mendoza’s rookie debut to next season? We’re 4 quarters from that becoming a reality.

This is the last week before byes become an issue IN ADDITION to all of the injury turmoil you’re likely facing. It’s bitten just about everyone at this point. If you need any trade advice or bespoke start/sit decisions, my full weekly rankings, rest-of-season rankings, and trade calculator are available on grankfantasyfootball.com.

P.S. — the below rankings in my newsletter are half-PPR by default. The website will always have my full PPR and standard scoring rankings as well.

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Week 4 Rankings

QB:

Favorite Plays: Tyler Shough is basically a must start going forward. He’s all the way up at QB3 for me this week in a Monday Night matchup against the Falcons. The Saints’ offense has been appointment television through 3 weeks. Even though he disappointed you against the Browns, I think it’s worth going back to Bryce Young in a home matchup with the Lions, who through 3 weeks are easily giving up the most fantasy points to QBs. I also like both QBs in the Bengals / Jaguars showdown — I think Burrow is the better play at home, but I expect a high-scoring game with a ton of passing touchdowns. Lamar Jackson was limited in practice with a back injury; assuming he goes, he should be locked into your lineup against the Titans but keep a close eye out on that one.

Leave on the Bench: Deshaun Watson has proven to be a fantasy-worthy start with his rushing floor, but I’d leave him on the bench against the Steelers tonight. The same goes for Justin Herbert: I might be telling you to leave him on the bench in a plus matchup, but the fact that he has to face the Seahawks on the road makes this one a no-brainer.

Sleepers: I hate that I have to categorize him here but consider Drake Maye a sleeper this week in a divisional game against a Buffalo defense that’s been fairly leaky. I get it, it’s been about as bad as it could get. All I’m saying is don’t color me surprised if this one ends up a shootout and we see Maye start to get things back on track. It can only go up. I also think you can consider a Jacoby Brissett start this week in a deep league; the Giants’ matchup is a good one, and this offense looked pretty decent last week in SF.

RB:

Favorite Plays: Your usual suspects are locked into your lineup this week but give me all the shares of Jaylen Warren tonight against the Browns. Rico is out again, and Warren played 90% of snaps and got 20 touches in his absence. That’s a workhorse role. I also like Aaron Jones a lot against Miami at home, and Cam Skattebo gets the Cardinals after carrying the ball 20 times in the win over Tennessee last weekend.

Leave on the Bench: Unfortunately, I think you’re going to be disappointed if you start Omarion Hampton against the Seahawks. He had a perplexing 42% snap share against Buffalo after averaging closer to 60% in the first 2 weeks. If Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal continue to be this involved, Hampton’s stock is going to tank. Jadarian Price on the other side of the ball is merely a bench stash at this point. He effectively got benched after fumbling the football, and this coaching staff seems perfectly content rolling out Emanuel Wilson and George Holani to cut into Price’s workload. Also, even if you grabbed Ollie Gordon off waivers, I’d leave him on the bench against Minnesota this week.

Sleepers: Jacory Croskey-Merritt could be a decent play this week against the Colts who are giving up the 4th most fantasy points to RBs. I’d temper your expectations though, because JCM was only able to turn 19 rushing opportunities into 36 yards last week, and he’s only managed 3 targets on the season, so the team doesn’t seem to trust him as a pass-catching back. J.K. Dobbins could be an OK play as well. With Jonah Coleman going on IR, he seems to have the bulk of the carries locked up, and San Francisco has been a mediocre defense against running backs, so I think Dobbins could perform here.

WR:

Favorite Plays: Parker Washington is a start-of-the-week candidate for me. The Bengals’ defense came back down to earth, allowing Aaron Rodgers to throw for 292 yards last week. I expect Trevor Lawrence and Parker Washington to find similar success. If Nico’s able to play this week, slot him right back into your lineup in a game against the Cowboys. I also really like Garrett Wilson on the road against the Bears; we saw what Geno Smith is capable of in a game where the team is trailing and needing to air the ball out, and I think he’ll find some success against the Bears’ secondary. Michael Wilson rockets up to WR21 this week after a 17-target outing; start him!

Leave on the Bench: You might not have better options, but I have no interest in playing Emeka Egbuka this week with backup QB Jalon Daniels. The only saving grace — the change in QB situation could lead to the backup hyper-targeting him as the #1 option, but I’m not counting on it right now. I’m finding it hard to trust anyone on the Steelers right now at WR too: DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. are probably sitting for me.

Sleepers: It’s a bit of an ugly play, but Mack Hollins led the Patriots in targets last week and gets a favorable matchup against the Bills defense, which is allowing the 3rd most fantasy points to WRs this year. He’s my WR38 and can be played if you’re desperate. Jakobi Meyers is another name I’d consider starting if you’ve lost guys to injury and need a backup option. He seems to be on the verge of taking over the WR2 role in Jacksonville.

TE:

Favorite Plays: Juwan Johnson is coming off a 2 TD performance against the Raiders and can be considered a weekly start at this point. Same goes for Kittle and Kelce who are proving age is just a number at the Tight End position. Obviously, you’re playing Bowers and McBride, but I also really like Harold Fannin Jr. against the Steelers, as he’s seen his targets slowly tick up, and this Browns team is starting to play with confidence.

Leave on the Bench: Isaiah Likely and Tucker Kraft are “wait and see” for me at this point. You might not have better options, but I’m not jumping out of my seat to start either. Colston Loveland probably needs to sit on the bench for another week as well. The utilization against the Eagles was somewhat more encouraging, but I unfortunately think he’s going to be a boom or bust player all year long, and we’re still waiting on a boom. He’s my TE12, but I get it if you want to pivot to someone slightly further down.

Sleepers: Darren Waller is one of my favorite plays at TE this week. I think he’s start-able in most leagues against the Lions. I know it was a bad week against the Colts, but I still don’t hate Dalton Schultz as a deeper option as well, especially with the Cowboys on the docket. You may have snagged Kenyon Sadiq off waivers, and I think he’s a fine plug-and-play this week, but I’d temper expectations slightly vs. last week’s breakout.

G-RANK Game of the Week for Fantasy

I’ll pat myself on the back for a Las Vegas / New Orleans game last week that delivered 62 total points. Albeit, unless you were rostering a TE in that game, you may not have reaped the benefit for fantasy. This week, I’m taking the Dallas Cowboys at the Houston Texans as my game of the week for fantasy football. Here’s how the NFL works: when we think we know a team’s identity (i.e., you’re probably thinking Houston stinks this year), they completely flip that assumption on its head. Nico Collins could return this week, and the offense needs it. But if there’s anything that gets a struggling offense moving in the right direction, it’s facing a Dallas Cowboys defense that’s given up 28 points, 20 points, and 34 points now in its first 3 weeks. I think we could see offensive fireworks here.

G-RANK Weekly Sleeper Pick

Dontayvion Wicks failed to give us much of anything in Week 3, making me 1-2 on my sleeper picks. For those of you at home keeping score, I’m going to objectively evaluate whether each sleeper “performed” or not: there’s no real method to my madness. I’m plugging in Darren Waller this week though, expecting the 8 targets against Cleveland to carry forward into a fantastic fantasy performance against the hapless Lions whose secondary hasn’t been able to stop anyone this year. If he gets in the endzone, it’ll pay off, but I think he could have an even bigger game coming on Sunday Night Football.

Thanks for reading this week! G-RANK has you covered for full top 200 rankings (half-PPR, full-PPR, standard) for this week and the rest-of-season. Be sure to also leverage the start / sit tool, trade calculator, and more for decisions specific to your league!