Still better than Field Yates, Week 4 Fantasy Football Picks

Must Start QBs

Philip Rivers, San Diego: The Saints defense is absolute trash, it’s impossible to find one positive thing about the Saints defensively this season. Guess who Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers play this week? If you guessed the New Orleans Saints, you have mastered the art of foreshadowing. And if you’re a Chargers fan or a Philip Rivers owner, you can thank the man upstairs as they say because he is in for one big week. The Saints have allowed over 35 points in two games already this season, including last week where the balanced attack of the Atlanta Falcons put up 45 points in the Superdome. So even if the Chargers depleted offense worries you, you can be comfortable and confident slotting gunslinging Philip Rivers in your lineups this week.

Drew Brees, New Orleans: Drew Brees lands on my must start list for QBs for the second straight week. Last week Brees ended up throwing for 3 touchdowns and 376 yards in an absolute shootout in the Superdome against the Atlanta Falcons. This week, he heads back to San Diego where he started his career and spent a large portion of his time in the NFL. The Chargers have been very lackluster to say the least defensively so far this season, so the fact that Brees has a chance to exploit them this week makes him a great play in every format and league.

Kirk Cousins, Washington: Every QB that has faced the Browns this season has had at least 275 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 20 fantasy points or more. The Cleveland Browns now go on the road for the second week in a row to face the Washington Redskins led by Cousins. Despite his struggles recently, Cousins still has almost 1,000 yards and can have a 3 to 4 touchdown game at any time. Expect the chances of this happening sooner rather than later to be high with Cleveland coming to FedEx field.

Must Start RBs

Cj Anderson, Denver: Cj Anderson has been a pleasant surprise for fantasy owners this season who took the risk on him. Last season he was a first round pick and was one of the biggest busts all year. So far this season though for Cj Anderson he has 2 touchdowns and over 200 yards in 3 games. Coming off a down week, Cj wasn’t used as much in the Broncos win against the Bengals because they stacked up the box and made the rookie Trevor Siemian beat them (which he did with ease). This week he gets the mediocre Tampa Bay Buccaneers who got torched by Todd Gurley last week for 2 touchdowns and over 80 yards. Expect a very solid all-around game from Anderson this week and hopefully a few trips to the end zone.  

Carlos Hyde, San Francisco: This should be Hyde’s easiest matchup to date at home, 49ers coach Chip Kelly if anybody would be the guy to know what to expect from Dallas’ defense because he faced these guys six times in the past three years when he was the coach of Philadelphia. Hyde has had very strong showings in two of his first three games under Kelly. Last week he ran for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns on a ton of touches. Expect more of the same this week, and make sure Carlos Hyde is starting in all your lineups.

Le’Veon Bell,  Pittsburgh: He is back. Known as one of the most feared players in the NFL and one of the most dominating RBs we have seen in some time, Le’Veon Bell is preparing for his first game of the season after finishing his 3 game suspension last week. After his last season was cut short due to injury and a different suspension, Bell is ready to prove to everyone that he is still the best back in the NFL. Being in the dynamic Steelers offense has always made Bell an appealing player for fantasy purposes but he has shown over the last few years he is significantly better than anyone else at his position when he plays. In his first week back this season, Bell gets the Kansas City Chiefs who are coming off a phenomenal game in which they picked off Ryan Fitzpatrick 6 different times. So expect the Steelers to be running the ball early and often against this dangerous pass defense. And for Bell owners this is very good news because when Bell is given a high volume of touches and work you can almost guarantee great production and a ton of fantasy points.

Must Start Wide Receivers

Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina:  Cam Newton’s favorite Whoopi Goldberg look alike Kelvin Benjamin is coming off a brutal week where he was held catchless against the excellent Vikings defense. Before this he was looking like one of the best receivers in the NFL after he first two weeks of the season. This week, Kelvin looks to bounce-back in a huge way when he plays the horrendous Atlanta Falcons. Look for Cam and Kelvin to both go off this week and put up huge fantasy numbers.

Terrelle Pryor, Cleveland: Last week, the former QB Terrelle Pryor did it all. Throwing for 35 yards, rushing for 21 yards and a touchdown, along with 8 total catches for 144 yards. That’s a total of 23 fantasy points in total and  now with Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman both out for significant time, Pryor is turning into the only weapon and tool for the Cleveland Browns offense. So expect him to continue to be targeted at a premium and heavily involved this week against a less than impressive Washington Redskins defense.

Tyrell Williams, San Diego: Things looked very grim for Chargers fans and fantasy players who own Chargers players when Keenan Allen and Danny Woodhead both went down for the season with torn achilles injuries. Since those games, there has been an emergence of new guys in San Diego including Travis Benjamin and Tyrell Williams. Tyrell has led the team in targets since both Woodhead and Allen went down who accounted for over 200 targets. This week Williams and the Chargers get the porous Saints defence who commonly give up multiple touchdowns a game including last week when they gave up 45 points.

Must Start Tight Ends

Hunter Henry, San Diego: The San Diego Chargers have had brutal injury luck this season losing key players to their whole team but the usually high scoring offense has been hit especially hard. With Antonio Gates out now, Hunter Henry has seen a very high amount of usage. This week he plays the Saints defense who are dangerously bad. With good size and overall talent Henry might light it up this week and be a real nice find for you and your team.

Zach Miller, Chicago:  With backup QB Brian Hoyer starting last week, Miller led all TE with two touchdowns and 19.8 fantasy points. This week he faces a Lions defense that has allowed more fantasy points to TEs this season(18.9 ppg) than anyone else in the entire league. Hoyer seems to look Miller’s way a whole lot so watch out for another monster game for the Bears TE.

Sneaky Streamer Start

Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland Browns: Crowell was on the field for over 40 snaps and had 15 carries last week against the Dolphins. This week he faces the Washington Redskins who are the second worst fantasy defense against RBs giving up on average a total of 26.8 points per game. The Skins have also allowed 6 rushing touchdowns in only 3 games. This week is looking nice for Crowell owners.