The Recap Zone: Week 4 Top Fantasy Performers

Hello and welcome to the Week 4 edition of The Recap Zone. Another week down in football and another heartbreaking loss for my fantasy team. I don’t say that often but when you have the second-most points scored in the league but you happen to play the person with the most, it makes you question your choices as a fantasy GM. But I digress. My predictions for Week 4 were off the cuff, from the gut. While it seemed like a good strategy, I was once again reminded that it is quite difficult to predict who will be the top performer because of the unpredictability of football. So let’s jump right in.

Quarterbacks

Well, it’s safe to say that anyone who has Dak Prescott in their lineup will be alright the whole year since the Cowboys seemingly throw every down in the second half. For Week 4, I picked Russell Wilson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Joe Burrow to be the top performers. Boy did I whiff on this one.

The Dolphins and Seahawks game was a defensive battle for the better part of three and a half quarters. Thus, Wilson and Fitzpatrick put up respectable stat lines, Fitz at #12 with 21.30 points and Wilson at #15 with 20.90 points. Burrow had an average state line good for #21 with 15.10 points. Prescott, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers played for the top spots this week.

Running Backs

It was a good week for the RB position as the top 19 players finished with 15 or more points. The three that I picked for Week 4 were Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, and Aaron Jones.

Off the bat, Cook secured the #2 spot with 28.60 points after another great day on the ground.

Kamara saw fellow back Latavius Murray step up and snag some TDs for his fantasy owners. Kamara ended one slot behind Murray at #10 with 20.90 points.

Jones saw his fellow back Jamaal Williams also excel in the passing game, as the two played close to the same amount of snaps. Jones finished #8 with 22.10 points.

The top three were headlined by a boom week from Joe Mixon, Cook, and Melvin Gordon.

Wide Receivers

The good thing from my Week 4 picks is 3 of the 6 WRs had over 15+ points. The bad thing is the other three combined for less than 15 points. I tabbed Kenny Golladay, A.J. Green, Allen Robinson, Julio Jones, Tyler Lockett, and Mike Evans as top performers. Let’s start with the bad.

A.J. Green didn’t even crack the top 100 as he spent a good amount of time on the sideline in the second half. Lockett couldn’t get things early on and he ended at #77 with 5.90 points. Jones left the game in the second quarter and did not return, ending his week at #64 with 7.20 points.

Now for the good. Evans had a good week ending at #5 with 25.20 points. Robinson was the next best from my picks ending at #8 with 23.10 points. Golladay was productive in his second consecutive week ending at #22 with 16.20 points. The top performers of Week 4 were Odell Beckham Jr., Amari Cooper, D.J. Chark, Adam Thielen, Evans, and CeeDee Lamb.

Tight Ends

Wasn’t that great on TE’s this week. If you had George Kittle, you were a happy camper this week. If you played him, as I did, you most likely lost because of him.

The three I tabbed in Week 4 were Mike Gesicki, T.J. Hockenson, and Zach Ertz. The only one that had a salvageable week was Hockenson with 10.90 points good for #8. Ertz slow start continued with a 6.90 point week, good for #25. Gesicki had the worst of it going for 2.50 points for #44 on the week. The top performers were Kittle, Robert Tonyan, and Mark Andrews.

DEF/STs

Had I known Cam Newton was not going to play when I was picking my defenses, I would have picked the Kansas City Chiefs. But I didn’t and even managed to miss picking up Kansas City for my own fantasy team. The teams I picked for Week 4 were the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Baltimore Ravens.

First, I was pleasantly surprised by Justin Herbert‘s performance against the Bucs. The Bucs were still able to force two turnovers though, good for 6 points, ending the week at #9.

The Ravens weren’t able to turn the ball over but still managed a 6 point week good for #10.

The Rams were the bright spot holding the Giants to under 9 points with a turnover and a handful of sacks good for #3 on the week with 11 points. The Philadelphia Eagles were top 3 with the Chiefs and Rams.

Kickers

For Week 4, I picked Daniel Carlson, Michael Badgley, and Robbie Gould as my top kickers. Carlson and Badgely were both top 10, but neither cracked the top 3. The two Thursday night kickers, Brandon McManus and Sam Ficken led the way followed by Randy Bullock. Gould was the worst of the three at #29 with 2 points. Badgley ended at #10 with 9 points while Carlson ended at #7 with 13 points.

To Conclude

Well, this week is one to forget for me. Practically all my picks did not go as planned. What I thought was going to be a good tactic to go with only my gut and no research turn out to blow up in my face. I ended with my worst week at 3 for 21, a measly .142 average. This was a good learning moment and I know I’ll be better the rest of the way. My season now sits at 19 for 81, good for a .234 average.

Until next time on The Recap Zone.