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Fantasy Start/Sit - Week 4

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Jack Brickman

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With the launch of Real Browns Fans in sight, the powers that be have tasked me with providing some fantasy football content. The current plan is to stick to articles during the 2019 season while we work on the launch of a fantasy-themed RBF podcast, probably around April once the Combine is over and we can start truly digging into prospect profiles, discussing the best landing spots, and all the rest. The podcast, much like my articles, will cover a variety of different types of fantasy leagues, from dynasty to redraft to best ball.

Also, don't ask me when RBF is launching. I don't have access to that kind of highly classified information. I'm just the asshole they asked to cover fantasy football. I'll be providing more details on the podcast in the coming months as we start to get things together, but as of right now it has a tentative title and that's about it. If anyone here is good at graphic design and would be interested in helping me and the rest of the podcast committee create a simple logo, shoot me a PM. I'm pretty much worthless when it comes to the whole "art" thing.

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With the intro out of the way, let's dig into this week's match-ups...

It's week four and your team is doing great. Or maybe it's week four and your team is an absolute dumpster fire of epic proportions. We've all been there, and unless you completely whiffed on your entire draft, chances are your team still has a chance to turn things around, and that starts with picking out the right guys to start or leave on your bench.

What I'm not going to do in this article is tell you to start your studs. If you need me to tell you to start Keenan Allen or DeAndre Hopkins, maybe this whole fantasy football thing isn't for you.

Let's start with some quarterbacks.

Daniel Jones - We may not know whether or not Daniel Jones is good yet, but I'd be confidently starting him this week against a bad Washington defense that made Mitch Trubisky look like an actual NFL quarterback and was also gashed by Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz. Start him.

Baker Mayfield - As we're all painfully aware, Cleveland hasn't exactly gotten off to the start we were hoping for, and if you have Mayfield in your league, chances are you wish you would have waited a few rounds and gotten someone like Prescott or Lamar Jackson instead. I only own Mayfield in two of my many leagues this year (and one is dynasty, so I drafted him last year), and that is primarily because I hated his ADP and I just generally dislike drafting QBs high unless it is a two QB or superflex league. The Browns' offense has yet to really figure things out and they've got a tough challenge on the road in Baltimore. Maybe this is the week that Cleveland finally gets its collective shit together, but I'd be rolling with a safer option until I see that happen. Sit him.

Aaron Rodgers - Here's another QB that you probably drafted way too high and now you're pissed because, quite frankly, Rodgers has sucked through three games, at least in terms of fantasy performances. This is the part where we need to look at the context, though, because Rodgers has gone up against Chicago, Minnesota, and Denver, all of whom are doing a great job of holding opposing quarterbacks in check so far this year. That changes tonight, where he goes up against an Eagles defense that is struggling with injuries and has been one of the league's best match-ups for opposing QBs in fantasy. Start him.

Carson Wentz - And now we move to the other end of the Thursday night coin. Green Bay has one of the league's best passing defenses and one of the league's worst rushing defenses, making this a match-up that doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. Wentz will be on the road in a short week going up against an elite pass rush. If Philly wants to win this one, they'll likely have to do it on the ground utilizing Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard. Sit him.

Phillip Rivers - Rivers is playing a JuCo team this week. Start him.

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Next up, we'll take a look at some running backs for week four.

LeSean McCoy - Assuming McCoy is a full go for this week, he'll be going up against a Detroit defense that has really struggled to defend running backs this year, giving up 137 yards to David Johnson, 133 to Austin Ekeler, and 180 yards to Miles Sanders. If Damien Williams remains out or will be limited in snaps, confidently plug McCoy into your line-up. Start him.

Sony Michel - Michel has, to put it frankly, not looked great this year, with only one double digit scoring output in half-PPR. New England travels to Buffalo this week in what projects to be an ugly, low-scoring game. Tom Brady has struggled playing in Buffalo in recent years as well. Michel has only gotten a total of 24 carries against actual NFL teams this year, and more alarmingly he has only gotten one target through three weeks, which he didn't catch. He's a touchdown-dependent RB right now on a team stacked with talented backs. James White also returns this week after missing week three to see his child being born, which further muddies the waters in the Patriots backfield, and Michel's lone target came when White was out. It appears the smoke in New England about Michel being used more in the passing game was just that. Michel has some more promising match-ups on the horizon, but for now, sit him.

Wayne Gallman - The Giants' offense has finally showed some signs of life with the athletic, mobile Daniel Jones replacing the corpse of Eli Manning, and Saquon Barkley is expected to miss at least four weeks with a high ankle sprain (and will likely miss six or more). Thus far, New York has not brought in any additional running backs, meaning it's all systems go for Wayne Gallman this week at home against a bad Washington team. He's not going to replicate Barkley's numbers, but he should be a viable fantasy flex option until Barkley is back or the Giants bring in additional help. Start him.

Austin Ekeler - Sadly, the Ekeler breakout party is about to come to an end, with Melvin Gordon reporting to the Chargers today and presumably back in his starting role next week against Denver. But you couldn't ask for a better match-up to go out on with the Chargers traveling to Miami to curb stomp a pathetic Dolphins squad. Start him.

Aaron Jones - While Jones' week three score looks fine on the surface due to the two touchdowns he scored, he was very ineffective on his touches, averaging a terrible 1.9 yards per carry and being out-touched by Jamaal Williams. He'll also be going up against a Philly defense that has done a good job of holding running backs in check this year. I'd prefer to take a wait and see approach here. If you have a better option on your bench this week, sit him.

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It's wide receiver time.

Christian Kirk - If you're in a PPR league, then you have got to be loving Kirk so far this year. Through three weeks, he's on pace to receive over 160 targets this year, and is currently averaging over ten per game. Arizona will be at home this week against a middling Seahawks defense in what could become a shoot out. Start him.

Stefon Diggs - Presumably, if you are a Diggs owner, you are going to need to be talked off a ledge right about now. Sadly, I'm not the guy to do it. Diggs has only received twelve targets through three games, putting him on pace for a horrendous 64 targets this year. He's playing on the road against the league's best defense in what is projected to be a low-scoring affair. The Vikings want to run the ball, run the ball, and run the ball some more, and any time they decide to throw the ball in the red zone, it's probably going to be Thielen on the receiving end up it. I was down on both Diggs and Thielen at their ADP heading into the season, and nothing I have seen so far has changed my mind. Sit him.

Alshon Jeffery - Jeffery is a go tonight after missing last week and laying a goose egg in week two due to leaving with an injury. He'll be returning for a Thursday night game on the road against a defense that has only allowed a single wide receiver touchdown so far this year. Sit him.

DJ Chark - Chark has been something of a revelation this season after being mostly forgotten in his rookie season last year. Chark was a guy on my radar throughout the preseason, as he was constantly being mentioned as a standout performer in the Jags' practices. I ended up with him in a couple of best ball leagues and feel great about that, but I needed to see more from him before I used a pick on him in shallower redraft leagues. He delivered on that in week one, and more importantly, he looked great with Minshew throwing to him after Foles left the game with an injury that will keep him out at least through week eleven. Unfortunately, Chark will be on the road against a great Broncos secondary that just held Davante Adams to 56 receiving yards and no touchdowns. Sit him.

Terry McLaurin - Much like Chark, McLaurin has started this season out on a tear and has quickly established himself as Washington's number one WR. He's scored a touchdown in all three games so far and is averaging 85 yards per game. While all that is well and good, he's also going up against a Giants secondary that just let Mike Evans absolutely demoralize them for damn near 200 yards and three touchdowns. Start him with confidence.

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Moving on to tight end...

Darren Waller - If you drafted Waller near the end of your fantasy draft this year, you're certainly feeling pretty good about yourself right now, and the good times are about to keep on rolling. He's playing an Indianapolis defense missing a couple of its best players that just gave up two touchdowns to Austin Hooper a week ago. Waller is on pace for 154 targets right now and, with Antonio Brown going crazy and getting himself effectively kicked out of the NFL, he's one of the top receiving options in Oakland on a team that fed Jared Cook over 100 targets last year. Waller has yet to score a touchdown this season, but that will certainly happen sooner or later, with this week looking good for him. Start him.

Jared Cook - Speaking of Cook, he has absolutely sucked this year, catching only five of his twelve targets and coming into week four with 69 (nice) yards total. He also had his worst game of the season in Teddy Bridgewater's first start this year, and unfortunately Bridgewater will still be starting for the next several weeks. If you haven't already cut him, put him on your bench and start someone with a pulse.

OJ Howard - Speaking of disappointments, not only has Howard been borderline unusable this year, but his coach has been putting him on blast and, despite the narrative that Arians has never had a TE as good as Howard, might actually just hate the position. Further, he'll be on the road in Los Angeles this week against a Rams team that hasn't allowed opposing tight ends to do much of anything. Sit him.

Delanie Walker - Marcus Mariota sucks. I think we can all agree on that. But somehow he manages to not suck when throwing the ball to Delanie Walker, as Walker has pretty consistently been the only viable fantasy option in the Titans' passing game when healthy. He'll also be going up against a bad Falcons defense that just lost Keanu Neal for the season with an Achilles injury. Start him.

Kyle Rudolph - We're heading into week four and Rudolph has twenty yards on six targets. Oh, and he's going up against the Bears on the road. Sit him, or better yet, cut him. I'd rather have an empty roster spot than a mediocre TE in an offense that doesn't want to pass the ball.

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That's it for this week. Feel free to add to the conversation, yell at me for not liking your players, or just vent about how much your team sucks. I'll be back with another article on Monday detailing some potential waiver wire options, guys to look at buying high/low, and a bit of general fantasy strategy. Obviously it's too late to help you with your draft this year, but as Browns fans, one thing we know too damn well is that there's always next year.

Forgive me if there are any spelling or grammar errors in this one, as I had to rush it out in time for kickoff tonight and I am about to leave to meet up with some friends for a few beers.
 
I've been struggling on whether to sit or start Michel this week. Preciate the advice @Jack Brickman , I'll sit him.

Bonus: Who should I start instead? Lindsay, Hollywood Brown, or Ross III ? Half a point PPR.
 
One point PPR - should I start Valdez-Scantling or Tyrell Williams as my flex?
 
As a guy who drafted Diggs in the third round this year, I've been pretty disappointed. Was able to snag Chark off of waivers this week (somehow) and he's looking like my new WR3 (in my league, we start 3 WR every week w/ no flex). I've got a WR corps now of Michael Thomas, Juju, Diggs, Dorsett, Fuller, and Chark. Gonna have some trade bait.

I've been struggling on whether to sit or start Michel this week. Preciate the advice @Jack Brickman , I'll sit him.

Bonus: Who should I start instead? Lindsay, Hollywood Brown, or Ross III ? Half a point PPR.

I'd start Ross. Feel like he always balls out against Pittsburgh.

One point PPR - should I start Valdez-Scantling or Tyrell Williams as my flex?

I don't like starting guys on Thursday night if I don't have to, so I'd go Tyrell.
 
Yeah, I agree with this for the most part. I sat Wentz for Daniel Jones and it was a tough decision, but I just don't trust Wentz tonight. Too much going against him.
 
Yeah, I agree with this for the most part. I sat Wentz for Daniel Jones and it was a tough decision, but I just don't trust Wentz tonight. Too much going against him.

As a general rule, I dislike starting road players on Thursday night games unless it's like a Saquon Barkley caliber player. But obviously no one is sitting Barkley when healthy because his ceiling is winning you your match-up by himself.

Obviously that statement is match-up dependent. If Miami is at home on their Thursday game, I'm not going to let that stop me from starting whoever they play against.
 
Well, looks like Williams just got hurt, which means my Aaron Jones projection is probably fucked. :chuckle:
 
Aaron Jones - While Jones' week three score looks fine on the surface due to the two touchdowns he scored, he was very ineffective on his touches, averaging a terrible 1.9 yards per carry and being out-touched by Jamaal Williams. He'll also be going up against a Philly defense that has done a good job of holding running backs in check this year. I'd prefer to take a wait and see approach here. If you have a better option on your bench this week, sit him.

This take went south on the first Packers possession... Williams left the field Mike Utley style, and it's a one man backfield again. Glad I started Williams.
 
This take went south on the first Packers possession... Williams left the field Mike Utley style, and it's a one man backfield again. Glad I started Williams.

Unfortunately, it's pretty impossible for me to know that a player will get hurt on the game's first drive. It's kind of telling that it was Williams out there and not Jones to start, though, right?

But I am starting Jones in my guillotine league so this has been a solid development, although sucks it had to be an injury that looked that bad.
 
Unfortunately, it's pretty impossible for me to know that a player will get hurt on the game's first drive. It's kind of telling that it was Williams out there and not Jones to start, though, right?

I was kidding, dude. Injuries happen. However I think I'm playing you in the league I started Williams. So you got that going for ya.
 
Russell Wilson or Philip Rivers this week? I get that Rivers is going against Miami, but Wilson has been better overall in fantasy this year.
 
Unfortunately, it's pretty impossible for me to know that a player will get hurt on the game's first drive. It's kind of telling that it was Williams out there and not Jones to start, though, right?

But I am starting Jones in my guillotine league so this has been a solid development, although sucks it had to be an injury that looked that bad.


Wasn't watching super close but I'm pretty sure they started out with a 2 back set so they were both out there to start, as you said hate to see it happen that way but I got Jones who I think is the more explosive back normally so hope for the best health wise for Williams but cleared up that situation at least in the short term for me.
 
Wasn't watching super close but I'm pretty sure they started out with a 2 back set so they were both out there to start, as you said hate to see it happen that way but I got Jones who I think is the more explosive back normally so hope for the best health wise for Williams but cleared up that situation at least in the short term for me.

Jones is absolutely the better back of the two. Williams is just a guy. But he may have off field issues we are unaware of that have put the ball in Williams' hand.

ETA: I'm not even sure Jamaal Williams is the best RB on the Packers with the last name Williams.
 
Miles Sanders has some really impressive burst. If he finds an opening he is just out of there.
 

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