Thursday night is the fourth Thursday-night game of the season. Through the first three, home teams lead in overall scoring, 118-36. None of the three games has been particularly competitive, and road teams have struggled mightily.
Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 4: Giants vs. Washington
The Giants enter Thursday night trying to buck the Thursday-night trends so far this season. Can they do better than their road counterparts?
Greg Fiume
It's just three games, so who knows how much of a trend it is yet, but fantasy owners might want to tread lightly with the New York Giants Thursday, when they travel to Washington. Also, Washington players might be more intriguing than normal this week. How lightly? How intriguing? Let's look:
Giants
Start in every league: Rashad Jennings, Victor Cruz
Start if you're desperate: Larry Donnell
Bench: Eli Manning, Rueben Randle, Josh Brown, Defense/special teams
Sure, the Giants on the road might be scary, but Jennings has played himself into RB1 territory. His heavy usage makes him an injury risk, but as long as he’s playing, you’re probably using him. ... Cruz finally showed why he was highly drafted in Week 3; he’s a mid-level WR2, but it’s hard to imagine, in a week with six byes, that he isn’t starting for everyone.
While Donnell put up his worst game of the young season in Week 3, he’s still shown enough to be on the tight-end map. He’s my TE13 this week, largely because of the road game, but you could do worse.
Manning’s numbers have improved each game, and the team’s Week 3 win was his first game this season without an interception. Still, he’s got work to do to even crack the top 20 or so quarterbacks. ... Randle’s targets are high (17 the last two games), but he only has 67 total yards on the season, so he’s got a lot more to prove. ... If this Thursday game holds to form, Brown might not get a lot of kicking opportunities. ... Only nine fantasy points through three games does not bode well for the Giants’ defense.
Washington
Start in every league: Kirk Cousins, Alfred Morris, Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson, Niles Paul, Kai Forbath
Start if you’re desperate: ...
Bench: Roy Helu Jr., Defense/special teams
I remain a Cousins skeptic, but as long as he has all these weapons and is going against a poor defense, he’s going to put up numbers. ... Two touchdowns and 253 yards through three games means Morris is a must-start. ... After both had a rough game in Week 2, Jackson and Garcon looked much better in Week 3. Monitor Jackson’s health, but it would be tough to bunch either one of them. ... Until Jordan Reed returns -- whenever that is -- Paul slots in as a low-end TE1 in most leagues. ... With all these offensive weapons, you’ve got to figure Forbath will get his share of kicking chances.
Helu has been interesting so far, but he (and Darrel Young) have served more to vulture fantasy points from Morris than provide value in his own right. If it's truly desperate, and a PPR league, he's not awful, but you probably need to look elsewhere. ... The Washington defense has only performed well in its game against Jacksonville -- all games won't be that way.
