The BYE weeks are now upon us and as this slight taste of the BYE pandemonium will show you, these rankings become even more important as you lose players not only to injuries but BYEs. They take it easy on us in week 4 with only two teams on BYE, the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. This is only a warm up for future BYE weeks to come so please enjoy it while you can.
Luckily for us we are now seeing enough games to start to get a feel for who is good, who is not, and who needs to be dropped immediately. We have also seen a few sample games of Defenses that help us determine which match-ups are beneficial for our players. Below I have put together my rankings for week 4 that have taken these samples into account and hopefully help you avoid the BYE week and injury woes as best as possible.
Quarterbacks
- Cam Newton, CAR QB at ATL
- Drew Brees, NO QB at SD
- Philip Rivers, SD QB vs. NO
- Matthew Stafford, DET QB at CHI
- Ben Roethlisberger, PIT QB vs. KC
- Andrew Luck, IND QB at JAC
- Kirk Cousins, WAS QB vs. CLE
- Blake Bortles, JAC QB vs. IND
- Joe Flacco, BAL QB vs. OAK
- Andy Dalton, CIN QB vs. MIA
- Trevor Siemian, DEN QB at TB
- Alex Smith, KC QB at PIT
- Matt Ryan, ATL QB vs. CAR
- Russell Wilson, SEA QB at NYJ
- Dak Prescott, DAL QB at SF
I expect a HUGE (not small) game from Cam Newton in week 4 against the lacking Falcons defense. Not only do the Falcons rank 29th in passing yard per game so far this season but they also allow an average of 120 yards per game on the ground. Unfortunately for the Falcons Newton can both pass and run the ball to only deteriorate these team statistics even further.
Depending on your league scoring, Matt Ryan is most likely either the first or second best QB thus far in the fantasy season. He has put up some pretty incredible games throwing for at least 240 yards and 2 touchdowns in each. This fairy tale start to his 2016-2017 season will all come crashing down this week. Ryan is facing one of the most stingy pass defenses in the Carolina Panthers who are only allowing the 5th least passing yards per game to opposing QBs. I expect this to be the start of the downward spiral for Ryan, try to stay away from him this week.
Running Backs
- Le’Veon Bell, PIT RB vs. KC
- Melvin Gordon, SD RB vs. NO
- David Johnson, ARI RB vs. LA
- DeMarco Murray, TEN RB at HOU
- Ezekiel Elliott, DAL RB at SF
- Mark Ingram, NO RB at SD
- C.J. Anderson, DEN RB at TB
- Lamar Miller, HOU RB vs. TEN
- LeSean McCoy, BUF RB at NE
- Todd Gurley, LA RB at ARI
- LeGarrette Blount, NE RB vs. BUF
- Jeremy Hill, CIN RB vs. MIA
- Matt Forte, NYJ RB vs. SEA
- Carlos Hyde, SF RB vs. DAL
- Christine Michael, SEA RB at NYJ
Le’Veon Bell is BACK! (I’ve been waiting to say that for 3 weeks) Now that he is finally eligible to start his season I am putting him at the top of the RB rankings for week 4. Bell is consistently a force to be reckoned with when healthy and lets face it with all the injuries at the position … we don’t have many options. He is also facing a Chiefs defense that is allowing over 120 yards rushing per game good for 24th in the NFL. I also think that game flow helps Bell’s case, after a poor performance in week 3 I see the Steelers getting up big fast in this game and running out the clock with Bell. This game flow will only help to pad his stats in his first game back. I project Bell to get off to a hot start rushing for 125 yards and a TD with 5 receptions for 35 yards.
It appears that Ezekiel Elliott is finally becoming the back that we expected to see when we took him in the first round this year. He is running behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL which makes him a consideration for a Top 5 play week to week. He is also playing against a lack luster rush D that is allowing 122 yard per game on the ground and just let up 106 rushing yards and 2 TDs to newly appointed Seahawks starter Christine Michael (also listed above). I project Elliott to rush for 105 yards and 1 TD in week 4.
Wide Receivers
- Antonio Brown, PIT WR vs. KC
- A.J. Green, CIN WR vs. MIA
- Allen Robinson, JAC WR vs. IND
- Brandin Cooks, NO WR at SD
- Kelvin Benjamin, CAR WR at ATL
- T.Y. Hilton, IND WR at JAC
- Marvin Jones, DET WR at CHI
- DeAndre Hopkins, HOU WR vs. TEN
- Julio Jones, ATL WR vs. CAR
- Odell Beckham Jr., NYG WR at MIN
- Alshon Jeffrey, CHI WR vs. DET
- Travis Benjamin, SD WR vs NO
- Amari Cooper, OAK WR at BAL
- Larry Fitzgerald, ARI WR vs. LA
- Mike Evans, TB WR vs. DEN
- Demaryius Thomas, DEN WR at TB
- DeSean Jackson, WAS WR vs. CLE
- Terrell Pryor, CLE WR at WAS
- Stefon Diggs, MIN WR vs. NYG
- Jeremy Maclin, KC WR at PIT
- Emmanuel Sanders, DEN WR at TB
- Jarvis Landry, MIA WR at CIN
- Doug Baldwin, SEA WR at NYJ
- Brandon Marshall, NYJ WR vs. SEA
- Cole Beasley, DAL WR at SF
Allen Robinson put up his first double digit fantasy output in week 3 so now every fantasy owner can RELAX. I expect his hot streak to continue to week 4 where he is matched up against a toothless Colts pass D. The Colts are allowing over 300 yard receiving per game and are being scorched by almost every offense facing them. In comparison, the defense that Robinson just had his best week against, the Baltimore Ravens, are ranked 3rd in receiving yards per game only allowing 190 yards per game to opposing receiver. He should have a Top 5 week against the colts in week 4 where I project him to get 110 receiving yards and 1 TD.
If Dez Bryant can not go this week (which is my expectation) due to the fracture in his knee I can see Cole Beasley having a breakout game this week making him a justified WR2. Beasley has already shown decent chemistry with rookie QB Dak Prescott and I expect his role to only grow with the absence of Dez. Beasley is facing a pass D that has allowed the 15th most receiving yards per game to opposing wide outs. They should be much lower on this list if it was not for there week 1 performance where they held the Rams to 130 yards receiving. Since that week they have allowed over 250 yards per game, one for over 340 yards. I project Beasley to have 8 receptions for 70 yards and the possibility of a TD.
Tight Ends
- Jordan Reed, WAS TE vs. CLE
- Greg Olsen, CAR TE at ATL
- Travis Kelce, KC TE at PIT
- Rob Gronkowski, NE TE vs. BUF
- Julius Thomas, JAC TE vs. IND
- Dennis Pitta, BAL TE vs. OAK
- Coby Fleener, NO TE at SD
- Jimmy Graham, SEA TE at NYJ
- Delanie Walker, TEN TE at HOU
- Kyle Rudolph, MIN TE vs. NYG
- Eric Ebron, DET TE at CHI
- Jason Witten, DAL TE at SF
This is the week that Jordan Reed owners get what they have been looking for. They are going to get that game changing stud TE that needs to be started every week. Reed is facing the Cleveland Browns secondary and if my ranking of Washington QB Krik Cousins is any indicator, I do not think too highly of their ability to stop the pass. I project Reed to have over 100 yards and a TD in week 4.
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