Once again, the injury bug has struck in fantasy football with Rashee Rice, Jonathan Taylor, Anthony Richardson, and Christian Watson. It feels like this year star players have been going down with serious injuries at a higher rate than in years past. One of the best ways to counter these injuries is by constantly staying up to date with players trending up and down while adding difference makers on the waiver wire. After Sunday’s games let’s take a look at some of those players trending up and down.
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Winners
Jayden Reed WR (GB)
The Packers were down 28 points at one point in this game and needed Jordan Love to throw the ball 54 times in the loss. Reed once again stepped up as Love’s go-to receiver finishing with 7 catches for 139 yards and 1 touchdown. His big play ability has forced Matt LaFleur to find creative ways to get him the ball without Love. Now with Love back Reed has the potential to be one of the better WRs in fantasy football.
Wan’Dale Robinson WR (NYG)
We know how great Malik Nabers has been this season, but the emergence of Wan’Dale Robinson has become noteworthy. In four games this season he has 28 catches for 194 yards and 1 touchdown on 38 targets. He reminds me of Amon-Ra St. Brown with his ability to get open in the short to intermediate passing game. He is becoming an interesting FLEX play with his high floor in PPR leagues.
D’Andre Swift RB (CHI)
After every smart fantasy football manager benched him this week, Swift balled out in week 4. Coming into the game Swift was averaging 1.8 yards per carry. Yesterday he had 16 carries for 93 yards (5.8 YPC) while adding 7 catches for 72 yards receiving. The Bears are committed to Swift with his $24 million contract and still playing the majority of snaps at RB despite struggling through 3 weeks. I am not completely sold on him being consistent in fantasy and could be a good to trade after his big week.
Justin Fields QB (PIT)
With the Steelers being down by 3 scores at one point in this game, they were forced to utilize Fields more. He finished with 367 total yards and 3 touchdowns (2 rushing) producing one of the highest fantasy scores of the day. Despite what you think of Justin Fields as an NFL QB he is valuable in fantasy with his rushing upside. He is a low-end QB1 going forward.
Diontae Johnson WR (CAR)
Johnson was one of the players I tagged as a guy you needed to start this week, and he did not disappoint. He finished with 7 catches 83 yards and 1 touchdown on 13 targets. The Panthers offense with Andy Dalton at QB has allowed players like Johnson, Chuba Hubbard, and Xavier Legette to shine in fantasy football. With Dalton at QB, Johnson needs to be in your lineup every week.
Nico Collins WR (HOU)
Collins is quickly establishing himself as one of the best wide receivers in football with his performances over the last 2 seasons. The chemistry between him and C.J. Stroud is special making him in line to be a WR1 in fantasy football for years to come. Collins on Sunday finished with 12 catches for 151 yards and 1 touchdown on 15 targets in the Texans win.
Travis Kelce TE (KC)
The demise of Travis Kelce was greatly exaggerated. Kelce was another player that I mentioned as a guy you needed to start this week despite him only having 8 catches through 3 weeks. In a good matchup and an injury to Rashee Rice allowed Kelce to insert himself as Mahomes #1 target again finishing with 7 catches for 89 yards. Without Rice, Isiah Pacheco, and Marquise Brown going forward expect the Chiefs to lean on Kelce more in the coming weeks.
Derrick Henry RB (BAL)
Derrick Henry is DIFFERENT. His 199 rushing yards on Sunday night increased his league-leading total to 480 rushing yards. On the season he now has 6 total touchdowns, and we now have seen the Ravens utilize him in the passing game more, as he hauled in 3 passes in week 4. Nothing is suggesting Henry is slowing down with his age and will be an RB1 in all formats by the end of the season.
RB Sleepers (Bucky Irving, Rico Dowdle, Kareem Hunt, and Chase Brown)
This was a great week for people stashing RB sleepers as all of these guys mentioned above increased their snap shares and had big weeks. These guys are all good starts in fantasy and will become consistent starters by the end of the season for their teams. Below are their stats from week 4.
Bucky Irving: 10 carries for 49 yards and 1 touchdown. 1 catch for 6 yards on 2 targets. Snaps: 32/77
Rico Dowdle: 11 carries for 46 yards. 1 catch for 15 yards and 1 touchdown on 1 target. Snaps: 25/56
Kareem Hunt: 14 carries for 69 yards. 2 catches for 16 yards on 3 targets. Snaps: 28/62
Chase Brown: 15 carries for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns. 2 catches for 12 yards on 3 targets. Snaps: 27/67
Losers
Breece Hall RB (NYJ)
Breece Hall has struggled this season only averaging 3.10 yards per attempt and has yet to rush over 70 rushing yards in a game. On Sunday he ruined fantasy managers weekend finishing with 10 carries for 4 yards while only hauling in 2 catches for 14 yards. His play this season is starting to become concerning as his backup Braelon Allen has been more effective in the run game. It is not time to panic about Hall yet, but his struggles are something to keep an eye on going forward.
Carson Steele RB (KC)
Steele handed all of his opportunities away after his fumble on the opening drive of the game. Steele played just a handful of snaps the rest of the game as the Chiefs leaned on the veteran Kareem Hunt more. Going forward it appears Steele’s role has already diminished in this offense with Hunt playing well this week.
Travis Etienne Jr. RB (JAX)
Etienne dealt with a shoulder injury this week that allowed Tank Bigsby to gain more snaps. Bigsby is starting to make a name for himself by having 21 carries for 172 yards on the season while Etienne has 47 carries for 214 yards on the season. With the struggles on offense this season, something needs to change, and it might be at the RB position. Expect Etienne to lose some snaps to Bigsby going forward.
Patrick Mahomes QB (KC)
Mahomes has not been a good fantasy quarterback now for 2 straight seasons. On the season he has 904 passing yards for 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Even if Mahomes starts to play better he is now without Marquise Brown, Isiah Pacheco, and Rashee Rice for the rest of the regular season. Going forward he is a low-end QB1 unless the Chiefs make an acquisition at WR that moves the needle.
Brandon Aiyuk WR (SF)
Another disappointing performance from Aiyuk as he finished with 2 catches for 48 yards on 5 targets. On the season he has yet to have more than 5 catches and 50 receiving yards while also adding 0 touchdowns. At practice this week he had an outburst after wearing the wrong pair of shorts. Despite the contract extension, Aiyuk is falling out of favor in San Francisco. We should be worried about him going forward in fantasy, but it is not time to bench him yet.
Mark Andrews TE (BAL)
0 catches for 0 yards on 1 target. Mark Andrews will officially be hitting the 5 on this week’s “panic meter” after 2 straight performances with 0 catches. For those of you who have not read one of my panic meter articles, a 5 means the player is droppable. Andrews has been a great blocker this season for the Ravens but unfortunately, in fantasy football we do not get points for blocking.
Garrett Wilson WR (NYJ)
The Jets offense had a rough showing against the Broncos and finished with only 9 points. Wilson’s performance was notable as he only finished with 5 catches for 41 yards and lost a fumble. It seems that Wilson will not dominate in targets as expected this season. This week for example we saw Tyler Conklin, Allen Lazard, and Wilson have 8 targets. Rodgers is going to spread the ball around and it makes Wilson a high-end WR2 at the moment in fantasy football.
Kyle Pitts TE (ATL)
0 catches for 0 yards on 3 targets. The main reason Pitts has not been successful is because he is a poor route runner. Among tight ends, he ranks #37 in separation while ranking #6 in air yards share and having the 2nd most red zone targets. I am all out on Kyle Pitts as a good fantasy option going forward due to these numbers that consistently line up with his career averages.
[…] mentioned Pitts in the loser’s section of this week’s biggest winners and losers from week 4 due to the advanced numbers suggesting his poor performance to start the season should be expected […]