Fantasy football stats: The best of Week 4
A lot of bad defenses in Week 4 means a lot of high-scoring means a lot of big fantasy days. If you used these guys, good job.
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Eight different defenses this week (so far) have put up their worst fantasy scoring week of the season, with four other units putting up two or fewer fantasy points without that being a season worst.
What that means is that offenses in Week 4 did well. There were a lot of points, and a lot of yards, and a lot of names offering a lot of fantasy production. The week’s list of the best performances could had gone twice as deep at some positions.
And what that means is that the ones who did make the list had super-elite weeks. Congratulations, fantasy owners of those guys:
Best quarterbacks in Week 4
Eli Manning, NYG (300 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 1 rushing yard, 1 rushing touchdown, 32 fantasy points)
Well that was weird. After 38 total fantasy points in the three weeks leading up to Week 4, Manning put up 32 fantasy points in that game alone. And he did it on the road, on a Thursday night, when most quarterbacks and most teams have gone decidedly in the “be more awful” direction. Sure, it helps that Washington’s defense is pretty bad, but that was still fairly out of nowhere. Manning does this on occasion -- he had 28 fantasy points in Week 1 of last year before everything fell apart -- but it’s proof that he still has a game like that in him.
Andrew Luck, IND (393 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, -1 rushing yard, 29 fantasy points)
So this is the fourth week of this segment, and Luck's third time on the Best Of list for a given week. Unless Tom Brady or Alex Smith can put up 40-plus fantasy points Monday night, Luck will have a 20-point lead on all other quarterbacks. It's been an incredible start for the third-year Colt, with 14 total touchdowns against four interceptions, and he's laying claim to a spot in the fantasy quarterback rankings right up there with the last big-name Indianapolis quarterback.
Next game: The Colts play against a Baltimore team in Week 5 that has done well against opposing quarterbacks thus far. Then again, those quarterbacks were Andy Dalton, Ben Roethlisberger, Brian Hoyer and Cam Newton -- all varying degrees of good, none anything even close to Luck. He's a must-start.
Aaron Rodgers, GB (302 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 8 rushing yards, 28 fantasy points)
This is the No. 3 quarterback performance from the weekend, meaning six other 20-plus-point fantasy performances at quarterback didn't make the cut. Good week for quarterbacks. Anyway, Rodgers was right when he exhorted Green Bay fans to "relax" entering the week; it's easy for a fan base to get scared by a slow start, but the Packers went against some good defenses to start the season. This is a good team, a good offense, and I'm betting on more consistency from the unit going forward than we've seen so far.
Next game: The Packers host the Vikings on a short week Thursday night. So Aaron Rodgers gets a home game against a poor team on a short week. Wheeeee ...
Best running backs in Week 4
Matt Asiata, MIN (78 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 22 receiving yards, 27 fantasy points)
I knew the Atlanta run defense was bad, but this was ridiculous. In addition to everything Asiata did, the Falcons let Jerick McKinnon run for 135 yards, and Teddy Bridgewater rush for a touchdown (which Teddy does not do, even in video games). Asiata now has two games like this out of five appearances as a starter in the NFL, so at some point I suppose I'll have to reevaluate my "he's not very good" opinion of his ability, but I'm chalking this one up to Atlanta's defense.
Next game: Noted it above. Short week, at Green Bay, Thursday night. The Packers’ defense is better against running backs than the Falcons’, though not by much. Still, I’m not buying it yet. But in the interest of fairness, I’ll admit to be eyebrows being raised.
DeMarco Murray, DAL (149 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns, 6 receiving yards, 26 fantasy points)
Four weeks, 80 fantasy points. That’s ... that’s crazy. He has five touchdowns in four games, at least 131 yards from scrimmage in every game is averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Go on and have yourself a season, DeMarco. You’re the No. 1 running back in fantasy.
Frank Gore, SF (119 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown, 22 fantasy points)
Gore got 11 of his fantasy points on one very odd, very broken play in the second quarter, when Colin Kaepernick threw the ball across his body, across the field to an everyone-forgot-about-him Gore. It was his only reception of the game. The nicer thing for a long-term look at Gore from Sunday's game is the fact that he ran the ball 24 times and averaged 5 yards a carry. After 35 carries through three weeks and only four yards a carry in that time, it was uplifting to see Gore produce a little more.
Best wide receivers in Week 4
Steve Smith Sr., BAL (139 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, 25 fantasy points)
How many times does it happen that the guy we all talk about as the one who could go off in a given week actually does, especially when our reasoning is almost entirely soft factors? I have no way of checking this, but I would imagine it doesn’t happen much. Smith is just a different kind. One of his two scores came on a tipped pass intended for a teammate, but really, it’s irrelevant -- we all knew Smith would go off against his former team, and Smith went off against his former team.
Next game: The Ravens travel to Indianapolis for Week 5. For all their faults, the Colts have actually been not-terrible against opposing wide receivers. Still, Smith has 41 targets and 25 catches through four games, with three scores and 429 yards. Are you benching him? I'm not.
Antonio Brown, PIT (131 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, 25 fantasy points)
Can we talk about how fun (read: not fun) it is to play against Brown, Smith and Aaron Rodgers this week? My team had a big day, but I never stood even a little bit of a chance. Anyway, Brown now has 73 fantasy points in four weeks, with five touchdowns and 427 yards. I ranked him my No. 6 wide receiver to start the season, and apparently I was underrating him.
Next game: I literally laughed out loud. The league’s best receiver so far gets to play Jacksonville in Week 5. Which of course means he’ll have, like three catches for 27 yards or something. But in reality, all you can do here is duck and cover. And hope you aren’t playing against him.
Randall Cobb, GB (113 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, 23 fantasy points)
Cobb now has five scores in four games, which is great. But, as I had noted before, too much of his value entering Sunday was tied up in those scores, with only 126 receiving yards in the first three weeks. So I’m looking more at his seven catches and 113 yards than I am at the two scores. The yardage is what we needed to see from Cobb.
Next game: Even if Cobb hadn’t shown the yardage ability, he’s be a strong flex play or WR2. But now that he’s shown it, and they’re playing Minnesota at home on a short week? He’s a WR1 in Week 5.
Best tight ends in Week 4
Larry Donnell, NYG (54 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns, 23 fantasy points)
In the days leading up to the Thursday night game, I received several questions of "Donnell or Delanie Walker"? Specifically those two, and I'm not sure why. I recommended Donnell most of the time, under the thinking that it was better to play it safe than risk Walker's injury and quarterback situation. So I can say that I recommended Donnell as a good start, even if I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it. Donnell had 31 yards and no scores in his career entering this season, and now has 25 catches, 236 yards and four scores. Welcome to relevance.
Next game: No, he’s not going to do that again. But at this point, Donnell is a solid TE1, and hosting Atlanta in Week 5 does nothing to change that.
Heath Miller, PIT (85 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 14 fantasy points)
Undoubtedly, someone is going to come at me for my general Miller disdain to this point, as I’ve been vocal about his fantasy irrelevance all season. But I stand by it. Miller will always have games like this occasionally (though 10 catches does catch the eye). But then he’ll go back to his four-catch, 40-yard games for another few weeks. And if you can guess when the occasional big performance will show up, you’re better at this than me. More frustrating than not.
Delanie Walker, TEN (84 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 14 fantasy points)
And look at that, even if people didn’t take my advice, they weren’t too bad off going with Walker. The tight end managed to produce despite a quarterback who hadn’t thrown an NFL pass since 2011. Walker now has three scores and 317 yards in four games. Not bad for a guy I labeled as a fluke before the season.
Next game: The Titans host the well-rested Brown in Week 5. Walker is a good start in fantasy no matter who plays quarterback, but you'd definitely rather see Jake Locker back on the field.
Best kickers in Week 4
Nick Novak, SD (4,4 FG, 3/3 XP, 17 fantasy points)
Blair Walsh, MIN (4/5 FG, 3/3 XP, 17 fantasy points)
Two of the top-rated kickers in fantasy had the two best games Sunday. It’s nice when things work like they are supposed to.
Best defense/special teams in Week 4
Philadelphia Eagles (26 points allowed, 1 interception, 3 touchdowns, 4 sacks, 23 fantasy points)
This was a weird game. There were 47 points scored, yet the two quarterbacks combined for barely 400 passing yards, and only one player went for more than 100 yards. The reasons for it are obvious, with the Eagles scoring three D/ST touchdowns in the first half, but looking at the numbers after the fact, there’s a definite disconnect.
