Fantasy Football Sleepers: Week 4
Finding sleepers in fantasy football gets harder and harder as injuries pile up across the NFL, forcing second and third-string players into more obvious usage roles. However, in leagues with shallow benches, there will always be numerous sleepers to acquire. Waiver wires are still filled with talented prospects who could flourish later in the season, so even if you’re a 3-0 fantasy manager, being complacent could give opposing fantasy managers more opportunities to build depth.
As Bye Weeks approach, beginning in Week 5, depth becomes even more valuable. Factoring in current and future injuries means we’ll rely on players who we didn’t foresee in an expanded role within their team’s offense. This is the time of year when we rid our preseason and training camp biases and attempt to objectively assess how coaches are designing plays and which players are getting the opportunity to execute them on the field.
NFL fantasy analyst Matt MacKay is back with his latest Week 4 sleepers to claim off of fantasy football waiver wires entering another jam-packed slate of games. Each prospect highlighted uses half-PPR scoring data.
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Jerick McKinnon (RB – Chiefs)
Hopefully, if you drafted Jerick McKinnon late, you didn’t drop him to waivers. If you currently roster McKinnon, he could serve as a valuable trade asset after scoring two receiving touchdowns against the Bears in Week 3. Holding onto McKinnon is also a smart decision, as the Chiefs tend to slowly integrate him into an increasingly expanded role as the season unfolds. McKinnon still played the fewest snaps amongst Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco in a 41-10 blowout win over Chicago, but he caught all three of his targets for 19 yards and two touchdowns, elevating his production in PPR formats. It can be tricky deciding which weeks to roll McKinnon into a FLEX spot in fantasy lineups, so a trade could remove a difficult weekly decision during a sell-high window following his two-touchdown performance. McKinnon is a mid-range RB3 with RB2 upside heading into a tough road matchup against the New York Jets in Week 4.
Rico Dowdle (RB – Cowboys)
Dallas suffered a bad loss to Arizona in Week 3, but turned to RB2, Rico Dowdle, on several occasions, which led to his first career touchdown, hauling in a 15-yard reception to score Dallas’ only touchdown. Dowdle only played 13 percent of snaps and had a 12 percent rushing share, but his 8.1 percent target share matched Tony Pollard. Dowdle isn’t a player immediately ready to see fantasy football lineups, but using him in the red zone in a competitive game script provides encouraging usage moving forward. A matchup against New England’s run defense in Week 4 makes Dowdle nothing more than a bench stash for now, but if injuries occur, Dowdle projects to be first in line to handle RB1 duties in a run-centric Cowboys offense.
Tutu Atwell (WR – Rams)
All of the Puka Nacua hype shrouded Tutu Atwell in Los Angeles’ passing attack. The small-framed wideout has a 21.5 percent target share, second behind Nacua, and caught four of nine targets for 50 yards and a touchdown against a stingy Cincinnati pass defense in Week 3. Atwell will face a Colts defense in Week 4 allowing the seventh-most fantasy points to wide receivers, so he’s certainly a prime candidate to target on waiver wires.
Rondale Moore (WR – Cardinals)
While Rondale Moore is still averaging fewer snaps and targets per game than Marquise Brown and Michael Wilson, he’s the most dynamic playmaker in Arizona’s offense, scoring a touchdown on a designed run from over 50 yards out against Dallas’ top-tier defense in Week 3. Moore has only drawn a 12.5 percent target share, but he’s handled 6.0 percent of rush attempts, meaning we could see Moore used in a more versatile way as the Cardinals continue to play competitive football against any opponent. Next up is a tough assignment against the 49ers’ defense, but San Francisco is allowing the 14th-highest fantasy points to wide receivers this season, so Moore could log one or two big plays for a decent outing in PPR formats. He’ll likely get even better with Kyler Murray rumored to be close to returning under center, so go acquire Moore now before it’s too late.
Gerald Everett (TE – Chargers)
Donald Parham Jr. has been racking up a ton of red zone and end zone touches, leading to multiple touchdowns for the Chargers’ towering tight end, but Gerald Everett remains the primary TE1 in a potent passing offense. Everett has seen a 10.2 percent target share across the first three weeks, catching 11 of 12 passes for 98 yards, while averaging over 8.2 yards per target. Justin Herbert’s strong arm boosts Everett’s usage in OC Kellen Moore’s offense, and Keenan Allen and Parham continuously overshadow him. Now, with a season-ending injury to Mike Williams, Everett could see even more targets coming his direction. Everett is attached to a top-ten offense, which has attempted over 40 passes in consecutive weeks, so get him onto your fantasy football rosters, even if it costs you a bench player or a bunch of FAAB money.
Jordan Love (QB – Packers)
Believe it or not, Jordan Love is fourth in three weeks of fantasy points per game amongst all fantasy quarterbacks. He threw for three touchdowns in each of his first two career starts, then mounted a comeback down 17 points in the fourth quarter against a quality Saints defense in Week 3, which included a nice zone-read option where he juked his defender for a rushing touchdown. Love is operating the Packers’ offense extremely well, and has a lot of underrated weapons surrounding him. Week 4 brings the Detroit Lions defense into Lambeau Field on a short week for Thursday Night Football. The Lions are allowing 16.3 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, ranked 17th, so it will be a solid challenge for Love to overcome. Then, matchups against Las Vegas and Denver could see Love explode following a Week 5 Bye, so go out and get Love as the top quarterback sitting on most fantasy football league waiver wires.
