Another NFL Sunday is officially in the books. Once again, the fantasy football scene proved to be rather chaotic in Week 4. This week’s top fantasy football performances delivered a little bit of everything. The top RB was hardly drafted in leagues before the season started. At the other end of the spectrum, this week’s top WR was one of the highest-drafted players at the position. Oh, and then there is the constant roulette wheel that is the TE position. Each of the top-5 fantasy football TE scorers from Week 4 all went undrafted this season in 12-team formats. There will certainly be some great conversation and debate in the week ahead!
Let’s take a look at the top fantasy football performances from Week 4 of the NFL season across each position. This week’s notable top fantasy performers include Cordarrelle Patterson, Saquon Barkley, Tyreek Hill and Dawson Knox.
Top Week 4 Fantasy Football RBs
Cordarrelle Patterson | Atlanta Falcons
Stat Line: 6 carries, 34 yards; 5 receptions, 82 yards, 3 touchdowns
PPR Fantasy Points: 34.6 (RB1)
If there was any shadow of a doubt left regarding the fact that the Falcons are a bad football team, it was removed in Week 4. Atlanta somehow squandered their lead and lost to the Washington Football Team despite having the top-scoring fantasy football running back of the day. Most analysts believed it would be the Mike Davis show in the ATL coming into the year. Veteran Cordarrelle Patterson has had a whole lot to say about that. This theme continued on Sunday, as a trio of touchdown receptions buoyed Patterson to 34.6 fantasy points. That total was good for RB1 on the week and was also a full five points clear of the next highest scoring back.
Patterson is clearly the pass-catching RB in the Falcons’ offense. This performance was by no means a flash in the pan. In fact, he is now the RB2 in fantasy overall on the season through four weeks. Patterson’s fantasy football outlook is sky-high going forward.
Saquon Barkley | New York Giants
Stat Line: 13 carries, 52 yards, 1 touchdown; 5 receptions, 74 yards, 1 touchdown
PPR Fantasy Points: 29.6 (RB2)
Ladies and gentlemen, he’s officially back! After having his 2020 season cut off early to a torn ACL, star Giants’ running back Saquon Barkley spent the first two games this season getting back up to speed. He garnered a full workload last week and was right back at it again on Sunday. New York earned an overtime win over the New Orleans Saints, and Barkley showed out with over 125 total yards and two touchdowns including the game-winner in OT. As a result, Barkley finished as the fantasy football RB2 in Week 4, falling just shy of 30 fantasy points. It has been a long while since Barkley has rewarded his fantasy managers to this degree. Time will tell if the Giants can replicate Sunday’s performance. Assuming good health going forward, Barkley appears to be back to fantasy football superstardom.
Kenneth Gainwell | Philadelphia Eagles
Stat Line: 3 carries, 31 yards, 1 touchdown; 6 receptions, 58 yards
PPR Fantasy Points: 20.9 (RB6)
While the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Najee Harris had another top-5 fantasy football performance on Sunday, he wasn’t the only rookie RB making waves. Enter Philadelphia Eagles fifth-round draft pick, Kenneth Gainwell. The 22-year-old out of Memphis was widely expected to take a clear backseat to veteran RB Miles Sanders in his first NFL season. Through four weeks of play, however, it is clear that the rookie is riding shotgun.
Gainwell had one fewer touch than his backfield cohort overall on Sunday, but his six receptions saw him produce a much better fantasy football line in PPR leagues. He also had Philadelphia’s lone rushing score in a shootout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. All told, the rookie finished as the RB7 with over 20 fantasy points. Best of all, he is still available in over 75% of leagues!
Top Week 4 Fantasy Football WRs
Tyreek Hill | Kansas City Chiefs
Stat Line: 11 receptions, 186 yards, 3 touchdowns
PPR Fantasy Points: 47.6 (WR1)
Given that 72 total points were scored in Sunday’s Chiefs vs Eagles showdown, it’s no surprise that several top Week 4 fantasy football performances came from this game. After two disappointing weeks, Chiefs’ wideout Tyreek Hill reminded everyone of why he had a first-round ADP back in drafts. Hill exploded for over 180 yards receiving and three touchdowns, finishing as the runaway WR1 on the week with 47.6 fantasy points. The Eagles’ secondary simply had no answer for the speedy Hill on Sunday. Any brief fantasy football buy-low window that might’ve been open after Hill’s struggles the last two weeks has officially closed.
Deebo Samuel | San Francisco 49ers
Stat Line: 8 receptions, 156 yards, 2 touchdowns; 1 carry, 1 yard
PPR Fantasy Points: 35.7 (WR2)
There are certainly a whole lot of questions surrounding the 49ers’ offense going forward after starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo exited Sunday’s game with a calf injury. But that didn’t stop Deebo Samuel from finishing as the fantasy football WR2 in Week 4. Even with rookie quarterback Trey Lance only completing 50% of his passes after coming on in relief, Samuel still finished with over 150 yards receiving and two scores, good for 35.7 fantasy points.
Did one of his long touchdowns come on a busted coverage by the Seattle Seahawks’ secondary? Yes. Is Samuel talented enough to remain a relevant fantasy contributor going forward, even with Lance under center? Also yes.
Diontae Johnson | Pittsburgh Steelers
Stat Line: 9 receptions, 92 yards, 1 touchdown
PPR Fantasy Points: 24.2 (WR5)
After being sidelined for last week’s contest with an injury, Steelers’ wideout Diontae Johnson wasted no time in returning to fantasy football stardom upon making his return. Along with tailback Najee Harris, Johnson was the preferred target for QB Ben Roethlisberger in Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. He fell one catch short of double-digit receptions. While the majority of his 92 yards came on a long touchdown catch early, his massive usage should have fantasy managers excited going forward. Johnson’s 24.2 points on Sunday were good enough for a top-5 finish at the WR position on the week. While Roethlisberger is clearly slipping as a passer, and the Pittsburgh offense has proven itself to be incredibly one-dimensional, Johnson figures to have a stable fantasy floor on a weekly basis.
Top Week 3 Fantasy Football TEs
Dawson Knox | Buffalo Bills
Stat Line: 5 receptions, 37 yards, 2 touchdowns
PPR Fantasy Points: 20.7 (TE2)
Shoutout to the FlurrySports “Fantasy Football TE Streamers” column that has included Dawson Knox among the top options in each of the last two weeks. After finishing as the TE9 in Week 3, Knox did managers one better on Sunday. He caught a pair of touchdown passes in the Bills’ shutout win over the Houston Texans, finishing with 20.7 fantasy points on the day. That line was the best at the position of those who played Sunday, and second only to C.J. Uzomah of the Cincinnati Bengals overall in Week 4. Knox is now a top-five tight end on the season through four games. How he is still only owned in 20% of leagues given his red-zone usage is beyond me.
Dalton Schultz | Dallas Cowboys
Stat Line: 6 receptions, 58 yards, 1 touchdown
PPR Fantasy Points: 17.8 (TE4)
Dalton Schultz proved that his TE1 performance from a week ago was no fluke. Despite being the second tight end on the Cowboys’ depth chart behind Blake Jarwin, Schultz has proven to be among the top targets for quarterback Dak Prescott. He finished with six receptions for the second consecutive game in Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers. Schultz also found the end zone to finish with 17.8 fantasy points, good for TE4 on the week. Other than the Los Angeles Chargers, no opposing defense has had an answer for Dallas’ passing attack through four games. Furthermore, Schultz appears to have a relatively stable floor in fantasy going forward. The fact that Jarwin also caught a touchdown pass on Sunday shows that there is room for both players to be involved. At this point, Schultz is clearly the Cowboys TE to own.
Top Week 4 Fantasy Football QBs
Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs
Stat Line: 24/30 passing, 278 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 interception; 5 carries, 26 yards
PPR Fantasy Points: 31.72 (QB1)
After a turnover-filled performance last week, Patrick Mahomes was back to doing Patrick Mahomes things on Sunday. The Chiefs’ quarterback topped the position in fantasy football this week, finishing with 278 yards through the air and a whopping five TD passes in the win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Mahomes certainly rewarded those owners who spent a high draft pick on him in Week 4. Whether investing that level of draft capital in the quarterback position proves to be a smart long-term investment over the course of the full season remains to be seen.
Sam Darnold | Carolina Panthers
Stat Line: 26/39 passing, 301 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions; 6 carries, 35 yards, 2 touchdowns
PPR Fantasy Points: 31.54 (QB2)
If not for Mahomes, Sam Darnold would have taken home QB1 honors in fantasy football this week. He finished a mere .18 points behind the Chiefs’ signal-caller for the top spot. If nothing else, Darnold is proving that he is a must-roster player in all formats going forward. Through four weeks, he is the QB5 overall. Sunday marked his best performance yet, as a pair of rushing touchdowns served as the backbone of a 31.54-point effort. Can Darnold remain a startable fantasy QB as the Panthers embark on matchups against tougher defenses going forward? The rushing production certainly helps, but he did throw two interceptions in Sunday’s loss. As a passer, Darnold still leaves a lot to be desired.
Top Week 4 Fantasy Football D/ST
Buffalo Bills
Stat Line: 3 sacks, 4 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery; 109 yards allowed, 0 points allowed
PPR Fantasy Points: 23.0 (D/ST1)
One can’t really ask for much more from their fantasy football defense than what the Bills supplied on Sunday. In a matchup against Davis Mills and the overwhelmed Houston Texans, the Bills, racked up five total turnovers and pitched a complete game shutout. The resulting 23 fantasy points saw Buffalo easily finish as the top D/ST in Week 4. They outscored the runner-up Baltimore Ravens by a whole dozen points, to be exact.
Top Week 4 Fantasy Football K
Tyler Bass | Buffalo Bills
Stat Line: 4-4 PAT; 4-4 FG, 3 from 20-29, 1 from 30-39
PPR Fantasy Points: 16.0 (K1)
Second-year kicker Tyler Bass has certainly lived up to the sixth-round pick that the Bills spent on him in last year’s NFL Draft. It was a relatively low-stress day for Bass in Sunday’s blowout win. Nonetheless, Buffalo called upon him early and often, and he delivered every single time. While he didn’t have a single attempt from 40+ yards out, Bass still impressed in hitting all eight of his total field goal and extra-point attempts to finish with 16 fantasy points. In doing so, he edged out Matt Prater of the Arizona Cardinals by a single point for fantasy football K1 honors on the day.
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