Fantasy football starts and sits for Week 4

Week 4 has a surprise addition to the bye week teams as the Steelers and Titans game got postponed following the Titans have a number of positive tests for COVID pop up following their Week 3 game.

With that in mind, I’ll be starting the quarterback of stream portion of this post a week early. Otherwise, here are the players you should be starting and sitting in Week 4.

Running back

Start

Devin Singletary, Bills: Singletary hasn’t been that homerun pick that many expected, but he has a chance to have his best week against the Raiders who give up the most fantasy points to opposing running back, according to Fantasy Pros. It should also be noted that he could lose some touches with Zack Moss returning to practice, but even then there should be enough opportunity for Singletary to tear up this matchup. He is coming off his first 100 total yard performance, and that should continue in a big way this week.

Kenyan Drake, Cardinals: The biggest disappointment with Drake in fantasy is how often Kyler Murray is digging into his production. This matchup with the Panthers should give Drake the opportunity to finally have a big game. They give up over 30 points per game to opposing running backs, and Drake has consistently gotten over 15 carries each game so far. Expect him to take advantage here.

Sits

Miles Sanders, Eagles: Sanders has two things going against him this week. First, the Eagles have almost no healthy weapons at the skill positions. The wide receivers have especially be hit hard. Second, that makes it easier for a Chargers run defense that has held opposing running backs to the fewest points per game to focus on stopping Sanders and making the rest of the offense beat them.

Ronald Jones II or any Bucs RB: Tampa Bay will be facing the 49ers who are holding opposing running backs to just 12 fantasy points per game. None of these running backs have really done anything to separate themselves from the pack. If you got hit by the surprise bye week and have to start one, you can hope for a Leonard Fournette touchdown, but none of these guys are attractive options given the current state of the running back by committee and the matchup.

Wide receiver

Start

Odell Beckham Jr. (watch injury report) and Jarvis Landry, Browns: Cleveland will be facing a Cowboys defense that hasn’t really stopped anyone through the air. It may seem obvious to start these two each week, but the production isn’t always there either due to matchup or the Browns relying on their running game. This is a week you should feel confident playing either or both of these guys. (Beckham was listed as a limited participant in practice on Thursday).

DeVante Parker, Dolphins: Parker hasn’t been 100 percent the past few weeks, but after a long rest following Thursday Night Football, he should be ready to take on a Seahawks defense that is desperately trying to make every game as hard for Russell Wilson as possible. It should help that Miami could fall behind early, which means plenty of garbage time targets for Parker.

Sit

Julian Edelman, Patriots: Tom Brady isn’t in New England anymore. This offense doesn’t work the same way, and it is clearly geared more towards taking advantage of Cam Newton’s dual threat ability. Edelman had one game in Week 2 where he looked like his old self, but otherwise he hasn’t looked great. He has become a matchup based play. It should also be noted that the Chiefs allow the fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers.

Amari Cooper, Cowboys: Cooper has been known to disappear from time to time when facing tough matchups. Denzel Ward is as good as they come, so this may be one of those game you may want to avoid playing Cooper if possible.

Tight ends

Mike Gesicki, Dolphins: Gesicki has scored a touchdown in the past two weeks with the Dolphins, and now he will be going up against a Seahawks defense that won’t be putting up much resistance. It is rare I’ll list multiple Dolphins in a week, but the Seahawks defense is just that bad, and Ryan Fitz Patrick should be able to do well against them. Even if most of his production comes in garbage time.

T.J. Hockenson, Lions: Hockenson is the leading receiver for the Lions, and he is facing the best matchup for a tight end in fantasy, the Saints. They allow just over 20 fantasy points to tight ends per week. The only thing working against Hockenson is that Matthew Stafford has been spreading the ball around pretty well. This should be one of the better weeks for the young tight end, though.

Quarterback Stream

For those unfamiliar with this section, it isn’t really a start or sit. Because the way the NFL works right now, if you have a reliable quarterback you play them every week regardless of matchup. There are still weeks where they will have byes and you need a replacement. These are guys you can probably still pickup from the waiver wire, play this week, get good production and then drop them following the game (unless you are that worried about your starter).

Nick Foles, Bears: We all witnessed Foles’ magic before, and he continued it with an improbable comeback against the Falcons last week. This week he is playing the Colts who aren’t exactly a good matchup (in fact they are the worst for quarterbacks), but Foles may end up being one of those guys you hang onto past this week, especially if you were rolling with Ryan Tannehill in fantasy.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dolphins: We already listed a couple of Fitzpatrick’s targets this week, so it should come as no surprise that you should be adding the quarterback himself. Seattle has a putrid defense, but their offense is incredible. That is a great formula in fantasy for the team facing them to have plenty of fantasy production. Just call Fitzpatrick the garbage man this week in the best way possible.

Joe Burrow, Bengals: Okay okay, I get it this is a Bengals blog, and this comes off as a bit homerish. However, Burrow has really earned consideration in fantasy already. The past couple of weeks he has gone over 300 passing yards, thrown at least two touchdowns and has avoided throwing picks. Not to mention he is second in the league with 91 completions, so if your league cares about that he may need a permanent residence on your roster. Also the Jaguars are the sixth best matchup for opposing quarterbacks.

Defense stream

Jets defense against the Broncos

Broncos defense against the Jets

Rams defense against the Giants

Cardinals defense against the Panthers