The Fantasy Footballers’ Week 4 Starts
With the injury bug running rampant and several other players deciding to “poop in their big boy pants” in Week 3, you may be frantically searching through your roster and/or the waiver wire trying to decide who you should start this week. Well, have no fear, for the Fantasy Footballers have released their Week 4 starts of the week. As always, you can find the SOTW podcast here, or catch it on YouTube.
Andy’s starts
QB Andy Dalton @ Cleveland
Cleveland is the third-worst team in the league in applying QB pressure, which should allow Dalton to settle in and connect with his receivers downfield. There were signs of an improved Dalton under new OC Bill Lazor last week, and a nice matchup in a must-win game to save the season should result in a strong performance from Red-regrets this week.
RB Chris Carson vs. Indianapolis
The only player who threatened Carson for snaps last week was C.J. Prosise, and he is now banged up and will likely miss Week 4. Carson continues to impress in the opportunities he is given and scored his first TD in Week 3. The Seattle backfield is clearly his, and he now faces Indianapolis in what should be a juicy matchup.
WR Golden Tate @ Minnesota
Minnesota has given up 23, 41, and 43 fantasy points to WRs through three weeks. Though Xavier Rhodes can shut down top WRs, likely will stick to the outside receiver. Detroit passes 67% of the time, which may be even higher with the Vikings ability to shut down the run. Tate is always guaranteed a nice percentage of targets, and in a “run through the air” philosophy Tate should flourish.
TE Jared Cook @ Denver
The Oakland WR situation isn’t looking great currently, with a banged-up Michael Crabtree and an underwhelming Amari Cooper. The Denver defense has been excellent against opposing WR’s, but the TE position is a different story. Denver has allowed touchdowns to opposing TEs in each of the last two weeks and currently rank 25th in fantasy points allowed to opposing TEs.
Jason’s starts
QB Marcus Mariota @ Houston
This may look like a risky pick, as Mariota struggled against Houston last year. But the Houston defense is not as strong this year, as evidenced by Tom Brady tearing them apart for over 375 yards and 5 TDs last week. Mariota will face a Houston defense that is without three of the top five players from the team he faced last year, so despite a matchup that looks tough, you can start Mariota this week.
RB Christian McCaffrey @ New England
The Carolina Panthers have reigned in the running of Cam Newton, they have a banged-up Kelvin Benjamin, and are traveling to Foxboro to take on the Patriots in a game that should be high-scoring, all factors that increase the role that McCaffrey should have in Week 4. He is coming off a nine catch, 100-yard performance in Week 3. Being Newton’s safety valve and having the ability to turn dump-off passes into big plays that rack up fantasy points should result in a big performance for McCaffrey this week as the Patriots have yet to show they can properly defend those plays.
WR Marqise Lee @ New York Jets
Marqise Lee has been the clear #1 receiver in Allen Robinson’s absence. Lee has been pacing the Jaguars in every receiving category except TDs since Week 2 and has a nice matchup against the Jets this week. Lee is a safe floor play with a decent ceiling this week.
TE Kyle Rudolph vs. Detroit
Kyle Rudolph is a talented player on a good offense with a lot of weapons, and while the matchup against the Lions looks a little worrisome if you look at season totals, consider that two of their three opponents were Atlanta and Arizona, teams that rarely target the TE position. The Lions gave up over 100 yards and a touchdown to the TE position against the Giants. Kyle Rudolph can sneak in a touchdown in this game.
Mike’s starts
QB Dak Prescott vs. Los Angeles Rams
Prescott is at home against a Rams defense that allowed the 49ers to put up almost 40 points last week. The Big 3 in Dallas could all have monster games against the son of Bum’s defense, which firmly plants Dak as a top 5 QB and a must-start for Mike this week.
RB Joe Mixon @ Cleveland
It is time to transition Mixon from the bench and insert him into starting lineups. While there were signs last week that Mixon could be start-worthy, this is the week where it is safe to unleash him into your starting roster with confidence in a nice matchup against Cleveland.
WR Devante Parker vs. New Orleans (in London)
In a repeat pick from last week, once again Parker is the WR start of the week. He’s talented, he’s going to continue getting targets from Jay Cutler, and it’s a great matchup against the Saints. Continue buying into Parker this week.
TE Ryan Griffin vs. Tennessee
Last week Griffin caught five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots, and now faces a Titan defense that allowed Jimmy Graham to come to life and have a stat line. Griffin is on the field a lot, playing in 61-of-71 snaps last week. Griffin has stepped up in the absence of the injured C.J. Fiedorowicz to be the go-to TE for the Texans, a role he’s succeeded in the past, and being a good pass-catcher, he is start-worthy.
Jason Moore’s ironclad, locked-and-loaded, 100% guaranteed, boom-boom kicker of the week
Dan Bailey vs. Los Angeles Rams
(Week 3 Review- Giorgio Tavecchio finished as a low-end K2 (if that was a thing) with four points, resulting in Jason’s first boom-boom miss of the season.)