By James Fotheringham (@NFLHypeTrain)
Welcome to the fantasy recap and week 4 reminded us that fantasy football is unpredictable, unbelievable and at times unbearable. Some key injuries to big players, some massive duds, weather causing issues, unlikely heroes and bonkers scores made it an intense week and we are here to guide you through just some of the chaos.
NB: Scores based on PPR leagues
Fantasy Stars:
Geno Smith (SEA) – 23cmp/320yds/2td + 7rsh/49yds/1td 32pts
Prior to the season there was a proper QB battle between Smith and Drew Lock with people expecting Lock to emerge the victor, however Smith earned the role and has been deserving of it on his performances this season and this was a mad game, with a mad stat-line and a scorigami to boot.
Josh Jacobs (LVR) – 28rsh/144yds/2td + 5rec/31yds 35pts
Josh Jacobs was another player essentially written off at the start of the season, or at least whose stock was sinking, but here he was the key man against the Broncos and with 172 total yards, he may have silenced a lot of doubters.
TJ Hockensen (DET) – 8rec/179yds/2td 40pts
TJ Sock-it-to-em-son. A record breaking day for the Lions tight end and in a year where Tight Ends have been much maligned, he really balled out. 2tds, 179yards a 2pt conversion and yet still was on the losing side. It was remarkable.
Surprise Packages:
Mo Alie-Cox (IND) – 6rec/85yds/2td 27pts
Big Mo was in beast mode this week with arguably the one bright spark in an otherwise poor Colts performance. They have some depth in that tight end room which makes up for the lack of it when it comes to wide receivers. The issue has always been consistency, but when he hits, he can really go ham.
Jared Goff (DET) – 26cmp/378yds/4td + 1rsh/1yds 34pts
After being a success last week, Jared Goff this time proved he could put up massive fantasy numbers without any of his main offensive weapons. Swift, St Brown, Chark all missing and yet 34pts, almost grabbing a win and making Jamaal Williams and Josh Reynolds look like stars and propping up a career day for Hockenson was incredible to behold.
Jamal Agnew (JAX) – 4rec/50yds/2td 21pts
The Jags are such an odd team this season. We will get to the struggle Trevor Lawrence had in this game but Jamal Agnew was the player who gave them a head start in this game. So often a gadget player, this time when used normally he had the speed and skill to get to the endzone twice and leave the Jones very much struggling to keep up.
Disappointments:
Trevor Lawrence (JAX) – 11cmp/174yds/2td/1int + 2rsh/7yds/4fum(lost) 3pts
I can give Lawrence a pass as it was a wet day but after hyping him up last week, losing 4 fumbles and throwing an interception was not the way to show that you should be considered a stud. He will have sunnier days.
Jonathan Taylor (IND) – 20rsh/40yds + 1rec/1yds 2pts
This may be the most panic inducing stat-line of the lot. Taylor had 20 carrier, could only get 42 yards, no TDs, only 1 reception and then left the game with an injury. He’d been almost a non-factor and now could find himself a non-factor on Thursday against the Broncos. For so many he was the 1.01 but right now, there are alarm bells ringing.
Terry McLaurin – 2rec/15yds 4pts
Plenty of spot start wide receivers failed this week but one of the worst true misses this week was McLaurin only getting 2 catches for 15 yards. Jahan Dotson went off injured in this game and they were playing catch-up and having to throw a lot but he was just marked out of the game and could not get clear. With Samuel looking decent so far this season, the draft capital placed on McLaurin is looking rather questionable now.
Waiver Wire pickups:
QB – Zach Wilson (NYJ) – If Jared Goff hasn’t been claimed, he is the pick here and arguably every week until he’s owned. However, assuming he’s taken the next option this week may be Zach Wilson. He proved against Pittsburgh that he’s able to survive a game and lead the team to wins. He has weapons and doesn’t seem too worse for wear now he’s removed a bit of the rust. A matchup against the Dolphins who have given up the 2nd most fantasy points to QBs in fantasy this year make his a viable option.
Other QB Options – Geno Smith @NO.
RB – Tyler Allgeier (ATL) – Allgeier, Caleb Huntley and Avery Williams will all benefit from the absence of Cordarelle Patterson after he landed on IR. Allgeier is the most intriguing of these and Huntly projects as the goal line back and did a great job of that against the Browns, but Allgeier has the explosiveness to do a lot of the heavy lifting.
WR – Corey Davis (NYJ) – Garrett Wilson, Elijah Moore and Corey Davis is actually quite a balanced set and with Zach Wilson as a start of the week, the ~30% owned Davis is the one to pick up. Only 4pts behind Wilson as the 2nd highest scoring receiver and yet many are afraid to pick him up. At worst he will scoop up garbage time points.
TE – Will Dissly (SEA) – We really should have seen this coming. For a number of seasons now Will Dissly has started the season on fire and looked like a TE1, only to get an early injury and be out for the season and completely forgotten. While he’s healthy and times are good with Geno Smith, cash in. He’s barely 5% owned and he is TE9 on the season ahead of Waller, Knox and Pitts.
DST Options – Vikings vsCHI, Jaguars vsHOU, Titans @WAS, Broncos vsIND.