2018 Fantasy Football Week 4 Rankings

It always feels super early when you have to scramble to find a quarterback in Week 4 because Cam Newton is already on his bye week.  Or maybe you've been super excited about Adrian Peterson or Christian McCaffrey being a top-10 RB through 3 weeks.  Well, you'll have to wait until Week 5 to get either back in your lineup.  I'm just happy Jordan Reed isn't hurt yet.  To me, that's a big win.

In case you missed it, I posted my first ever Rest of Season Rankings earlier this week.  I'll try to update that regularly throughout the season.  For now, let's get right to the Week 4 rankings!

2018 Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ - Expert Consensus Rankings

QUARTERBACKS
In was 5 spots higher on Matthew Stafford versus the ECR for the second week in a row because I believed in Week 2 more than I believed in Week 1.  While he didn't have a huge fantasy day against the Patriots, he did nearly have 20 fantasy points and was a viable top-15 play.  I'll continue to rank him in my top-10, and I'll also continue to rank his "big 3" WRs in my top-20 or so.  I stayed down on Jimmy Garoppolo because I thought the Kansas City defense would play a little better in their home opener.  They did pretty well in the first half, but Jimmy G got his fantasy points in the 3rd quarter before suffering what ending up being a season-ending knee injury.  The experts were right to rank Garoppolo as a top-12 play, but it looks like I won't have the dilemma about how to rank him for the rest of this season.

This week, I'm not too high on many quarterbacks, but I'm 3 spots higher than the experts on Big Ben.  There have been some amazing fantasy numbers for QBs to start this season, and Roethlisberger is less than 3 fantasy points from being in the top-5 through 3 games (if he hadn't lost two fumbles, he'd be right there).  I'm not afraid of this Baltimore defense right now without C.J. Mosley, and Ben threw for over 500 yards and a pair of TDs at Heinz Field in this matchup last year.  He's better at home than on the road, and that is especially true with his matchups against the Ravens.  I think he'll make the most of this one and finish in the top-5 in Week 4.

Carson Wentz is a guy I'm just not that confident in just yet, and I'm 5 spots lower than the ECR on him.  He had a pretty weak first game back in Week 3, throwing for 255 yards, 1 TD & 1 INT.  This week he's facing a Titans defense that has been pretty tough against opposing QBs to start the season.  Considering he likely won't have Alshon back yet, I think it's possible Wentz finishes outside of the top-15 fantasy QBs again.

RUNNING BACKS
In Week 3, I was really high versus the ECR on Chris Ivory (+17), and I mentioned that was likely because I wasn't even ranking LeSean McCoy.  I thought Shady would miss this game, and he did.  I also said Ivory could be a FLEX play based on volume alone, and he was.  He finished with 126 yards from scrimmage and was a top-20 RB. 

I was also pretty high on Rashaad Penny though (+12 versus ECR), and my gut call was way off.  I thought after Week 2, maybe Penny would get a chance to play a lot more against Dallas.  That did NOT happen, and Chris Carson looked like the clear lead back on his way to a top-10 finish.  One gut call that was right was my feeling that Alfred Morris would find the end zone in Kansas City.  I was +13 versus the ECR on The Butler, and like Ivory, he finished as a top-20 RB.  I was way down on Jamaal Williams (-14) because I thought Aaron Jones would hit the ground running after serving his 2 game suspension.  Jones clearly looked like the better RB of the two against Washington, and Jamaal Williams barely finished in the top-50.

This week, I'm high on Peyton Barber (+10) and Buck Allen (+7).  I realize Barber is facing a stingy Bears defense this week, but he should have the opportunity to at least get things going in the first half.  Peyton has the 14th most carries through 3 games.  He just hasn't done a lot with those touches.  Well, the Bucs seem committed to him right now, and opportunity means a lot in fantasy football.  I think Tampa Bay will keep this game close, and Barber could even find the end zone for the first time this year.  If that happens, he'll easily find himself in the RB2 conversation.  Speaking of touchdowns, Javorius Allen has 4 of them through three weeks.  I think this Steelers/Ravens game will be high scoring, and I think Allen will be a part of that scoring.  Fire him up as a FLEX. Who am I down on this week?  That would be Kenyan Drake (-10).  I know last week's game flow was weird, but even looking at Weeks 1 &2, I have a hard time putting him in my top-20.  He just feels like he belongs in the rankings near Dion Lewis and James White rather than Marshawn Lynch and Alex Collins.  I think the Patriots will bounce back this week and dominate the Dolphins, and Drake could find himself running low on touches.
WIDE RECEIVERS
In Week 3, I stayed high on John Brown again (+8), and while he didn't finish in the top-30, he did have a serviceable 86 yards receiving and was the top target for Flacco for the third week in a row.  I was also high on Tyler Lockett (+9) who is putting up good numbers with Doug Baldwin sidelined.  He scored a touchdown for the third time in as many games and was a top-12 WR.  However, I was also high on Jag receivers Keelan Cole (+8) and Dede Westbrook (+9), but that game did not go like I thought it would.  This was a defensive stalemate, and not many fantasy points were had in the 9-6 Titans win game.  I hated to be down on Larry Fitzgerald (-13) because that had burned me in the past, but he hadn't done much with Sam Bradford at the helm, he was facing a tough Bears defense, and he was dealing with a hamstring injury.  This was a good call because Fitz finished with just 2 catches for 9 yards.  With Josh Rosen now the starter, I've bumped him up ever so slightly, but he'll be hard to trust until he shows he can put up numbers with the rookie. This week, I'm high on Chris Hogan (+12) and down on Allen Robinson (-10).  Hogan's numbers have been all over the place so far, but so have Tom Brady's.  I think both get back on track in this game, and Hogan will end up near 100 yards receiving.  With Josh Gordon possibly in the lineup this week and Edelman coming back next week, this might be the last game to feel somewhat confident in Hogan for a while.  As for Robinson, the targets have been there but the production has not.  If he gets more work in the slot in this game, I could see him doing OK.  But if he lines up mostly outside, I think Trubisky will continue to struggle getting him the ball, especially against Brent Grimes. TIGHT ENDS I stayed high on Will Dissly in Week 3 (+8), but he came back down to earth and was virtually a non factor against the Cowboys.  Since I was down on Jimmy G (incorrectly as I mentioned earlier), I was also down on George Kittle.  The experts were ranking him as a top-5 fantasy TE, and I had him 9 spots lower than the ECR.  The experts were right on this call, so I whiffed on both of my tight end picks last week. This week, I'm high on Geoff Swaim (+10) and down on David Njoku (-7).  Njoku was on a lot of preseason sleeper lists, and some of that might've been due to the Hard Knocks bump.  Some of it was certainly for his hands and athletic ability, but he has done very little early on.  He's averaging 3 catches for 23 yards right now, and that ain't good.  I'm not ranking him in my top-12 until he shows me something with Baker.  As for Swaim, I'm not exactly recommending you start him because he's still outside of my top-20 TEs.  But I did rank him way higher than the ECR, so I thought I'd at least mention him.  He has nearly the same numbers as Njoku through 3 games, and yet the ECR is nearly 25 spots lower on Swaim.  Geoff had his best game last week, catching 5 balls for 47 yards.  The Cowboy receivers are hot garbage, and I would be surprised if Swaim wasn't at least a little involved in the passing game for the second week in a row. DEFENSES

I've been nailing my DST picks so far.  Last week I was high on the Rams (+4) and down on the Ravens (-4).  The Rams were the #2 fantasy defense through two weeks, and I believed in them against the Chargers.  They had a blocked punt for a defensive TD and were a top-5 fantasy defense in Week 3.  As for Baltimore, I was worried about them with C.J. Mosley out of the lineup.  While they did hold the Broncos to 14 points, they also didn't finish anywhere near the top-10 fantasy defenses.  They nearly had a pick-6 which would've gotten them there, but that got called back due to a block in the back penalty on the return.  Still, I think this defense could struggle to be in the top-10 until Mosley is healthy, and I'm not ranking them in my top-10 this week in Pittsburgh.

This week, I'm high on the Jets (+8), who have been a top-5 fantasy defense this season.  Now they're facing a Jags offense that just scored 6 points against the Titans.  Even if Fournette plays, I don't think he'll be at 100%.  I think the Jets could sneak into the top-12 this week. I'm down 10 spots versus the ECR on the Vikings tomorrow night because that Rams offense is scary good.  I think this game could end up more of a shootout than a defensive struggle, and I don't see the Vikings holding LA to under 27 points.  I wouldn't count on Minnesota as a top-12 fantasy defense this week.

Good luck to everyone in Week 4!  

(Except you, Philly Jon...)

Cheers,

Bart