Fantasy Football Rankings: Week 4 Matchups to Consider
When I think about what makes a great game, the first thing I look at is the narrative. A close second is the over/under. In Week 4, we have got FIVE O/Us projected for under 40 points. If you are unaware, that is really low. On the bright side, we have FOUR shootouts with O/Us projected for over 50 points! The moral of the story: there are going to be some games that you cannot take your eyes off of and others you wish you never laid eyes on.
Here are some matchups and players to consider heading into Week 4:
Quarterbacks
Bryce Young
QB - CAR
If you had told me Bryce Young was the QB4 through the first three weeks, I would ask you what you are smoking. Young is clearly playing the best football of his young career (pun intended). The Panthers exercised his fifth-year option in the offseason, and it is proving to be a good choice so far. They are fifth in points scored, and a lot of that has come from Young’s arm. Only Tyler Shough and Jordan Love have more pass attempts so far this season.
The Panthers are letting Young sling it more than ever, and they will need that on Sunday Night Football. The Panthers host the Lions in a 50.5-point O/U, and while that’s really high, it seems low. The Lions have scored the third-most points and allowed the most points in football. Getting Jalen Coker back is the biggest X-factor. On Wednesday, Coker was working off to the side as a non-participant. If Coker plays, your confidence in Bryce should go up too.
Kirk Cousins
QB - LV
Three is the number of the Raiders. After holding the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Raiders have already matched their 2025 season’s win total (3). Kirk Cousins has thrown three TDs in each of the first three games. Admittedly, I am not sure many people are starting him, but should we? He is the QB9 on the season, and those first three matchups were against the Dolphins, Chargers, and Saints, none of which are powerhouse pass defenses.
Now come the Chiefs in an AFC West showdown between the two undefeated teams. Kansas City is allowing just the sixth-fewest passing yards per game and has only allowed two passing TDs through three weeks. But context matters: the Chiefs have faced Bo Nix, Daniel Jones, and Malik Willis, who collectively have fewer passing TDs (8) than Kirko Chainz so far this season. Most games are won in the trenches, and that could very well be the deciding factor this week too. The Chiefs blitz at the 11th-highest rate in the NFL, and Cousins’ passer rating drops from 115.5 (fifth best) with no blitz to 89.2 (21st) when blitzed. Two of his three INTs also came while he was being blitzed, according to Next Gen Stats.
Running Backs
Braelon Allen
RB - NYJ
As of Wednesday, Breece Hall isn’t practicing, and all signs point to him missing this week. This opens the door for Braelon Allen to take on more responsibility. Despite being in his third season, Allen is still just 22 years old. He has mostly played behind Hall and is just one year removed from his MCL sprain that sidelined him for almost all of 2025.
With limited opportunities and playing on the Jets, who have not had a winning season since Allen was in sixth grade, it is hard to tell how good Allen actually is. It’s a small sample of just 19 carries, but Allen’s posted a 42.1% rush success rate, which ranks 20th, ahead of Saquon Barkley (41.2%) and Chase Brown (40.8%). The Jets are tied for eighth in plays per game, and the Bears are allowing 5.1 rushing yards per play, which is the second-worst. If you are okay with some uncertainty around his workload and Isaiah Davis mixing in, Allen has a decent matchup to take advantage of.
Aaron Jones Sr.
RB - MIN
With Jordan Mason on IR for the past two games, Aaron Jones has posted 23 opportunities in each game. While the O/U is one of the lowest of the week at 38.5 points, the Vikings are one of the biggest favorites with an implied team total of 24.5 points. If you’ve been disappointed with Jones recently, it’s likely just because he’s failed to find the end zone over the past two games, but all of that likely changes this Sunday. The Dolphins have allowed 20+ half-PPR points to each of the starting RBs they have faced. Those RBs have been Ashton Jeanty, Christian McCaffrey, and Kenneth Walker, all of whom are much better than 31-year-old Jones.
The Dolphins have posted the fourth-highest stacked box rate (34.8%), but that makes sense given the RBs they have faced compared to the WR options. With Justin Jefferson not practicing and considered day-to-day as of Wednesday, that is a big factor. Having one of the best WRs in the NFL suit up, along with the recent emergence of Jordan Addison, would only help Jones have another 20+ touch game.
Jaylen Warren
RB - PIT
Rico Dowdle is already ruled out for Thursday Night Football, which means Jaylen Warren gets the backfield to himself again. Warren’s huge game against Cincinnati shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Our very own Matthew Betz talked about his opportunities last week in the NFL DFS DraftKings Cash Picks for Week 3. Even if you do not play DFS, there are great nuggets in those articles each and every week.
Among qualified rushers, Jaylen Warren has the fifth-highest rushing yards after contact per carry (4.2) while the Browns are allowing the fifth-most rushing yards after contact per carry (3.33) in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats. The Browns are one of five teams that have yet to allow a rushing TD this season, but Warren did not need a rushing TD last week when he finished as the RB8 and posted 176 scrimmage yards on just 20 touches.
Wide Receivers
Jameson Williams
WR - DET
There is no doubt that Jameson Williams has been disappointing this season. The WR55’s (sad fifty-five sound) metrics haven’t changed much from the previous two seasons, when he finished as the WR10 and WR19. But one thing has changed: he has zero yards after the catch. After reviewing his film, he has either been tackled almost immediately, or the route has taken him out of bounds right after the catch.
Among WRs with 80+ routes run, Jameson Williams ranks eighth in air yards per target. Despite the Panthers having the seventh-highest blitz rate, they are closer to league average when it comes to time to throw, allowing 2.87 seconds. That is important because giving Jared Goff more time in the pocket should allow Jameson Williams to actually get downfield for big plays and hopefully some yards after the catch.
Emeka Egbuka
WR - TB
If Emeka Egbuka’s 11 consecutive games under 10 half-PPR points haven’t helped you decide to bench him, perhaps the change to a rookie QB should. Since 2000, we have seen 31 UDFA rookie QBs make their first starts in the NFL. Of those 31 first-time starts, only seven have thrown for two or more TDs. Those 31 QBs averaged just 203 passing yards, right in line with what the Packers are allowing per game so far in 2026. As of Wednesday, Jalon Daniels’ passing line is at 170.5 on PrizePicks. Without double-digit targets, it would be shocking to see Egbuka improve with Daniels under center.
DeVonta Smith
WR - PHI
If you ever need evidence that DeVonta Smith is great, just go watch the Tennessee game in Week 2. While that game is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, Smith is still the WR11 on the season. That is pretty impressive considering Jalen Hurts hasn’t been especially great through the air, despite playing against three teams with subpar pass defenses. The bad news for Smith is that he faces the Rams this week, the same Rams who have allowed the fourth-fewest passing yards per game, and that is mainly due to shutdown CB Trent McDuffie. Just ask Jaylen Waddle and Malik Nabers what it is like lining up against McDuffie.
Tight Ends
Tyler Warren
TE - IND
I bring up Tyler Warren because I’ve seen many managers calling him more of a floor play than a ceiling play. I kind of get it after so many TEs scored in Week 3. Rookie Kenyon Sadiq had a breakout game, Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant both found the end zone twice, and Tyler Higbee had a game (more about him next). I am not sold that you should just abandon ship, or that Warren is a floor play.
The Colts face the Commanders in London (Bonjour) way earlier than I will be up on the West Coast. Two big factors play into this matchup. This isn’t Warren’s first international game. When Warren played in Germany last season, he dominated the Falcons, posting 99 yards on just eight receptions. The Falcons ranked as the third-hardest TE matchup in 2025. After finishing as the fourth-easiest matchup for TEs in 2025, the Commanders have picked up right where they left off in 2026. They are giving up the second-most fantasy points to TEs despite facing Dallas Goedert (TE2 on the week), Jake Ferguson (TE4), and AJ Barner (TE14).
Tyler Higbee
TE - LAR
In every league I am in, 33-year-old Tyler Higbee was scooped up off waivers. If you post 11 targets at TE, it doesn’t matter if you are old; all eyes are going to be on you. The good news for Higbee is that it would be surprising if Terrance Ferguson or Colby Parkinson suit up, giving him a full-time role in the offense. The bad news is that Puka Nacua is trending toward playing (thank goodness), and his absence was the main allure of playing any of the TEs for the Rams. If either Puka or Adams misses time, the starting TE should be a plug-and-play as the second pass-catching option for the Rams. The Eagles have been lights out against TEs going all the way back to the beginning of the 2024 season. So we have a bad matchup with almost no path to be the second pass-catching option in a rather low 43.5-point O/U.