Fantasy Football Must Starts Week 4

By James Collier

Week 4 of the NFL season signals the start of the international games with the Jaguars taking on the Falcons at Wembley. This just means it’s important to get all of our start/sit decisions out of the way as early as possible with the London game kicking off earlier than the main slate. 

If you still have any question marks then maybe our selection of players we think that you must start this week will help you out. 

Last Week's Picks

Before we get started, let’s recap our picks from last week. It was a solid week with 50% of our picks surpassing expectations and just the one dud from Drake London. 

  • James Collier: Amari Cooper (ECR Rank 21, Actual 10)
  • Tom Strachan: Kenneth Walker (9, 3)
  • Rob Ward: Russell Wilson (14, 20)
  • Rhys Knott: Sam LaPorta (8, 1)
  • TFFC: Zay Flowers (23, 35)
  • Ali Cook: Drake London (28, 79)

Josh Kelley vs Las Vegas Raiders

If you’ve rostered Josh Kelley for the last couple of weeks then the chances are you’ve got no interest in starting him this week. And after the two performances he’s just put up, I can’t blame you. But there are a few reasons I think he might finally prove worthy of a place in our starting lineups (as long as Ekeler doesn’t play that is).  

Firstly, the last two weeks have significantly lowered our expectations and so we aren’t expecting top end RB2 numbers from Kelley. Secondly, the Chargers have just lost one of their best pass catchers in Mike Williams. Their game plan changed significantly when Ekeler got injured (40 rush attempts Week 1 compared to 36 combined in Week 2 and 3) but with Williams missing, they just might need to go back to significantly featuring their running backs. And finally after some close games in recent weeks it seems unlikely that the Raiders, particularly without their starting quarterback, are going to be able to keep up with the Chargers. Again, this should lead to more work for Kelley. 

Ja’Marr Chase @ Tennessee Titans (Tom Strachan)

Of course anyone that rosters Chase is going to be starting him every week but there have been serious question marks over the Bengals offense to start this season. But Tom (@NFL_TStrack) thinks we can be confident of Chase being back to the elite fantasy option we drafted him as this week. 

“It was fair to worry about the Bengals’ offense before Week 3. After all, he totaled 17.2 PPR points while the Bengals offense looked truly awful, and everyone and their mother had questions about Joe Burrow‘s health. After Week 3’s comfortable destruction of the LA Rams, where Chase totaled 12 touches for 141 yards, Chase reestablished himself as one of the true alphas of the NFL. In Week 4, the Bengals face the pass-funnel Titans defense, who are solid against the run but have allowed the fourth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers (149.8), along with the fourth most receiving yardage (684) and the fourth-highest catch rate (75%). The Titans simply can’t stop the Bengals, and Chase is a layup start this week.”

Courtland Sutton @ Chicago Bears (Rob Ward)

Rob (@robwardrw) is not letting the shellacking the Broncos received at the hands of the Dolphins last week deter him from tipping a Bronco, Courtland Sutton to have a big game this time out. Thankfully the matchup against the equally awful Bears helps.  

“Last week in this column I went all in on Russell Wilson, whose modest mid-teens points return (depending on your league) isn’t quite what I’d hoped for. That said, he had two TDs called back on penalties, as the Broncos discipline melted in the Miami sun. Life’s winners don’t accept a defeat, they find as many excuses as they possibly can to justify one. So I’ll be claiming a moral victory. This week, perhaps through pig-headedness, I’m doubling down on the boys in Bronco orange and their dream matchup against the hapless Bears. There’s nothing graceful about Courtland Sutton. He’s a big lump of a receiver with little finesse. But give me that big body, particularly in the end zone, against the worst defense in the NFL. For all the attempts to force Jerry Jeudy into high end WR2 territory by fantasy players over the years, Sutton remains Russ’s favoured weapon. Actually, the word ‘weapon’ might be a bit strong to describe anyone involved in this Broncos offense right now, unless of course you’re using the derogative to describe their head coach.”

Josh Palmer vs Las Vegas Raiders (Rhys Knott)

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Rhys (@wrhys_writes) is on a bit of a heater after calling two explosive performances from Lions pass catchers in the previous two weeks. But with the Lions playing on Thursday this week he’s had to go for Josh Palmer of the Chargers. Unlike me, he doesn’t have any concerns about the Chargers getting out to a healthy lead and not airing it out, “Justin Herbert is going to throw whatever is happening and Palmer’s targets have gone from 1 to 5 to 7 in 2023”. With Mike Williams out for the season and rookie Quentin Johnston not yet up to speed, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Palmer get an even bigger share of the targets this week.

Javonte Williams @ Chicago Bears (The Fantasy Football Combine)

The boys from @TheFFCombine are also targeting the Bears defense in their matchup with the Broncos. This time tipping running back Javonte Williams to continue his recovery from his ACL and LCL injuries and put in his first real fantasy relevant performance of the season. 

“This pick is fairly straightforward. The Bears are bad but are particularly bad against opposing running backs where they are second only to, you guessed it, the Broncos. Williams is looking better and apart from when the game got out of hand last week, has seen his snap share and workload steadily increase. The Broncos offense has been able to put up points and should have no problem doing so against the Bears, giving Williams plenty of opportunities to score.”

Dalton Kincaid vs Miami Dolphins (Kev White)

Kev (@dynastygoat) is back to round us off this week and he’s targeting the matchup of the week which sees the Dolphins travel to the Bills. 

“Playing in this week’s highest projected points total, Kincaid is a strong streamer option who can outperform his current ranking of TE21. He was impressive in the first two weeks of the season, catching nine passes on ten targets, before a quiet game in last week’s blowout victory over the Commanders. Kincaid gives you exposure to a potential shootout, in neutral game-script the volume is there – he just needs his first touchdown in the NFL to be a strong play this week.”

Feature image credit: Dylan Buell/Getty Images

JAMES COLLIER

Lead Fantasy Football Analyst

A Washington fan since the early 2010’s, James had no choice but to turn to fantasy football in search of happiness – and it wasn’t long until it became an obsession. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesc294.

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