2024 NFL Week 4 Start, Sit, and More!

Week 3 was a disaster, wasn’t it? Unless you had one of the few blow-up performances like Jauan Jennings, Saquon Barkley, or Diontae Johnson, you really weren’t looking great last week.

Last week in this column, guys like Cam Akers, Ezekiel Elliott, D’Andre Swift, and Zamir White were featured as sits/sells last week and struggled in their matchups. Quentin Johnston was also a sit but was saved by a touchdown on one of his two catches.

I did miss my call to start Rashid Shaheed, but Chuba Hubbard and Zach Charbonnet were great hits. Mike Gesicki and Zach Ertz had decent games. Will Levis wasn’t the sleeper play at QB I had hoped for (though he did have his best fantasy day of the year, for what it’s worth), and my boy Josh Reynolds let me down.

All in all, though, it wasn’t too bad everything considered. As per usual, the plan is to get better this week and bring you even more solid advice, even on my limited research time. 😎 

Things to look out for in Week 4

Quarterbacks

🐯 🐈‍⬛ Only two quarterbacks have thrown for more than 300 yards with at least three touchdowns in a game this season: Joe Burrow and Andy Dalton. They face each other on Sunday. Both the Carolina and Cincinnati defenses are in the top half of points allowed to quarterbacks this year.

🐴 A quarterback NOT facing a good matchup this week? Anthony Richardson. Pittsburgh has allowed the fewest fantasy points to the quarterback position this season. Richardson has game-breaking ability with his legs and arm, but his accuracy has been abysmal. He has a 1:2 TD:INT ratio, and so does Pittsburgh. And aside from Week 1, Richardson hasn’t run all that much, not helping his case.

🔷 Seattle faces the Lions in Detroit on Monday night football. For one, that tells me Jared Goff should be good. He’s at home, in a dome. Secondly, that tells me Geno Smith should be good too. Detroit is a pass-funnel defense, you can’t run on them. So DK Metcalf, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, and Tyler Locket are all in play (3rd best matchup for WRs, worst for RBs).

🐏 If you start a Ram this week, your best bet is going to be Kyren Williams. Matthew Stafford and the passing attack face a tough task against the Chicago defense. The Rams don’t have their dynamic outside playmakers so it will be tough sledding for Stafford yet again.

Running Backs

🎖️ Brian Robinson is in a smash spot this week. He was bottled up against Cincinnati, but he should get back on track against Arizona. They are top-10 in fantasy points allowed to running backs and Robinson’s teammate Austin Ekeler figures to miss with a concussion. BRob should get workhorse treatment.

🟠 It might not have been pretty, but Jerome Ford led the Cleveland running backs in carries and receptions against New York in Week 2. Las Vegas has given up the third most rushing yards to opposing running backs this season and the more the Browns keep the ball out of Deshaun Watson’s hands, the better. They just need their offensive line to get healthy.

🔷 This might have been obvious, but I’m not starting Zach Charbonnet or Kenneth Walker this week (if he plays). Detroit has allowed the second-fewest rushing yards to running backs this year but if you want to find a bright side, they have allowed a 100% catch rate to the position. The problem with that stat is it’s only been five receptions for a grand total of 17 yards.

Wide Receivers

🐈‍⬛ I wouldn’t worry about Diontae Johnson popping up on the injury report. He’s just fine. Cincinnati has given up performances of 5-75-1 to Rashee Rice and 4-100-1 to Terry McLaurin in the past two weeks. With Adam Thielen on IR, Johnson could have even more work open up for him after his 122-yard, 1-touchdown explosion against Vegas.

🔷 I’m sorry that I keep bringing up the Seahawks, but start the receivers this week. Metcalf is the obvious start, but I’m hoping for a bounceback from JSN and a usable game from Lockett. Smith-Njigba has shown promise, but his inconsistency has been a bit frustrating for sure. But if you’re looking for a high-upside play in your flex spot, JSN could be the way to go.

⛪️ I get that it’s annoying he put up a big fat ZERO as soon as you trust him in your starting lineup, but go back to Rashid Shaheed this week. He nearly had a touchdown grab against the Eagles last week, and if he had we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Chris Olave will be attracting top coverage and Shaheed could get open for a deep shot. If he does, you’ll regret sitting him.

⚡️ Please, please don’t start Quentin Johnston against Kansas City. He’s had three touchdowns in three games, which is great. But here are the opposing WR1 performances against KC: 6-67-1, 4-35, 6-37. That was Drake London, Ja’Marr Chase, and Zay Flowers respectively. I don’t think QJ is any of those guys or at least two of them.

🐴 If you are dying to play a Colts receiver, then Josh Downs is the way to go. In his first game back, he was targeted on 20.5% of his routes and accumulated a 25% target share. Pittsburgh is weaker in the slot vs out wide where guys like Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce will run most of their routes.

Tight Ends

Tight ends are the new kickers. You just don’t know who is going to randomly kick four field goals and two 50-yarders. It’s the same with tight ends: you don’t know who’s going to go for a touchdown or 90 receiving yards.

🐯 If I had to take a stab at tight end, and sorry for bringing him up each week, but it would be Mike Gesicki once again. Carolina gives up the third most fantasy points to tight ends on the year and I think this game will be pretty competitive (so does Vegas: 47.5 O/U).

🛫 Denver isn’t a bad matchup for tight ends and Tyler Conklin finally showed what he can do when fed some targets. Garrett Wilson should face Pat Surtain on the outside, much like he did with Christian Gonzalez last week. If that opens things up for Conklin on the inside with DB’s also worrying about Mike Williams and Allen Lazard for the big plays, we could be in for another decent week. 4 catches for 50 yards is all I ask. 🟢 

🔴 You wanna get nasty? If Trey McBride misses, try Elijah Higgins on for size. He caught two passes in Week 1, and a touchdown in Week 2 and is the next man up behind TMcB. He was a WR during college at Stanford and can catch, just transitioned to TE for the pros. Secondly, Erick All Jr. has had four catches for 32 yards in each of his last two games for the Bengals. He could benefit from the matchup against Carolina alongside Gesicki. 🐯