Welcome to the 2020 Fantasy Football Week 4 Trends!
It was a scary scene this week in the NFL. Most people weren't sure if we were even going to get a Week 4 because of COVID-19.
Numerous players from the Tennessee Titans tested positive and because of that, the NFL decided to give the Titans and Steelers a bye week this week. That left Fantasy players without Derrick Henry, James Conner, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Ben Roethlisberger.
Then New England Patriots QB Cam Newton tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday making him unavailable to play against the Kansas City Chiefs. After more testing of the two teams, they found no more positive results. Fortunately, that meant that the Patriots and Chiefs game could be played as part of a doubleheader on Monday Night Football.
Best wishes go out to the players affected by this illness.
Let's jump into the 2020 Fantasy Football Week 4 Trends to see what I found!
2020 Fantasy Football Week 4 Trends
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1. Panthers new WR1 Robby Anderson?
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With the Carolina Panthers defense presumed to be bad all year long the wide receivers should get a lot of volume. Teddy Bridgewater has been averaging 35.25 passing attempts a game. With D.J Morre underperforming and not being the target monster like last year, it leaves a lot of targets on the table.
This is the second straight week that Robby Anderson has passed up D.J Moore for the target leader of the Panthers. Anderson caught eight of 11 targets for 99 yards and no touchdowns this week. While Moore only caught four of six targets for 49 yards. Anderson was one yard short of his third 100 yards receiving game of the year. He should continue to get mass amounts of volume in Matt Rhule's offense.
2. Joshua Kelley will be a solid Austin Ekeler replacement
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With news of yet another injury this week it leaves us wondering how long we will be without Austin Ekeler? He was carted off the field after a weird landing. He's in line for a multiple game absence with a hyperextended knee and a pulled hamstring. With Justin Herbert targeting Ekeler 11 times last week, it's possible Kelley could see an uptick in targets.
Kelley struggled against a very good Tampa Bay run defense this week. A very weird game script did not benefit Kelley this week, but he is the number one running back for this offense moving forward. Until Ekeler is back Joshua Kelley will be the main beneficiary of his absence. He's showed flashes of potential with him and Ekeler sharing the load in the first three weeks.
3. Is Mike Davis a product of the Panther's system?
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Mike Davis has been nothing short of spectacular since Christian McCaffrey went down with his injury. He's scored 23 points in the first week, and then 22 this week against the Arizona Cardinals. It's only a small sample size but with McCaffrey sidelined Mike Davis is a solid RB1.
He also has a touchdown in each of those games, one rushing and one receiving. Reggie Bonaffen even vultured a touchdown from him. It looks like the running back will continue to be an integral part of Matt Rhule's offense. He's totaled 42 touches in his first two weeks as the starter and will continue to get more with his production.
4. Tim Patrick's Thursday Night breakout
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With the injuries to Courtland Sutton and K.J Hamler, it gives more opportunities to receivers not named Jerry Jeudy. In back-to-back weeks Tim Patrick has scored a touchdown. Only this week he got his high in targets for the year with seven. He capitalized on those seven targets with six receptions for 113 yards.
With Jeudy taking the number one cornerback matchup most weeks it will give Patrick more time to shine. I know it's a small sample size but if you're desperate for help with all the injuries he could help out. Only time will tell if he can continue to find the endzone again in future weeks.
Come back next week at the same time and we will build off of the 2020 Fantasy Football Week 4 Trends!
Check out the rest of our 2020 Fantasy Football content from our great team of writers.
