Hot Fire Fantasy Football Questions: Week 4
Our “Hot Fire Fantasy Questions” series follows the happenings of Week 4 following up recent news, fantasy performances, and implications for owners moving forward. Our Hot Fire contributors from our Fantasy Footballers writing staff includes Kent Weyrauch (@kentweyrauch) and Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg). Give them a follow on Twitter along with all of our Footballers accounts to get goodness like this:
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1. Which disappointing early round RB can turn around their season: Kenyan Drake, Jordan Howard or Dalvin Cook?
For me, it’s Dalvin Cook. The Vikings might be 1-2-1 right now, but their offense is really clicking right now. Cook has also been hobbled by a hamstring injury for the last few weeks. Since the Vikings played Thursday night, Cook will have a long week of rest to get healthy for Week 5. With Kirk playing as strong as he has lately, I expect Cook will be seeing targets like he did in Weeks 1 and 2 — seven and five targets, respectively. –Kent Weyrauch (@kentweyrauch)
Jordan Howard is going to have better days. I was shocked in his abysmal box score so I’ll have to go back and watch the film. But it seems he simply did not have high leverage situations and carries despite the matchup against a porous Buccaneers defense. If this offense is taking the next step forward, Howard will gain meaningful carries and see 15+ opportunities a game as opposed to only 11 carries. This guy is a fringe RB1 in my book. –Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg)
2. Who had the most surprising fantasy performance of the weekend?
Well, how can it not be Nick Chubb? The rookie Browns RB only rushed three times against the Raiders, but racked up 105 yards and two touchdowns! Chubb showed massive burst and the ability to break through the secondary. Carlos Hyde has been solid through the first four weeks, but Chubb may have made a case for more reps starting now.-Kent Weyrauch (@kentweyrauch)
I’m shocked by the Steelers offensive brick wall they ran into last night’s game. The Steelers had only 47 yards of total offense in the last 2 quarters while being at Heinz Field. This is more of a tip of the cap to the Ravens defense that made Ben Roethlisberger go 8-for-17 in the second half. Juju Smith-Schuster was high on my list this week as I thought he’d take advantage with the matchup with CB Tavon Young. –Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg)
3. Give us one sell-high & one buy-low target.
Sell-high: Calvin Ridley. Yes, he’s looked solid. Yes, he has six touchdowns in the last three games. Those touchdowns are the reason to sell high. Ridley only had six targets in Week 4 against the Bengals. He converted those targets into four receptions only 54 yards. You can’t bank on touchdowns. Someone will pay a premium for the young Falcons WR.
Buy-low: Rob Gronkowski. I guarantee that the Gronk owner is starting to sweat. Through four weeks he only has one touchdown. Tom Brady showed up to play against the talented Dolphins secondary this week and made them look silly. Brady and the Pats will not be dropping many games in the near future. Gronk has been a staple of this offense for years, he will bounce back. –Kent Weyrauch (@kentweyrauch)
Tom Szczerbowski / Stringer
Sell-high: Golden Tate. He’s been on fire to start the year seeing 8 targets per game and 3 TDs in 4 weeks. I think that pace is unsustainable given his career numbers. Tate has shown to bottom out some weeks and isn’t nearly the consistency king we think he is. The TDs will eventually flow towards Marvin Jones and I think Kerryon Johnson will get more 10-zone work. He’s a fine asset but I’d be willing to flip him and another piece for a high-end RB or WR.
Buy-low: Odell Beckham Jr. His owners are probably a bit frustrated given we’ve yet to see a truly blow-up game and he has no TDs on the year. Remember this guy has had double-digit TDs every full year so far in his career. His 431 air yards rank 10th most among WRs so the TDs will come soon. Go after ODB and the disgruntled owner who probably is cursing Eli Manning every day under their breath. –Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg)
4. Give us one under-the-radar stat line fantasy owners need to pay attention to.
Houston Texans’ WR Keke Coutee had 15 targets of which he caught 11 balls for 109 yards. The reason this might go under-the-radar is that he didn’t score a touchdown, while both Hopkins and Fuller did. Coutee is a rookie slot WR and this was his first game action in the NFL. Finding players who get 15 targets is rare, Coutee should definitely be picked up in all leagues. He could be startable in PPR leagues right away as well. –Kent Weyrauch (@kentweyrauch)
Nyheim Hines‘ 11 targets need to be noticed. We all thought he could make some PPR-noise this year in a muddled Colts backfield. He saw 69% of the snaps which was way ahead of Jordan Wilkins‘ 34%. The game script allowed him to be on the field as the Colts were playing catch-up in the 2nd half against the Texans. I’m going to dive into the film to see how he was utilized but he’s going to be a waiver-wire add everywhere. –Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle_borg)