Week 4 is upon us. Reminder: Friends and family come and go, but fantasy football championship banners hang forever.

This brings us to today's goal: 10 mostly fantasy-relevant things to know ahead of Week 4 that ideally will help make you both a better fantasy manager and overall person.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Before I forget, I want to get everyone on this Cuso's Cuts thing we're doing. Just go to this page, tell us about your bad beat, we pick the best (worst?) ones every week on the show... and Cuso's sends you free stuff if you "win."  Anyway, on to Number ...

1. The Jaxson Dart era is now in New York–what should we expect?

Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards and three TDs in Week 2 … and now he's benched! Of course, the 160-0-2 Sunday night performance against the Chiefs didn't help matters; either way, Jaxson Dart will start for the team's Week 4 matchup against the Chargers.

The most important thing to know about Dart: The man is cool. Dart rocks a visor and sleeve while putting a single strip of eye black under his right eye–an ode to Anakin Skywalker! What's not to love?

Oh yeah, the on-field football stuff has also looked good, too. Dart made the most out of his opportunities during three extended preseason appearances.

Dart among 68 QBs with 25-plus preseason dropbacks

• PFF pass grade: 88.5 (No. 2)
• Big-time throw rate: 8.3% (tied for No. 5)
• EPA per dropback: +0.36 (No. 5)
• Yards per attempt: 7.9 (No. 12)
• Explosive pass play rate: 16.3% (No. 13)
• Passer rating: 113.1 (No. 8)

There's off-script ability here; the man isn't afraid to take a hit, and Dart sure can make some pretty throws when he knows where to go with the football. Throw in 52 yards and a score on the ground, and the 2025 NFL Draft's 25th overall pick profiles as the sort of QB capable of forcing defenses to account for every blade of grass on the field.

It is that aforementioned rushing upside that has me willing to treat Dart as an immediate mid-tier QB2 option in fantasy land. The man averaged 499 rushing yards and four scores on the ground during his three seasons at Ole Miss; Dart possesses the sort of upside on the ground capable of pushing him into the low-end QB1 conversation should he emerge as at least competent through the air–he's my QB19 on the week ahead of the slog of backup QBs as well as guys like Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Stroud.

RELATED: Jaxson Dart Fantasy Football Outlook from Matthew Freedman

2. What are the NFL's most-improved offenses three weeks into 2025?

Three offenses have improved their EPA per play by at least +0.1 this season:

Colts (2nd in EPA per play in 2025, 24th in 2024): This Daniel Jones-led offense is HUMMING through three weeks on their way to ranking second in both EPA per play and points per game. No passing game has taken a bigger step forward, and Shane Steichen deserves a lot of credit for helping Jones play within himself and get the football to the offense's plethora of playmakers. This offense stands out as one of the league's top units in featuring pre-snap shift/motion as well as play-action.

Cowboys (9th in EPA per play in 2025, 29th in 2024): Turns out having a healthy Dak Prescott goes a long way. The league's third-most productive passing attack in total yards has been complemented by a Javonte Williams-led run game that trails only the Commanders and Ravens in terms of yards per carry. Throw in a defense that looks a lot like the league's very worst overall unit, and you have a recipe for consistent shootout-friendly game scripts–AKA fantasy football goodness.

Patriots (15th in EPA per play in 2025, 27th in 2024): Both the Patriots and Cowboys would be even higher on the improvement scale with a bit better ball security: Their six respective turnovers are tied for the second-highest mark in the NFL. Still, Drake Maye has continued to flash the tools of a franchise QB on his way to throwing for the seventh most yards in the NFL with an offensive cast that won't ever be confused as star-studded. Here's to hoping the run game can find a way to get more out of explosive rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson (my fantasy teams would sure appreciate it).

3. How many true workhorse RBs exist in the year 2025?

As always, we invite you to check out Fantasy Life's AMAZING suite of Utilization Tools (code IAN for 20% off!) for the most in-depth usage information in the entire universe, but for today's purposes, we'll sum up Week 3 backfield usage in a bit broader light.

Workhorse alert: Eagles RB Saquon Barkley (94% snaps), 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (92%), Titans RB Tony Pollard (91%), Falcons RB Bijan Robinson (80%), Chargers RB Omarion Hampton (79%), Dolphins RB De'Von Achane (78%), Steelers RB Jaylen Warren (78%), Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving (78%), Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (77%), Rams RB Kyren Williams (74%), Saints RB Alvin Kamara (74%), and Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs (70%) were the only 12 RBs to play at least 70% of their offense's snaps in Week 3. All should be auto starts in fantasy land with the only two exceptions being Warren and Pollard due to their respective porous scoring environments, but even then, I typically let a workhorse RB's volume win as the tiebreaker over WR3 types in close start/sit decisions.

Still a bell-cow, wouldn't sweat it: RBs who didn't quite rack up a near every-down role in terms of snaps, but continued to dominate their backfield's overall touches and should be continued to be relied on in fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes include: Ravens RB Derrick Henry, Bills RB James Cook, Packers RB Josh Jacobs, Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard, Cowboys RB Javonte Williams, Jaguars RB Travis Etienne, Vikings RB Jordan Mason, and Jets RB Breece Hall.

Welcome to the starting job: Trey Benson is the new RB1 for the Cardinals with James Conner (ankle) done for the season, while Cam Skattebo is the Giants RB1 as long as Tyrone Tracy (dislocated shoulder) is sidelined. Both have the sort of three-down skill set to provide all sorts of fantasy-friendly goodness … as long as their respective meh scoring environments are up to the task. Ultimately, it's hard to bicker much about anyone capable of flirting with 20-plus carries and targets during any given week; both Benson (my RB14) and Skattebo (RB17) should be in FAR more fantasy lineups than not ahead of Week 4.

What the hell, Chip Kelly: I guess we could blame the Raiders offensive line too, but man, would it kill the Raiders to, you know, play the 2025 NFL Draft's sixth overall pick on a third down or two-minute drill every once in a while? Lord knows the rookie isn't getting any running room on the ground: Ashton Jeanty has 144 rushing yards this season … and 146 rushing yards AFTER contact. Here's to hoping the Bears league-worst defense in RB rush yards before contact per carry serves as a slumpbuster for the Boise State product.

The workload is there, but the efficiency is not: Despite pretty, pretty, pretty great utilization profiles, Chase Brown and D'Andre Swift simply cannot get it going this season. The difference is that the former back is operating in the league's 31st-ranked offense in RB rush yards before contact per carry, and the latter is working in the NFL's … 10th-ranked group. I'm not overly confident in either player breaking out in their respective matchups against top-seven defenses in that same metric; these are two rare borderline workhorse RBs who I'm fine with not squeezing into starting lineups if your roster is good enough to have the choice.

New role who dis?: We saw serious jumps in utilization for two former Buckeyes in Week 3: Browns RB Quinshon Judkins and Broncos RB J.K. Dobbins. The former rookie has been running HARD all season on his way to leading the position in yards after contact per carry, while Dobbins also deserves credit for averaging 5.4 yards per carry—good for the eighth-highest mark among all RBs with at least 20 carries this season. Both are low-end RB2 options and should win out in the majority of close-ish start/sit decisions.

These committees are gross, man: Isiah Pacheco is the lead RB in Kansas City BUT loses goal line work to Kareem Hunt and a few designed targets to Brashard Smith, the Commanders are using an evenly-split three-pronged approach despite having future Hall of Famer Bill Croskey-Merritt on their roster, and it took *three* combined lost fumbles from Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson for the Patriots to say "okay fine let's see what this TreVeyon Henderson guy is all about." Accordingly, all lead backs involved are nothing more than mid-tier RB3 options until these backfields become less muddled.

Don't sleep on Woody Marks: The rookie has taken the RB2 spot ahead of the likes of Dameon Pierce and Dare Ogunbowale. The comeback story of Nick Chubb is great; just realize he's dead last among 29 qualified RBs in percentage of carries to gain 3+ yards after contact this season, and the Texans' brutal offensive line isn't helping matters. Enter: Marks, who profiles as the superior pass-down option and is already starting to carve out a role in the run game. He's my favorite waiver wire addition of the week in normal leagues that don't have guys like Benson or Skattebo available.

Will the real Kenneth Walker please stand up?: Kenneth Walker looked incredible in Week 2 on his way to turning 14 touches into 118 total yards and a TD, but averaged just 2 and 2.4 yards per carry in Weeks 1 and 3. Now, he still saved the day with two short TDs last Sunday, but the expected return of Zach Charbonnet (foot) on Thursday night could cramp the afforded touch count if things look like they did in Weeks 1-2. Ultimately, KWIII and Charbs are must-start RBs whenever the other is sidelined, but together they're stuck in the RB3 mix as long as things remain so evenly split.

4. What WRs profile as buy-low candidates based on their usage?

The chart below denotes WR's PPR points and target share this season. Shoutout to Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba for combining large target shares with plenty of fantasy points, but the red square is more so the group of potential buy-low candidates that we're especially interested in.

Five names especially stick out to me:

Saints WR Chris Olave (WR24, 31% target share): Leads the NFL in targets (36) … and targets without a receiving TD … BUT, unlike past years, Olave has a low enough average target depth (9.4) to actually carry some semblance of a solid weekly floor. That is the newfound allure here: We know the Ohio State product is capable of taking the top off a defense, but reception totals of seven, six, and 10 reflect the reality that there's more consistency in full-PPR land than we're used to seeing. Olave has been landed for Bill Croskey-Merritt and J.K. Dobbins in recent one-v-one trades—I'm very okay with that price tag for WR-needy teams.

Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan (WR30, 27% target share): The rookie has made a ridiculous play every week so far (he can fly!) on his way to emerging as Bryce Young's clear-cut No. 1 pass-game option. The "problem" has been zero trips to the end zone so far inside an offense not exactly expected to light up the scoreboard on a weekly basis, but there's been enough positive momentum over the last six quarters to make me believe Young and company won't be a complete dumpster fire this season. Sign me up for recent trade packages that netted T-Mac for guys like Michael Pittman, Daniel Jones, and David Montgomery.

Falcons WR Drake London (WR43, 24% target share): Has racked up eight, 13, 18, 15, four, and eight targets in six games alongside Michael Penix—good for a 17-game target pace of 187. Of course, the duo hasn't exactly been operating with world-class efficiency in 2025, and accordingly, London has yet to clear even 55 receiving yards in a game. An early-season shoulder injury and the return of Darnell Mooney haven't helped, but I still believe London has WR1 upside—I love his side of recent one-v-one trades that featured Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and Alvin Kamara. 

Jaguars WR Brian Thomas (WR53, 23% target share): BTJ joins teammate Travis Hunter as well as Xavier Legette and Jerry Jeudy as the only WRs below the "spike line," AKA the only receivers with a passer rating when targets south of 39.6 (what a QB gets for spiking the football). Not great, although Thomas remains a freaky talent who has received plenty of opportunities through three weeks. A look at recent trades involving BTJ reveals that you can't exactly buy TOO low on the second-year talent at the moment, but hey, there's only one way to find out if you could be that guy who the rest of the league gets mad at for getting a sweet discount deal. Also: Shoutout to Parker Washington for putting up some pretty great underlying numbers through three weeks.

Titans WR Calvin Ridley (WR69, 24% target share): One of the most disappointing early-season performers has limped to 4-27-0, 3-57-0, and 1-27-0 receiving lines on good-not-great target totals of eight, six, and seven. That said: It makes sense that the Cam Ward experience has started off a bit slow, and there remains very little in the way of truly meaningful target competition in Nashville (with all due respect to Elic Ayomanor). This week's matchup with Derek Stingley and the Texans doesn't profile as an ideal bounce-back spot, but don't be surprised if Ridley busts out of this slump in the following weeks against the Cardinals and Raiders respective bottom-10 defenses in PPR points per game allowed to the position.

5. Do any tight ends have underlying TE1 utilization without TE1 production?

Here's what we're looking for:

• Full-time role: If you aren't running a route on at least 70% of the QB's dropbacks, what are we even doing here?
• Earning targets: Obviously, we want as many targets as possible, but for the purposes of finding under-the-radar options, we'll simply look for a target share of at least 15%.
• Upside as a pass catcher: With all due respect to the Josh Oliver block-first types of the world, we're looking for TEs possessing some level of twitch and natural receiving ability.

Three players fit this criteria and boast a rostership rate under 40% on Yahoo and ESPN:

• Chig Okonkwo (31% Yahoo, 15% ESPN): Perhaps could be the beneficiary of head coach Brian Callahan giving up play-calling duties; this offense certainly can't get any worse. Through three weeks, Chiggy (16 targets) is right in the mix for the team target lead with Calvin Ridley (21) and Elic Ayomanor (18), and the 26-year-old talent has largely always made the most out of his opportunities as a pass-catcher and YAC artist during his four years in the NFL.
• Brenton Strange (25% Yahoo, 21% ESPN): Unironically leads the Jaguars in receiving yards (137) and is tied with Travis Hunter and Parker Washington for the second-most targets on the team with 16. It'd make sense if Hunter eventually emerges as the offense's clear-cut No. 2 option behind Brian Thomas, but hey, credit to Strange for pretty easily emerging as Trevor Lawrence's most-reliable option through three weeks. The former second-round pick is a very good athlete and someone capable of keeping up this solid efficiency with his current every-down role.
• Dalton Schultz (19% Yahoo, 9% ESPN): We're really stretching the upside as a pass-catcher part of the equation here, but to Schultz's credit, he is just one season removed from posting a TE11 finish in PPR points per game. I'm not overly optimistic about this Texans offense refinding that same level of 2023 upside; just realize Schultz's numbers in terms of route rate (81%) and target share (17%) are basically identical to guys like Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and Tucker Kraft.

Watergun to the head: I lean toward Strange as the preferred option of the three, primarily due to having more faith in T-Law over Cam Ward and C.J. Stroud.

6. What are the league's worst defenses vs. each position?

The chart below denotes what defenses have been good or bad vs. the pass and run this season.

This is only a three-week sample, but clearly some outliers are beginning to emerge. This is clear when looking at the single-worst defenses in PPR points allowed to each position:

Worst defense vs. QBs: Cowboys. The Dallas defense combines a nonexistent pass rush with bad coverage. This has resulted in the Cowboys allowing a full nine net yards per pass attempt against—1.1 more than the next-worst defense! I made the below grim reaper meme to help demonstrate this effect on fantasy QBs, but it's actually like if the grim reaper was a fantasy football savior instead of, you know, a bad guy.

Worst defense vs. RBs: Ravens. Baltimore has allowed 38.5 PPR points per game to opposing RBs–the next worst defense is the Bengals at 31.1! Part of this is likely injury-related: Neither Kyle Van Noy nor Nnamdi Madubuike was able to suit up during the team's Monday night loss to the Lions. Still, Quinshon Judkins racked up 71 yards on 13 touches in Week 2, and James Cook had 102 yards and a score on 18 touches in Week 1. Only the Titans boast a worse mark in EPA allowed per rush, which is awfully surprising considering the Ravens ranked third in this metric last season. I wouldn't be rushing to start Isiah Pacheco this week due to volume concerns, but perhaps the Chiefs' struggling run game can at least start to build some momentum against this surprisingly vulnerable front-seven.

Worst defense vs. WRs: Cowboys. And it's not particularly close. Both Matthew Golden and Romeo Doubs got big bumps up in my Week 4 fantasy football rankings.

Worst defense vs. TEs: Seahawks. Only the Ravens have also allowed north of 20 PPR points per game to opposing TEs this season. This does seem to be at least somewhat scheme-related, as Seattle has only faced Juwan Johnson in terms of target-hog options at the position (George Kittle was injured just 21 snaps into Week 1). No defense has allowed a lower target share to WRs this season. I accordingly am going to recommend the BOLD decision to start Trey McBride against the Seahawks this week.

7. Sheesh Report: What players were oh so close to putting up big numbers last week?

Players tackled at the one-yard line and did NOT score a TD on the same drive

This has sadly become a regular occurrence for Eagles RBs over the years:

• 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (x3, two were on the same drive)
• Ravens RB Derrick Henry (x2, same drive)
• Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs
• Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard
• Cowboys RB Javonte Williams
• Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson (lost fumble)
• Steelers RB Jaylen Warren
• Cardinals RB Trey Benson
• Commanders WR Terry McLaurin (I think he actually scored. Sad!)
• Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton
• Titans WR Chimere Dike
• Commanders QB Marcus Mariota
• Bills TE Dalton Kincaid
• Seahawks TE Eric Saubert

Unrealized air yards leaderboard

"Unrealized air yards" measures the total amount of air yards on incomplete targets. This helps identify players who had all sorts of fantasy-friendly downfield opportunities, but they simply couldn't come up with completions for one reason or another.

Anyways, 10 players had more than 70 unrealized air yards in Week 3:

• Giants WR Malik Nabers (137)
• Jaguars WR Parker Washington (115)
• Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill (112)
• Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton (110)
• Chargers WR Quentin Johnston (95)
• Texans WR Christian Kirk (93)
• Broncos WR Marvin Mims (90)
• Falcons WR Darnell Mooney (90)
• Titans WR Calvin Ridley (78)
• Browns WR Jerry Jeudy (73)

Sheesh player of the week: Marvin Harrison Jr.

The 2024 NFL Draft's fourth overall pick has had a tough time living up to his "generational" billing through 20 career games. While many have been quick to point the finger at Kyler Murray and OC Drew Petzing, there was nobody for Marv to point the finger at other than the man in the mirror after last Sunday's performance.

For those counting at home: Marv very clearly dropped what should have been a 35-yard TD and also let a chunk 30-plus yard gain with the potential to go the distance fall right through his hands. Say it with me everyone: Sheesh!

8. The DST corner: Trust the Patriots

Things were looking fairly solid for our 49ers season-long DST bet … until stud EDGE Nick Bosa was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Ugh.

Back to the streaming streets we go! As always we want to try our best to combine good real-life units with fantasy-friendly schedules against QBs who are prone to taking sacks and/or turning the ball over.

Our top two contenders:

• Patriots DST (49% rostered on ESPN): Mike Vrabel's group put forward their best performance of the season in Week 3 by holding the Steelers to just 203 total yards of offense and are tentatively expected to have No. 1 CB Christian Gonzalez (hamstring) back this week. Their upcoming schedule: Panthers, Bills (not good), Saints, Titans, Browns, Falcons, Buccaneers, Jets, and Bengals before their Week 14 bye. Not too shabby!
• Browns DST (1.7% rostered on ESPN): Cleveland has yet to surrender even 250 total yards of offense. They shut down the Joe Burrow-led Bengals (17 points) and streaking Packers (10 points) over the last two weeks behind a ferocious defensive line headlined by Myles Garrett and No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham. Having such a bad offense doesn't help matters here, but the upcoming schedule AFTER this week's date with the Lions is juicy enough to warrant the risk: Cleveland faces the Vikings, Steelers, Dolphins and Patriots in Weeks 5-8 before their Week 9 bye. In an ideal world, I'd prefer to roster the Patriots until Week 14 while featuring the Browns in Week 5 for their matchup with the Bills.

9. Subjectively ranking every game from an entertainment perspective

Bad football will always be better than no football. That said: We obviously are more excited for certain games over others, so every week I'll take a few minutes to rank the upcoming matchups due to subjective, at times stupid and silly reasons.

1. Chiefs-Ravens: Lamar Jackson. Patrick Mahomes. You get it.
2. Cowboys-Packers: Over/under 900 sideline shots of Micah Parsons? I got the over.
3. Buccaneers-Eagles: A battle between two of the six remaining undefeated squads. If only Tampa Bay's offense wasn't a walking graveyard full of injuries.
4. Rams-Colts: The biggest test yet for the Daniel Jones-led Colts, who happen to lead the NFL in point differential. What a time to be alive.
5. Giants-Chargers: Only this high because I'm excited for Jaxson Dart's debut. The Justin Herbert-led Chargers offense has also been a fun watch. I'm a fan of Herbert's current +500 MVP odds.
6. Raiders-Bears: Here's to hoping this Bears defense is bad enough for the likes of Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers to finally put together some boom performances. It'd also be cool if Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams prove capable of balling out against a defense that, you know, isn't easily the worst group in the league.
7. Cardinals-Seahawks: Thursday Night Football! Yeah! If only we had color rush uniforms.
8. Lions-Browns: The Lions are the second-biggest favorites on the week (-9), but maybe Myles Garrett and company have something to say about that. This front seven is BEASTLY.
9. Bills-Saints: The biggest spread of the week (16 points!) reflects the reality that we shouldn't expect an instant classic here, but that Josh Allen guy remains weekly appointment viewing regardless of the matchup.
10. Patriots-Panthers: Could see this matchup surprising and turning into a fantasy-friendly shootout … or both offenses combine for seven turnovers and this turns into the week's ugliest game. Watergun to the head, it's probably the latter.
11. 49ers-Jaguars: Getting Brock Purdy back would help, but man, that 49ers offense remains all kinds of banged up, and watching the Jaguars continually fail to get their pair of first-round WRs the football remains frustrating. Fun fact: Trevor Lawrence and Michael Penix are the NFL's only starting QBs without a completion on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield this season.
12. Falcons-Commanders: Potentially a Marcus Mariota revenge game! Otherwise, meh.
13. Texans-Titans: Mostly just rooting for the Texans to suffer a hilariously bad loss here.
14. Broncos-Bengals: On Monday Night Football. Lame!
15. Jets-Dolphins: Also on Monday Night Football. What did we do to deserve this???
16. Steelers-Vikings: I'm not a fan of the 9:30 am ET kickoff. Good for Ireland, but yeah: Get those fantasy lineups right on Saturday night!

10. Three Bold Calls for Week 4

And I'm talking BOLD. No predicting Derrick Henry to have a big game, or Nico Collins to have 100 yards: We're dumpster diving here in the pursuit of glory, but I swear there's legit reasoning to the madness (usually based on my mismatch manifesto charts).

1. Romeo Doubs goes off, torches Dallas for 100-plus yards and two TDs. I feel like Matthew Golden is the obvious call here after the rookie had a pair of near-miss long TDs in Week 2 and nearly had himself a long house call in Week 3, but unfortunately couldn't quite stay inbounds. And yeah, I'm cool starting Golden this week, but don't sleep on Doubs, who leads all Packers WRs in receiving yards and has shown off some pretty awesome separation skillz. The real winner here? Jordan Love, who is my QB7 on the week and the consensus QB10 in the Fantasy Life ranks.

2. Alvin Kamara totals 120-plus yards and scores twice in a blowout loss. The Bills have allowed the second-highest target share to opposing RBs this season and are surrendering a league-worst 6.2 yards per carry. Of course, Derrick Henry going bonkers in Week 1 is skewing that latter stat a bit, but both De'Von Achane (RB12) and Ollie Gordon (RB27) managed to put forward solid numbers last week. It will certainly help matters for Kamara if DT Ed Oliver and LB Matt Milano remain sidelined.

3. J.K. Dobbins balls out on Monday Night Football, racks up 130 yards and 2 TDs. This really is Dobbins' backfield at the moment, and I have VERY little faith in Jake Browning finding a way to consistently move the football in Denver. Cincy has surrendered the seventh-most RB rush yards before contact per carry this season; we've seen top-15 finishes from Dylan Sampson (RB9), Travis Etienne (RB15) and Jordan Mason (RB7) against this undermanned defense through three weeks.

Last week: DK Metcalf (3-32-1) found the end zone but didn't boom, D'Andre Swift racked up 78 scoreless yards and failed to even silence haters on a cool 41-yard explosive, and the Rams blew a 27-6 lead instead of upsetting the Eagles, leading to many birds fans happily reminding me how little ball I know.

Thank you all for reading and best of luck in Week 4 and beyond!

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