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Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings: Positional Overview, Guide and Advice
- Updated: September 27, 2016
Believe it or not, we’re already approaching the end of the first month of the 2016 season. Three full weeks of NFL action are in the books, and Week 4 is only days away.
This, of course, means that fantasy owners only have a couple of days to analyze rosters, submit waiver claims and prepare for the next round of action. Things kick off on Thursday night when the Cincinnati Bengals host the Miami Dolphins.
Though it’s still early in the season, we’ve seen enough over the first three weeks to recognize some playing patterns and fantasy truths. That Minnesota Vikings defense, for example, is a fantasy must-start, even if it’s going against a dynamic quarterback like Cam Newton. Rookie Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is more than just a curiosity—he’s becoming a legitimate fantasy quarterback.
We’re going to take what we’ve learned thus far in 2016 and apply it to the upcoming week of fantasy football. We’ll be providing rankings and advice regarding rising and falling players for each fantasy position. Our choices are based on factors such as player performance, matchup and health.
Quarterbacks
Up: Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
One thing that we know for certain after three weeks of football is that the Chicago Bears are banged up and lacking talent on the defensive side of the ball. This creates an ideal matchup for Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has been tossing passes all over the field this season.
Through three games, Stafford already has 985 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Just last week against the Green Bay Packers, he threw for 385 yards with three scores and one pick.
Chicago is ranked 10th in pass defense (214.3 yards per game allowed), but this statistic is misleading. Opponents have been protecting a lead against the Bears virtually all season and have chosen to gash Chicago on the ground—Chicago is ranked 30th in run defense (142.7 yards per game allowed) and 23rd in scoring defense (27.7 points allowed per game).
With starting running back Ameer Abdullah sidelined, expect the Lions to frequently utilize short passes in lieu of the running game. Also expect Stafford to capitalize with a strong day.
Down: Eli Manning, New York Giants
When the 2016 season started, we expected New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning to be set for a huge fantasy campaign. He has one of the top wide receivers in the game at his disposal in Odell Beckham Jr. and has a revived Victor Cruz and rookie Sterling Shepard in the mix.
Manning has racked up the yardage—925 yards in three games—but he hasn’t exactly been a scoring machine. He has four touchdown passes and four turnovers so far and hasn’t shown the same chemistry with Beckham that he had in 2015.
Manning is still worth a start in most weeks, but not this one. He’s going up against a Vikings unit that has given opponents fits dating back to last season.
Tom Pelissero of USA Today recently explained just how good the Vikings defense has been:
Dating to last December, the Vikings have held …
