Here are my Week 4 fantasy football notes. The injuries around the league are hurting fantasy teams, but as these notes will make clear, there are still plenty of value plays to be found.
New Orleans at Atlanta
The Saints have been a coverage sieve versus tight ends this season, as they have allowed 217 yards to opponent’s tight ends in 2024. That means Kyle Pitts should be in many fantasy lineups despite his recent scoring issues.
Cincinnati at Carolina
Mike Gesicki has been one of the better fantasy tight ends this year, and that trend should continue versus a Carolina defense that has some of the worst tight end coverage metrics in the league. That makes him a solid start option at TE or flex.
Los Angeles Rams at Chicago
Caleb Williams threw the ball 52 times last week on his way to posting 363 passing yards. With the Rams secondary missing many players and loaded with rookies, look for Williams to continue with his high pass volume. That means fantasy managers in PPR leagues should stock up on Bears in their starting lineups, as this could be a high scoring game.
The rest of KC Joyner’s Week 4 fantasy football notes are available exclusively for Pickwatch Pro subscribers.
Minnesota at Green Bay
One of the toughest questions for fantasy managers this week will be whether or not to start Green Bay wide receivers if Jordan Love returns to the lineup as expected. That call will be made on a case-by-case basis, but a tiebreaking element is the Packers are facing a Brian Flores defense that just frustrated both the 49ers and Texans offenses. That gives low floor potential to the Green Bay wideouts, so lean towards sit status if in doubt.
Jacksonville at Houston
For anyone considering downgrading Houston fantasy players due to last week’s debacle in Minnesota, don’t do it. Brian Flores is a fantastic defensive coordinator, and the Texans were also down to a third string running back. With Dameon Pierce likely back this week and with Houston facing a shaky Jaguars defense, fantasy managers should want as many Texans players in lineups as they can get.
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis
George Pickens hasn’t been seeing many targets this year, but he has been solidly productive on those throws. That’s key this week, as the Colts secondary has been very inconsistent. Since Indianapolis will have to go all out to shore up a run defense that the Steelers offense will target early and often, it should lead to more quality chances for Pickens. Consider him a borderline WR2/WR3/flex candidate with upside.
Denver at New York Jets
Aaron Rodgers has seen his fantasy scoring increase in each of the past two weeks, and that resulted in a 21.04-point performance against New England. This upward trend is likely to stop in Week 4, as the Broncos defense is playing much better than is generally thought. That doesn’t make Rodgers an automatic sit, but it does put him into the QB2 tier and gives him a low scoring ceiling, so look elsewhere for higher percentage upside plays.
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay
The Eagles have shown in recent years that they will lean heavily on the ground game when the situation calls for it. This is obviously one of those situations and will lead to Tampa Bay counterpunching with an aggressive downfield passing attack that worked well last year. Mike Evans should be a beneficiary of that vertical passing largesse, so get him into lineups as a flex in spite of his recent fantasy scoring woes.
Washington at Arizona
A solid longshot upside play in Week 4 is Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson. He caught eight of nine targets for 64 yards last week and is facing a Commanders defense that has multiple coverage weaknesses. Wilson is rostered in only 13.2 percent of ESPN leagues, so he should be available for those fantasy managers who need a wideout for their lineup.
New England at San Francisco
What should fantasy managers expect out of Jauan Jennings this week? It’s not an easy question to answer prior to the late week injury report, as George Kittle could be back this week, but it’s worth noting that the 49ers are utilizing him in the same way they utilized Deebo Samuel (sans the rush attempts). This week won’t be another 46.5-PPR point game, but Jennings should at the very least be in starting lineups as a flex candidate.
Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers
When it comes to the Kansas City running back situation, keep this in mind. The Chiefs have tough rush defense matchups in Weeks 4-5 and then have a bye in Week 6. That will likely diminish the value of those running backs in that span, but after that Kansas City has four green-rated (i.e., highly favorable) matchups from Weeks 7-13. That will increase the value of Isiah Pacheco when he returns, yet will also add longer-term value to Carson Steele, Samaje Perine and Kareem Hunt. That’s worth factoring in when considering roster moves related to these players.
Cleveland at Las Vegas
As long as Jerome Ford is able to play this week (and he posted a limited practice on Thursday), he’s worth putting into lineups as a flex versus a Raiders defense that has been just awful at stopping the run. If Ford is out, D’Onta Foreman will have solid flex value in deeper leagues.
Buffalo at Baltimore
Josh Allen hasn’t been putting the ball in the air very much this year, but that may change in this matchup. Three of Baltimore’s starting coverage players have posted 10+ yards per target totals this season (per Pro Football Reference). It’s a very bad trend to be in the double-digit range in that metric, so be sure to put Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir in starting lineups this week.
Tennessee at Miami
It’s understandable if fantasy managers don’t want anything to do with this game, as this is one of the worst quarterback matchups in recent memory. Having noted this, the Dolphins rush defense has been a doormat for opposing teams this year. That’s why it is a good idea in many leagues to get Tony Pollard into lineups, as the Titans have decided to use him as a lead back rather than platoon him with Tyjae Spears.
Seattle at Detroit
The Seahawks were supposed to be a run-heavy team this year, yet Geno Smith has thrown for 616 yards over the past two weeks. Detroit did invest a lot into upgrading its secondary personnel, but the truth is that group is struggling. Add that to this game potentially being a scoreboard shootout and it makes Smith a high floor and potentially