Week 4's NFL All-Stars

By Rhys Knott

In a lacklustre week for several NFL offenses some of the candidates for Week 4’s NFL All-Star team come firmly out of left field. Beginning with the quarterbacks. It could be Zach Wilson, but the fumble cost him and alongside some putrid officiating cost the Jets. It could have been Justin Fields, he led the league in passing yards, but he fumbled once and threw a pick

Week 4's NFL All-Star Quarterbacks

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C.J. Stroud made a strong case too, but statistically Josh Allen was the best quarterback in Week 4. Allen went 21/25 and racked up 320 yards. He also threw four touchdown passes and didn’t concede any turnovers. Allen is having an interesting season so far, in Week 1 and Week 3 he had passer ratings of 62.7 and 79.9 after giving the ball away. But in Week 2 and Week 4, he finished with 124.5 and 158.3. All of this appears to be good news for the Jags’ defense in Week 5. 

Week 4's NFL All-Star Running Back

Christian McCaffrey 

As was discussed on this week’s podcast, he’s just not human. CMC has recorded 600 yards of offence in four weeks. The 49ers have 1,631 yards as a team, so McCaffrey is responsible for about 38% of the team’s yards. That’s partly a result of having an inexperienced quarterback, but with Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Deebo Samuel on the roster, Kyle Shanahan should be sharing the touches out a bit more if he wants his superstar running back to make it to February. 

Week 4's NFL All-Star Wide Receivers

AJ Brown 

AJ’s “toys out of the pram” tantrum back in Week 2 worked a treat. After feeling distinctly unloved at the start of the season “swole batman” as he likes to be called has caught 18 passes in the last two weeks for 306 yards. 

His Week 4 performance saw him haul in his first two touchdowns of the season on his way to racking up 175 yards on his nine receptions. 

Nico Collins 

The Nico Collins renaissance continues apace. He’s never caught more than 37 passes in a single season, but after the first month of the 2023 season, he’s already snagged 22 of the blighters. He’s already set a new record for touchdown catches in a season and his 68.6% catch rate is 12.7% better than his 2022 rate. 

This week he grabbed two touchdown passes for the first time in his career. His 168 receiving yards was a new best, it was 22 yards more than he managed a fortnight ago against the Colts. He also caught seven passes for the second time in his career. The last time he did it was, yes, you guessed it, in Week 2 against the Colts. He’s absolutely on fire. 

Puka Nacua 

Talking about receivers who can’t be stopped it’s Puka time. He only caught nine passes this week, 10 fewer than he managed in Week 2. He’s caught 39 passes in four games though, so, as the kids say Puka is fire. 

He made the most of his receptions this week though, he averaged 18.1 yards per reception as he gobbled up the yards. Even though his longest reception only went for 32 yards he ended the game with 163 yards. And he caught his first scoring pass to boot. 

Week 4's NFL All-Star Tight End

Jonnu Smith 

He did his best to get the Falcons passing attack going with his 95 yards. Smith might want to play in London more often. His 6 receptions is the most of his career and the first time he’d caught that many passes since 2019. The 95 yards was the most he’s managed in a single game too. 17 more than he managed back in that 2017 game. Don’t be surprised if Dawson and Knox sees a lot of targets against that Jags defense this week. 

Week 4's All-star Defense

Seahawks 

Well, they only conceded three points, which is impressive. And they created three turnovers, which will usually win you a game. And they only let the Giants convert eight (!) of their third or fourth down attempts which is a pretty impressive number. But with a huge assist from the Giants’ banged up and completely bamboozled offensive line they recorded 11 sacks! That puts them joint top of the league with the Bills and Chargers. Although the Seahawks only managed five sacks in their first three games, they might not stay at the top for long. 

Feature Image Credit: SacTown Sports

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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