Welcome to the 2020 Fantasy Football Week 4 Stock Up/Stock Down!
After a Monday night game that failed to live up to the hype, we move on to Week 4.
And I know it's hard to get excited about the Thursday night game. But I think it's important we all remember we're just a few short months removed from only getting to watch Korean Baseball and Dave Portnoy day trading oil futures. Jets vs. Broncos doesn't seem so bad now does it?
For the injury impact specifically, you can click here.
2020 Fantasy Football Week 4 Stock Up/Stock Down
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Chicago Bears Receivers
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Shortly after the game, Matt Nagy released the obligatory " we're not sure who the starter will be" statement. That was clearly a professional courtesy as hours later he announced Nick Foles would be the starter. The Bears came alive after Foles took over and mounted yet another crushing comeback against the Falcons.
In the process, Jimmy Graham, Anthony Miller, and Allen Robinson all caught TDs. And while you're saying to yourself "but it was the Falcons that scoring barely counts." There is cause for continued optimism as the schedule looks bright moving forward. Four of the next five weeks are tough matchups but it will be smooth sailing after that.
And with one of the best fantasy playoff schedules, expect a big impact down the stretch.
Andy Isabella, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Isabella crushed it to the tune of 4-47-2 against the Lions. With more suspect defenses in his near future, Isabella seems poised to continue his success as long as Christian Kirk remains injured.
The young and inexperienced receiver has managed to turn his 20 career targets into 15 catches, 303 yards, and 3 TDs. Given his efficiency, he is certainly worthy of waiver claims and should find his way into any DFS lineups if Kirk should miss time.
Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Jefferson ran up and down the field, burning DBs and making it seem easy. Inconsistency is the name of the game in Minnesota, but now we can be certain the ceiling is absolutely worth the weekly headaches.
The playoff schedule looks a bit tough, but the immediate future seems like it should provide plenty of opportunity for the rookie. And while I'm not quite sold on his redraft impact just yet, he makes for as solid of a waiver claim as we're going to find in this injury-plagued season.
The big game potential of Jefferson also dramatically helps the value of Kirk Cousins. Anybody forced to roll him out can breathe a little easier knowing there is another weapon that can be relied on.
Jeff Wilson, RB, San Francisco 49ers
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Jerick McKinnon is banged up again, but whether he is playing or not, Jeff Wilson has become worthy of consideration. Eventually the competition the 49ers face will begin to get better. And when it does the mounting injuries should prove to have a bit more of an impact than we've seen. Eventually being the keyword, because the next two weeks against Philly and Miami seem to be posing no risk to anybody's production.
Looking down the road, the 49ers have a fantastic playoff stretch against Washington, Dallas, and Arizona. So while nobody can predict what this fluid backfield might shape up to be in three months, it's absolutely worth holding onto a piece of until then.
Myles Gaskin, RB, Miami Dolphins
Gaskin broke double-digit carries for the first time all season - mostly because he had a positive game script for the first time all season. In games where the Dolphins are likely to get crushed, Gaskin has very little value. But in close losses or the inevitable (but unpredictable) wins, Gaskin should see fantasy relevance.
In all three games so far Gaskin has had four or more targets which is a good baseline of production in PPR leagues. Jordan Howard seems poised to vulture all of the goal-line work, but Gaskin seems likely to continue seeing the bulk of the touches.
He's currently just outside of RB2 levels of production and his volume seems safe. But we should lower our immediate expectations as the next month's schedule could pose a problem for the offense as a whole.
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T.J. Hockenson, TE, Detroit Lions
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Hockenson remains an excellent blocker and a valuable weapon to his team. But his fantasy relevance is coming into question after another disappointing week.
Anybody could have earned the extra targets and production left available when Kenny Golladay was out, but the Lions didn't seem to fill the void. With Golladay back, the receiving upside of everybody else just took a hit. And with Jesse James stealing TDs, Hock may find himself struggling further.
There will no doubt be more productive days ahead, particularly this week against the Saints. But they are shaping up to be fewer and farther between than we had hoped.
New York Giants Backfield
It's pretty crazy that Saquon Barkley can fail to produce and then people try to grab pieces of the timeshare that replaces him. This team is unfortunately just not equipped to support rushing production.
A combination of negative game scripts and bad offensive line performances will likely force a lot of passing volume. We gave it a shot and hoped for the best. But unless Devonta Freeman can seize a 3-down role and exceed Barkley's efficiency, we should be making plans to move on.
Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry, WR, Cleveland Browns
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Through no fault of their own, both Browns receivers are shaping up to underperform. On what has become a run-first offense, there doesn't seem to be enough volume to go around to continuously support one, let alone two players at the position.
There is however a fantastic matchup against the Cowboys in which we can expect a surge of passing opportunity this week. But looking down the line, it seems likely there will be more struggles for the receiving duo.
Wait And See
Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens Offense
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In what was surely the most disappointing game to be nationally broadcasted this season, the Ravens offense faulted. Their first real test of the season seemed too difficult and unfortunately, the whole offense failed to live up to expectations.
No doubt the bad play calling and poor execution have left a bitter taste in the mouths of fantasy football players. But the schedule is almost laughably easy moving forward.
Obviously, nobody is moving on from Lamar Jackson. But players like Mark Ingram and Marquise Brown make interesting buy low candidates for any banged-up teams.
Rex Burkhead, RB, New England Patriots
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Have you ever heard of Jonas Gray? Most people haven't. He once had four touchdowns in a single game for the New England Patriots. He missed one practice and was off the team within days and never played another snap for the Pats.
Now a veteran and special teams staple like Burkhead isn't under threat of being cut. But the point is, Bill Belichick doesn't care. He doesn't care about ability, accomplishment, and least of all fantasy seasons.
It's hard to say Burkhead is trending down but it's extremely unlikely that he has another fantasy-relevant performance when you need him to. He's likely more of a touchdown-dependent flex play. And given the Raven's struggles against the Chiefs, we should at least lower our expectations for this week when the Patriots face Kansas City.
It's important to realize that J.J. Taylor led the team in rushes. James White and Damien Harris will return eventually. Cam Newton will steal goal-line work. And on top of everything, now Sony Michel can break tackles.
Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
The struggle for Mixon is real. He's only exceeded 3.0 yards per carry one time this season despite playing against overall bad teams. He had similar struggles last season that he overcame so it's possible that we can see another resurgence.
His Week 4 opponents, the Jaguars, just gave up 5.4 rushing yards per carry to a Ryan Fitzpatrick-led offense. So this game should either give us the hope we need or be the nail in the fantasy coffin. Either way, I'm not sold one way or another just yet.
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