Week 4 Fantasy Recap and Who to Pick Up
Week 4 Fantasy Recap and Who to Pick Up
In Week 4 the NFL so many odd things that it was just weird. To start things off Sam Bradford was the best fantasy quarterback in Week 4 in most leagues even with the Eagles losing. Also Josh McCown was a top 5 quarterback this week. Doug Martin got back into old form and looked like a rookie again and another Cleveland Brown made it into the top 5 in the running back position, with Duke Johnson having a great game. Jeremy Hill also remembered that he was good at football and had a game to show you why you drafted him in the 1st or 2nd round. The top 3 receivers were an odd bunch and the same 3 will probably never be atop the leaderboard again. The tight end position is a weird position and is never consistent unless Gronkowski is playing. This week was also not the best for kickers, seeing multiple kickers getting released and many more putting their jobs in jeopardy. Defense also a very tricky position to have a consistent one on your fantasy team. Now for the breakdown for each position:
Quarterbacks
As I mentioned before Sam Bradford was the leading fantasy scorer in most formats. This was a good thing for Bradford owners to see because I’m sure many were about to bench him for someone else. Philip Rivers put in a good week’s worth of work after a terrible Week 3 performance. Drew Brees also had a good week with a late overtime touchdown to give the Saints the win against the Cowboys. Eli Manning made it three weeks in a row that he has played well and showed why he should be considered a eilte quarterback in this league. Hopefully things keep rolling for the Giants unless you are a fan of another NFC East team. But the NFC East has been so bad this year that any team can take the division.
Running Backs
This week belonged to Devonta Freeman. Freeman rushed for another 3 Touchdowns which gives him back to back weeks with 3 Touchdowns. Freeman had 6 in two games and has 7 on the year. With Freeman’s dominance other running backs got casted off but other backs had good games as well. Le’Veon Bell continued his quest for title of best running back in the league by having another great game even with the Steelers losing. C.J. Spiller and Duke Johnson had great games by helping out their quarterbacks on the receiving end. As a said before Doug Martin had a good game and looked like his rookie self by rushing for over 100 yards. Jeremy Hill also looked good in this game rushing for 3 Touchdowns. Whoever said the NFL is a passing league needs to tell the Atlanta Falcons.
Wide Receivers
In the opening paragraph I mentioned the 3 receivers that topped the league in fantasy this week. The three receivers were Vincent Jackson, Tavon Austin, and Allen Hurns. These 3 receivers will most likely never repeat as the top 3 again. But with that said Jackson had a great game and is becoming rookie quarterback Jameis Winston’s favorite target. Tavon Austin showed the league why he was a high draft pick in his draft class and Allen Hurns is emerging as a number 1 target for Blake Bortles. Jeremy Maclin also poured in another good week after breaking the Chiefs receiver touchdown drought. And Brandon Marshall keeps up his consistent play with another good week for the Jets.
Tight Ends
Tight Ends are a very frustrating position for fantasy owners. Unless you ended up with Rob Gronkowski you have been very disappointed at the tight end position. This week was no different with Martellus Bennett leading the way for fantasy tight ends. Bennett is actually a very good tight end and is a top five tight end when playing well. But for the other tight ends that played well this week not so much. After Bennett the tight ends that played well were probably not owned in many leagues. The other tight ends that played well were Coby Fleener, Charles, Clay, Gary Barnidge, and Richard Rodgers. Fleener was Matt Hasselbecks favorite target in Week 4 and had a great game because of it. Clay had a huge game even with Tyrod Taylor not playing so well. This is the second week Gary Barnidge has been a top fantasy tight end. If Barnidge keeps playing this well definitely look to add him on your team. Richard Rodgers is definitely becoming more important in the Packers offense and another touchdown showed that this week.
Kickers
This week was a bad week for kickers and hoping the weeks to come are better. In Week 4 Cairo Santos scored all the points for the Kansas City Chiefs by converting on all 7 Field Goals he attempted. The other standout kicker was Chandler Catanzaro. Even with the Cardinals losing Catanzaro was a bright spot for them. This week saw two kickers get released in Josh Scobee from the Steelers and Kyle Brindza from the Buccaneers. Another kicker that showed poor play was Jason Myers for the Jaguars. Myers had three chances to beat the Colts and failed on all three attempts. The Colts called a timeout and saw Myers miss and then he missed the attempt right after that. This sent the game into overtime. Myers also missed the game winning field goal that would have seen the Jaguars upset the Colts and take sole possession of first place in the division. This week also saw poor performances from Zach Hocker and Caleb Sturgis. Hocker had a chance to send the Saints to victory with a 30 yard attempt but he missed it. This miss sent the game into overtime, even though the Saints won it still doesn’t make up for the missed field goal. Sturgis also played bad in his first appearance as a member of the Eagles. Sturgis lost his job to Andrew Franks down in Miami which made him a free agent. With Cody Parkey going down for the season the Eagles reached out to Sturgis in hopes of a veteran kicker being able to hold the job down. But he ended up missing 1 Field Goal and 1 Extra Point. Let’s all hope things turnaround for kickers in Week 5. The NFL and its fans don’t need to see these poor kicking performances any more.
Defenses
Week 4 was an odd defensive week with certain teams playing very well on defense. The Lions had a stellar performance with 6 sacks against the Seahawks and also returning 1 fumble for a touchdown while forcing another one. The Falcons also had a nice defensive week by shutting out the Texans for most of the game. The Packers had another great week on the defensive side of the ball. The Packers have now sacked the opposing quarterback 13 times in the last 2 games, with 7 against Kansas City and 6 against San Francisco. The defense has been playing well and has helped contribute to a 4-0 start. The Panthers played well picking off rookie Jameis Winston 4 times returning one for a touchdown. Also the Jets have been playing well and it looks like this team can be an easy contender for a playoff spot.
Who to Pick Up?
Quarterbacks
Here is who you should add at the quarterback position:
1. Blake Bortles
2. Ryan Fitzpatrick
3. Nick Foles
4. Josh McCown
5. Derek Carr
Running Backs
Look at these backs to add to your roster:
1. Chris Johnson
2. Rashad Jennings
3. Ronnie Hillman
4. Duke Johnson
5. Dion Lewis
Wide Receivers
These receivers could help your lineup:
1. Donte Moncrief
2. Allen Hurns
3. Tavon Austin
4. Leonard Hankerson
5. Willie Snead
Tight Ends
These Tight Ends could potentially become your starter all year:
1. Gary Barnidge
2. Charles Clay
3. Richard Rodgers
4. Crockett Gillmore
5. Coby Fleener
Kickers
These kickers should help out in that position:
1. Cairo Santos
2. Robbie Gould
3. Nick Folk
4. Josh Lambo
5. Sebastian Janikowski
Defenses
These defenses are on the rise right now:
1. Lions
2. Packers
3. Ravens
4. Bengals
5. Steelers
