The NFL’s opening month is drawing to a close. And whether you’re about to be 4-0 or 0-4 – or anything in between – there’s still a multitude of reasons to look forward to the rest of the season. Just look at all the unexpected developments that have taken place since the start of the season.
Unfortunately, not all of those early surprises have been pleasant ones, as fans of one of this year’s consensus first-round fantasy draft picks can attest. We’ll get to that and more as we sort through Sunday’s action to uncover our fantasy winners and losers for the week.
Fantasy football winners for Week 4
RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
After being called out in this space last week for his slow start, the Raiders rookie finally had his breakout game. Granted, it was against the porous Chicago Bears defense, but Jeanty showed off the breakaway speed that had been missing from his first three games. Jeanty posted career highs with 21 carries and 138 rushing yards, including a 64-yard scoring jaunt. He also caught a pair of TD passes and finished as the week’s top-scoring fantasy running back (pending Monday night’s results).
RB Woody Marks, Houston Texans
A waiver wire find a week ago, Marks pushed aside Nick Chubb as the Texans’ top back. He carried the ball 17 times to Chubb’s 13, and outgained the veteran 69-47 with a touchdown. Marks also made his mark as a receiver, catching four of his five targets for 50 yards and another score. Yes, it came against the winless Tennessee Titans, but he was still the team’s best offensive player by a significant margin.
RB Kenneth Gainwell, Pittsburgh Steelers
Hopefully fantasy managers woke up early enough to find out Jaylen Warren was inactive for the game in Dublin. Fantasy managers who were able to insert Gainwell into their lineups enjoyed the luck of the Irish when he tallied 99 yards and two TDs on 19 carries. He also caught well with six receptions for another 35 yards. However, there isn’t much actionable information here with the Steelers on bye next week and Warren expected to be back at full strength for Week 6.
WRs Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs and Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings
If there were any doubts about either player’s value after a few weeks of inactivity, they were erased on Sunday. Worthy returned to the field for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury on the season’s first series and was an instant focal point of the Chiefs offense. He caught five of his eight targets for 83 yards, and also contributed a 35-yard run. It was probably not a coincidence Patrick Mahomes had his best day of the season, as well.
Meanwhile, Addison completed his three-game suspension and caught four passes for 114 yards, just barely being dragged down short of the goal line on an 81-yard catch-and-run. Fellow wideout Justin Jefferson (10 receptions, 126 yards) also had his best game of the season, with Addison’s presence likely a contributing factor.
QB Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
Making his first NFL start, the rookie from Ole Miss injected some life into the Giants offense with his athleticism and his versatility. Although his numbers on the stat sheet were rather pedestrian (13-for-20, 111 passing yards, plus 10 carries, 54 rushing yards), Dart did throw for a touchdown and run for another – finishing Sunday as the QB6 on the week. Not a bad start to the Dart era.
Fantasy football losers for Week 4
QB Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
Then again … Dart got perhaps the worst possible break with the loss of star wide receiver Malik Nabers to a season-ending knee injury in his first half as a starter. Fantasy managers are now left wondering what might have been had Dart and Nabers been able to grow together for the rest of the season. Time for RB Cam Skattebo and WR Wan’Dale Robinson to step up.
QB Daniel Jones and RB Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
Both Colts standouts had long touchdowns negated by a miscue from one of their teammates. The same teammate, in fact. Jones lost a TD when WR Adonai Mitchell lost the ball just before he crossed the goal line on what would have been a 76-yard scoring play. And then later in the game, Taylor had what would have been a 53-yard TD run called back because of a holding call … on Mitchell. Both players had decent games, but they could have been much better.
RB David Montgomery, Detroit Lions
The problem with treating Montgomery as an every-week fantasy starter is that there’s always the risk of him being overshadowed by the Lions’ other big playmakers. Against the Browns, RB Jahmyr Gibbs ran for 91 yards and a TD, while star wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a pair of short-yardage touchdowns. That didn’t leave much room for Montgomery to shine. He had just 12 yards on nine carries and a single target in the passing game.
WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Also getting lost in the shuffle of a high-powered offense, McConkey has surprisingly been the third-most productive wide receiver on the Chargers through the first four games. He hit rock bottom in Sunday’s game against the Giants, catching just one pass (on six targets) for 11 yards. Meanwhile, QB Justin Herbert continued to look for Quentin Johnston (8-98, TD) and Keenan Allen (5-37) ahead of McConkey.
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