Steelers RB Expected to See a Heavy Load
Week 4 Fantasy Football Defensive Streaming: Betting Against the Browns
Unless you have the Chiefs or the Vikings as your fantasy defense, you could stand to look for a replacement. If you like your defense but want to know if there are better options out there this week, you’re in luck.
Blair Aimes of numberFire provides you with a list of defenses to stream in Week 4. First on his list is Washington. The Redskins notched four sacks against Dallas’ vaunted offensive line in Week 2, and forced three turnovers in New York last week against the Giants.
This week, instead of having to face Antonio Brown, Dez Bryant, or Odell Beckham, Jr., Josh Norman and the Redskins defense will face Cleveland. The Browns top receiver is Terrelle Pryor–that is, if he’s not filling in at quarterback for rookie Cody Kessler.
Aimes points out Washington is owned in less than 10 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues. Quite frankly, the Redskins haven’t been dominant yet, but they’ve played three teams with exceptional offensive talent.
That phrase doesn’t come to mind when thinking of the Browns. Washington’s defense should be a safe bet this week.
Tomlin promises ‘a lot’ of Le’Veon in Week 4
DeAngelo Williams gained 116 total yards and one touchdown per game to start the season for the Steelers, but now Le’Veon Bell is back. Bell is probably the best all-around threat in fantasy football and according to his head coach Mike Tomlin, he will be locked in from the first snap:
“We have seen him every day, he has been a part of us, and he has been in the building. He is up to speed on what we are doing from a schematic standpoint and really in tune there.”
The Steelers host the Chiefs this weekend on Sunday Night Football. Kansas City pummeled the New York Jets last week, to the tune of eight turnovers and two defensive touchdowns. Facing that kind of defense and coming off of a lousy 3-point performance in Philadelphia gives Pittsburgh all the more reason to feed the ball to Bell on Sunday.
Bell is the top running back of Week 4, as he’s projected to get a whopping 20 points in Yahoo! PPR leagues.
Week 4 fantasy football waiver wire targets
In case you either don’t have an elite running back, or your top running back is hurt or on a bye, Alex Gelhar of NFL.com has provided a list of his top Week 4 waiver pickups.
My favorite choice from his list is Giants running back Orleans Darkwa. Last week against the Redskins, Darkwa gained 53 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in limited action. Along with placement of Shane Vereen on injured reserve and Rashad Jenning’s status being up in the air, that stat line makes Darkwa a low-risk/high-reward add–not just for this week, but for the rest of the season.
According to Gelhar, Darkwa is available in 99.9 percent of fantasy leagues.
That’s about to change.
How will Flacco fare against the Raiders?
According to numberFire, the Raiders are the 29th-ranked team in fantasy football, in terms of quality of opponent. This week, Joe Flacco ranks 13th among quarterbacks, and projects to gain 16.9 points in Week 4.
That looks to be about right as, in four career games against the Raiders, Flacco has thrown for 967 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions. He’ll make a handful of plays and, for the most part, take care of the football. If you’re a Ravens fan, that kind of performance should make you feel confident.
If you have Flacco on your fantasy team, even against the Raiders, you might want to look elsewhere this week.
Quarterback: Matt Ryan (70 points)
Wide Receiver: Marvin Jones (51 points)
Running back: David Johnson (53 points)
Tight End: Greg Olsen (31 points)
Kicker: Justin Tucker & Dustin Hopkins (41 points)
Defense/Special Teams: Minnesota (60 points)
Quarterback: Jimmy Garoppolo (3,888, 9th overall)
Wide Receiver: Tajae Sharpe (8,607, 4th overall)
Running Back: James White (9,949, 2nd overall)
Tight End: Jesse James (17,318, 1st overall)
Kicker: Chandler Catanzaro (8,615, 3rd overall)
Defense/Special Teams: Tennessee (1,616, 23rd overall)
