Rest of Season Fantasy Football Rankings: Week 4 Updates
Rob Waziak breaks down the latest changes in his rest-of-season fantasy football rankings after Week 3, noting risers and fallers ahead of Week 4.
Rest-of-season fantasy football (ROS) rankings provide a comprehensive overview of projected player performances for the season’s remaining games, helping guide you toward making informed decisions regarding trades, waiver wire transactions, and starting lineups.
You can find my full set of ROS rankings here.
Here are some notes heading into Week 4:
QB Fantasy Football Rankings - Rest of Season
With a couple of limited practices under his belt in Week 3, Jordan Love (QB11) appears on track to return from the MCL sprain he suffered in Week 1 this week. It’s ideal timing too since the Packers have a notable string of games until their Week 10 bye that are favorable for Love from a Strength of Schedule (SOS) and Defense vs. Position (DVP) standpoint.
Love’s toughest projected matchup will be his next, against a Vikings team that has allowed the 7th-fewest fantasy points per game (FPPG) to QBs through three games this season. After that, the Packers face the Rams, Cardinals, Texans, Jaguars, and Lions, who are allowing the 3rd-, 5th-, 15th-, 7th-, and 3rd-most FPPG, respectively, to opposing QBs.
On the topic of returns, Andy Dalton (QB28) is back and is currently revitalizing a Panthers offense that has struggled for a year under Bryce Young (QB36), completing 70% of his 37 attempts for 319 yards and 3 TDs on the road against the Raiders in Week 3.
Looking ahead, Panthers HC Dave Canales announced that Dalton is the Panthers Week 4 starting QB because he gives the team their “best chance to win.” It’s a small sample size, so I’m tempering expectations for Dalton from a ROS outlook, but unlike Young, he looked competent and sharp. It’s hard to say how long Dalton will be keeping the ship afloat, especially while Young is still around, but I expect him to continue climbing the ranks as long as he draws the start.
While there is early-season positivity surrounding Dalton, the same cannot be said for Justin Herbert (QB23), who despite starting following a game-time decision (GTD) designation in Week 3, reaggravated his ankle injury and left the game in the 3rd quarter.
Herbert started off hot too, completing his first 10 passes for over 100 yards and a TD. To make matters worse for the QB, Chargers rookie OT Joe Alt is expected to miss some time with an MCL sprain. Herbert will likely sit until after the Chargers’ Week 5 Bye.
RB Fantasy Football Rankings – Rest of Season
Last week, I moved Alvin Kamara (RB5) into the top 10 RB ROS and said that “Week 3 should paint a clearer picture of what to expect moving forward.” Well, I’m moving Kamara up even further because he now leads all RBs in PPR scoring through three games this season, averaging 27.2 FPPG, and defends his consistency with a 9.0 Utilization Score, good for 7th best among all non-QBs.
He offers top-5 RB upside in any given week, but still loses a third of snaps to Jamaal Williams (RB66). Fortunately, Kamara currently averages a target on one of every four of his snaps.
Derrick Henry (RB9) dominated the ground in Week 3 against a stingy Cowboys run defense, adding 151 yards and a pair of TDs on 25 carries. He’s delivering exactly what we needed from him when he joined the Ravens—touchdowns—and the fact that he’s scored at least one in each of the first three weeks of the season, on just a 51% snap share, is promising. If he continues to receive carries within the 5-yard line (he’s received all four of the Ravens thus far), he should continue to do what he does best—score touchdowns.
Devin Singletary (RB24) has also been having a good start to his season, seeing increased productivity on a steady snap share through each of the first three games. He should have had two touchdowns in Week 3, but purposefully took a seat on the 1-yard line to ensure a Giants victory. Rookie Tyrone Tracy (RB62) will occasionally and perhaps increasingly steal some of Singletary’s work as the season progresses, but the latter’s efficiency should ensure he continues to see over two-thirds of the work out of the backfield.
Speaking of good starts, Bucky Irving (RB36) is averaging 6.2 yards per carry (YPC) among all RBs with at least 25 carries this season and making his case to be the Buccaneers lead back, at least on early downs. HC Todd Bowles indicated that Irving “earned more snaps” and the reason Rachaad White (RB26) out-snapped Irving in Week 3 was because the team needed to throw it more often and White is the “better pass protector.”
Another team RB2 playing the part of the RB1 is Zach Charbonnet (RB30), who has turned back-to-back weeks of bell cow usage into back-to-back top 8 weeks. Charbonnet’s usage in the passing game supports an elevated floor every week. Even if Kenneth Walker (RB17) returns in Week 4, Charbonnet has proven that he can take on increased early-down work.
WR Fantasy Football Rankings – Rest of Season
One week removed from elevating Rashee Rice (WR3) and Malik Nabers (WR6) in the ROS rankings, I need to double down and elevate Rice into the top-5 WRs and Nabers deeper into the top-12.
While I thought Rice would benefit from the Chiefs creating new ways to score in short-distance-and-goal situations, they did more than just that and threw him the ball 14 times in Week 3, one of which was for a TD, and good for a 9.1 Utilization Score. Rice is averaging a target on a third of his routes through three weeks, and I expect that to be a favorable trend for the Chiefs for a while.
Similarly, Nabers continues to dominate in the targets per route run (TPPR) category, averaging a target on nearly a third of his routes this season. He caught 8 of his 12 targets in Week 3, and a pair of those went for a TD.
It’s probably already safe to assume that Nabers is matchup-proof, but after a tough division matchup against the Cowboys in Week 4, WR SOS projections offer an awfully pretty picture for Nabers in the five weeks following.
With Deebo Samuel (WR17) and George Kittle (TE3) sidelined in Week 3, Jauan Jennings (WR48) covered for Brandon Aiyuk’s (WR20) inefficiency by hauling in 11 of his 12 targets for 175 yards and 3 TDs. He looked stellar. Unfortunately, while possible, it’s unlikely Jennings maintains this kind of production season-long, especially if Kittle returns in Week 4, and Samuel as early as Week 5.
Until then, Jennings will continue to split work with Aiyuk, who himself should only continue to improve as his conditioning and practicing does.
With Skylar Thompson (QB42) behind center for the Dolphins in Week 3, Tyreek Hill (WR9) and the rest of the Dolphins offense couldn’t get much of anything going, and it got progressively worse throughout the game. Thompson was knocked out of the 3rd quarter after suffering a chest injury and his Week 4 availability is still up in the air. All Dolphins pass-catchers take a further hit until the Dolphins find themselves a consistent QB, especially since there’s a real chance Tua Tagovailoa (QB27) doesn’t play another snap this season.
More WR Rankings Updates
TE Fantasy Football Rankings – Rest of Season
I’ve bumped Brock Bowers (TE2) over Sam LaPorta (TE3) and we will likely continue seeing these two battling with Trey McBride (TE1) throughout the season for top TE honors. LaPorta suffered a low-ankle sprain in Week 3 and with the Lions nearing their early Week 5 Bye, Bowers currently gets the bump.
Dalton Kincaid (TE5) entered Week 3 ranking 30th in Utilization Score (4.0) among all TEs and improved on that in Week 3 by catching 3 of his 5 targets for 41 yards and a TD. Unfortunately, the Bills are giving scoring opportunities to anyone offered a snap on their offense, which limits the upside of any single pass catcher.
Still now, Kincaid isn’t trending down, and he’s been a lock for 3-4 targets per game so far which is worth something as a TE. I’m hopeful that he will be leaned on more heavily when the Bills are playing from behind, seeing how their last two games got out of hand quickly.
