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Snapshot previews of all the games

The ins and outs of Week 4

Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer lineup questions, too.

What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those take precedence. But sometimes players are very close, and in those cases I'm glad to offer opinions on how I'd approach those situations. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries etc. If I don't get to your question, either I missed it (it happens) or the rankings are very clear. (If one guy is ranked a dozen spots above somebody else, I'm going to respect that more often than not; we put a lot of time into those things.) OK, on to the games!

Vikings versus Saints in London: This game starts at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, make sure to get players in or out of lineups early. No Jameis Winston or Michael Thomas. Andy Dalton starts at quarterback, Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry should be the main targets. I'm not recommending Taysom Hill as a TE flex because I don't feel comfortable that he'll get reliable touches. If you want to gamble on him, have it. Dalvin Cook plays with a harness, I'd use him pretty much as usual.

Browns at Falcons: Teams comparatively healthy, I'd use the regular starters for both. Browns might be without a few defensive players, helping prospects for Cordarrelle, Drake, Pitts (although not with a ton of confidence there). Nick Chubb definitely, Amari Cooper, Kareem Hunt. Gotta use David Njoku, I think, coming off a big game, while acknowledging he hasn't really strung good games together in the past.

Bills at Ravens: This Gabe Davis ankle injury is annoying. Is it going to bother him all season? I think I'd use him this week unless I had a really close other option, but there's some risk. I'm wary of the Bills running back committee against a usually good run defense. For the Ravens, beyond the sure things (Lamar, Andrews) you're left with some tougher choices facing a really good Buffalo defense. Rashod Bateman sure, but then tougher to make a case for other players.

Commanders at Cowboys: These teams are pretty much healthy, with the exception of Dak Prescott (out) and Dalton Schultz (questionable). I think it makes sense to leave Schultz on the bench this week, under the idea that even if he plays he'll be limited. Michael Gallup returns for Dallas. He ranked low with the thought he might not play full-time and the passing game won't be as good with Cooper Rush. I wouldn't use him, but will be interesting to see how much he plays and how involved he is so he'll maybe be an option in upcoming weeks.

Seahawks at Lions: Neither defense is particularly good, making the healthy players on both teams viable. For me this is Jamaal Williams, Rashaad Penny and the Seahawks' main wideouts. No Amon-Ra St. Brown, which would give Josh Reynolds and DJ Chark some flier appeal, but neither of those guys is 100 percent either. I'm using T.J. Hockenson and hoping he pays off, benefitting from Amon-Ra not playing. No D'Andre Swift of course.

Chargers at Texans: No Keenan Allen, giving D'Andre Carter some flier appeal, although Mike Williams should be the main target. Chargers might be able to get their ground game going here, and Dameon Pierce should also be OK, assuming he's not punished for last week's fumbles. Presumably Justin Herbert is OK to use as normal, barring a big hit of some sort. Bloom off the rose a little bit on Los Angeles, but their offense should be fine. Gerald Everett viable.

Titans at Colts: Big game in the battle for second place in the AFC South. Key players healthy. I think both teams will try to run with their franchise backs. Michael Pittman the only pass catcher to get particularly excited about.

Bears at Giants: No David Montgomery, so Khalil Herbert looks like a great fill-in. Bears don't want to pass the ball and with the Giants all the receivers they actually want to throw to are hurt, so it should be a busy day for Saquon Barkley. When the defenses are each team's 2nd-best option, well, there's not too much to discuss.

Jaguars at Eagles: One of the games of the week. Jaguars have Zay Jones questionable and best avoided, helping Marvin Jones look more like a No. 2 but mostly an upgrade for Christian Kirk and perhaps Evan Engram. Eagles won't have Boston Scott, probably helping Kenneth Gainwell see more work. Eagles passing game looks fine. Not crazy about Jacksonville's running back tandem, though I've been losing by betting against James Robinson.

Jets at Steelers: Zach Wilson returns. Am I pulling for him? Sure. It'd be nice to see the former 2nd overall pick do well rather than aged Joe Flacco. Jets have some nice offensive skill guys, would be a plus if they had a good quarterback. But I respect the Steelers D, even without T.J. Watt, so modest expectations for all Jets are best. Steelers facing a lousy defense so Najee Harris and all the main pass catchers look promising.

Cardinals at Panthers: Christian McCaffrey is questionable. I think he's playing, but makes sense he might be spelled a little more than normal. If you have him, unlikely you to have two better options, but sitting him can be considered if you have two decent ones. Reports out of Carolina that Matt Rhule has lost the locker room and you've got DJ Moore shaking his head at assertions receivers need to get open. Kind of a mess and hard to get too high on Carolina's offense, even against a bad defense. Arizona's offense not playing particularly well, James Conner, Kyler Murray and Ertz-Hollywood fine, but I'm wary the less-than-100 percent Greg Dortch this week.

Patriots at Packers: If I were still in a Survivor Pool, the Packers at home against Brian Hoyer and company would be the pick. Take that with a grain of salt since it's only Week 4 and I'm not still in a Survivor Pool. New England's defense should be competitive, but I'd use key Packers. At wide receiver that's probably Romeo Doubs and Allen Lazard this week. New England should try to run plenty, but it's a committee in what seems like a sketchy offense these days.

Broncos at Raiders: No Hunter Renfrow for the Raiders, Broncos have a couple of offensive line issues. But teams otherwise healthy. Denver defense is very good, which has maybe been counter productive for their offense putting up good numbers. I think Courtland Sutton and Javonte Williams are the viable choices, plus the usual Raiders (Adams, Waller) and Carr, Jacobs and fill-in Mack Hollins, for some.

Kansas City at Buccaneers: Bucs defense playing well and offense banged-up, so what was a high-scoring shootout in the regular season a couple of years ago should be less so this week. Mike Evans and Russell Gage look the viable Tampa receivers. Tougher situation for the Kansas City offense; I wouldn't be benching Mahomes or Kelce, obviously, but everyone else (including CEH and McKinnon) looks iffy.

Rams at 49ers: Defenses had the advantage at times a year ago, getting pressure and forcing mistakes on the quarterbacks. So a week when beyond the automatic starts (Kupp, Deebo) I'm primarily interested in the two tight ends (Kittle, Higbee) and that's about it. Jeff Wilson, in a full-time type role. Not interested in either Rams running back. Matthew Stafford looks OK; most of the offense should come from his arm.

Enjoy the games.

50 Reader Comments:

Lance Reiss

Calabasas, CA
2022-10-01T14:01:33Z
PPR
Gibson or dam harris

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T14:06:04Z
Neither one great but Gibson’s matchup worse. Edge to Harris

JON CASASENT

Barker, TX
2022-10-01T14:10:01Z
Pick 2
1 PPR
B. Cooks - Bateman - Olave

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T14:14:44Z
We have Olave 3rd. I have a difficult time benching guys coming off big games and on my team would sit Cooks.

Ray Sala

Roseville, CA
2022-10-01T14:19:48Z
PPR need 2 out of these:
D. Harris, R. Stevenson, D. Pierce, A. Lazard, or M. Gallup. I have J. Jones also but he’s always hurt

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T14:27:11Z
Pierce and Lazard, with Harris 3rd

Jack Sandler

Oldsmar, FL
2022-10-01T14:32:46Z
Andy: Started Burrow. Starting: RBs: Cordarrelle and Ekeler, WRs: Lazard and Cee Dee Lamb, TEs: Goedert (OR Hockenson based on his late week surge in the rankings),

Soooo...need to choose ONE Flex from tough choices:
Hockenson OR Goedert- whoever I don't start. Late week surge has Hock #4 and Goedert #6
Thielen (who is ranked highest by CBS) but lower than Lazard on your rankings
Curtis Samuel (ranked 2nd highest by CBS within these flex options),
or Damien Harris -who is ranked lowest by CBS with the flex options but highest by you guys).

I always with go you guys -so I have Damien in there now.

Would you change it ?

With the Ian remnant weather in Philly (I just went through Ian)- I'm leaning towards Hock over Goedert as starter and probably just keeping Damien Harris in over Thielen and Curtis Samuel as the Flex.

Ed Gallagher

Lancaster, PA
2022-10-01T14:55:21Z
Morning Andy - who do u prefer in a ppr? Cooks or Bateman? (ranked back 2 back in weekly ranks) thank you!

Ed Gallagher

Lancaster, PA
2022-10-01T14:55:53Z
and that is Brandin Cooks, btw...

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T14:56:06Z
Hockenson at TE makes sense, I see rain might be an issue in Philly. Flex either Harris or Thielen. Ian likes Harris more, I think I like Thielen a little more than he does, mostly based on his past success against New Orleans.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T14:56:44Z
Edge to Bateman

John Ruppe

Fort Myers, FL
2022-10-01T15:28:02Z
Hi Andy. I'm a little behind this weeks normal fantasy news since we've been dealing with hurricane Ian and all of it's destruction, so excuse me if my questions are a little off base. PPR Jacobs or D. Harris in one league and then Jacobs or Wilson in the other. Standard Yardage would you just go ahead and throw Gallup out there over Allen Robinson since he's been such a bust?

Darren Castillo

Placentia, CA
2022-10-01T15:41:08Z
Glad you're ok John.

Chris Clay

Santa Monica, CA
2022-10-01T15:48:43Z
1/2 pt ppr - Harris or Stevenson
1/2 pt ppr - Garrett Wilson or Jerry Jeudy

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T15:59:02Z
I like Jacobs. If you want to mix it up, Jacobs and Wilson, who are close. I would not use Gallup this week.

Harris and Jeudy

Jeff Zwiers

Bellingham, WA
2022-10-01T16:03:22Z
Good morning Andy. You have the #1 in opportunities and #1 in touches (22 receptions, 8 runs) ranked 37th (30th minus TEs) among WRs. Shouldn’t he finish better than that? Also, ranked 12 spots higher is a receiver who has caught 6 passes total the last two weeks (on 9 targets)? Anyway I need one in PPR: Samuel, Lazard, Aiyuk, Gage, A-Rob. Thanks!

John Ruppe

Fort Myers, FL
2022-10-01T16:15:19Z
Thanks Darren

Ben Hogevoll

Siletz, OR
2022-10-01T16:19:57Z
Which Samuel??

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T16:25:58Z
Jeff - Players are ranked based on being assigned a statistical percentage of a team projection. Reading the Washington text, the expectation is that Carson Wentz is going to have a really lousy day against the Dallas defense, so his averages to this point of 287 passing yards and 2.3 TDs per week are much higher than his Week 4 projection of 226 yards and 1.1 TDs. The rankings aren't done by looking at player names and saying, Curtis Samuel should be higher than Allen Lazard because he's been so much more involved and better so far.

THAT SAID, people tend to look at the rankings and say, Wow, he's 12 spots higher, that's huge. But download the Excel file and look at the PPR projections. Lazard is at 12.3 and Samuel is at 11.4 -- they're less than a point apart. So if you want to start Samuel, we're not talking about a seismic difference between the two players.

Jeff Zwiers

Bellingham, WA
2022-10-01T16:26:52Z
Ben - thanks. Curtis Samuel. (Deebo easy start!)

Jeff Zwiers

Bellingham, WA
2022-10-01T16:34:09Z
Thanks Andy. I just thot since wentz just had a super horrible outing (much like is anticipated this week) and Samuel still got 7 catches, 10 targets and 3 rushes that he seems to be the clear-cut #1 there despite their numerous weapons… anyway thanks for the explanation.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T16:43:18Z
Samuel could certainly catch 7-plus balls again. I don't think the rushes mean too much (he's getting 1.7 points per week for those). One difference in last week (I believe) is that Washington fell behind Philadelphia 24-0 in the first half and Wentz attempted 43 passes. Dallas doesn't seem to have the same offensive firepower, so maybe the thought was that it'll be more of a lower-scoring dud. Again though, I can't argue too much against Samuel, even 30th is a starter in most leagues.

Scott Anderson

Las Vegas, NV
2022-10-01T16:43:31Z
6 pt passing TDs, Stafford or Lawrence?

Keith Swiniarski

Delray Beach, FL
2022-10-01T16:45:26Z
Mariota or Wilson (or, gulp…Ryan)

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T16:51:35Z
I would just go with the rankings on those QB questions

Robert McKinlay

Belews Creek, NC
2022-10-01T17:16:35Z
Seems Higbeast ranked high but tough Frisco D vs TEs. But he had 3 tds last year against them. Who do you like Higbeast or Lazard in full PPR for flex.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T17:31:06Z
Yeah Higbee is high specifically because of his favorable history against San Fran last year (and when he got hurt in a game, his backup caught like 5 for 57). Back to back in rankings so no strong preference for me.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T17:35:16Z
Jakobi ruled out

David Kasch

Melbourne, FL
2022-10-01T17:52:19Z
Non PPR. Fournette, James Robinson, Mike Williams, Olave, Gabe Davis. Bench 1.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T17:58:08Z
I would sit Gabe based on injury concerns.

GREG GRIMES

Plymouth, WI
2022-10-01T18:28:12Z
Considering benching an injured Herbert for Brady? Any lingering weather issues in Tampa? With Sanders in a time-sharing backfield, would you start Pierce? Early battle for first place with every point counting!

Cliff Neville

Somerset, TX
2022-10-01T18:37:22Z
lawrence, goff or mariota, considering phil weather, st brown and garett myles? thanks.

Cliff Neville

Somerset, TX
2022-10-01T18:37:44Z
st brown et al

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T18:37:57Z
I’d start Pierce because he’s ranked way higher. Herbert doesn’t seem too injured.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T18:46:07Z
Lawrence or Mariota. I guess Mariota if you want to avoid possible weather issues.

Mark Rapley

Rosemount, MN
2022-10-01T18:57:26Z
Carr or Lawrence? Also, I'm concerned about Gabe Davis again, but am not sure Allen Robinson is sadly any better.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T19:06:38Z
Carr Lawrence a tossup sorry. I would gamble on Davis over ARob.

Eric Goetz

Shoreline, WA
2022-10-01T20:11:01Z
PPR:
Gibson, DHarris, or Gordon at RB2.
At flex, I have GDavis starting, but could use Aiyuk, McKenzie, or any of the above RBs i don't already start.

Steven Hecker

Powell, OH
2022-10-01T20:27:43Z
Picked up Mattison, but doesn't seem worth starting this week. One Point PPR, need a Flex from Bateman, Jacobs, Conner and TJ.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T20:31:16Z
Harris and I’d probably chance Davis

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-01T20:36:47Z
Yeah I don’t see using Mattison unless Cook was out. I think you’re looking at either Conner or Jacobs and I’d probably lean Conner, but they’re pretty similar projections

Brad DeJongh

Lakewood, CA
2022-10-02T01:07:36Z
Olave in London with backup QB, or Lazard who hasn't really got it going yet??

Brad DeJongh

Lakewood, CA
2022-10-02T01:09:09Z
sorry, standard scoring, td's and yards. Olave or Lazard?

Jeffrey Martin

Ellington, CT
2022-10-02T06:14:49Z
.5 PPR
Rashod Bateman or Allen Lazard to pair with Michael Pittman as my second receiver. They're an exact tie in my rankings.

Sam Wood

Westborough, MA
2022-10-02T06:45:25Z
Just a kicker question and see the "rankings," but Elliott with rain, cold and 18 MPH wind (gusting to 30-35) or Bullock playing in Dome at Colts? Bonus for 50+ field goals.

Craig Smith

Humble, TX
2022-10-02T08:43:21Z
Hello Andy, in a PPR league I have the choice of either RB Damien Harris or Javonte Williams and at WR Allen Lazard or Brandin Cooks?? Thank you and good luck this weekend!

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY
2022-10-02T12:05:12Z
Lazard

Bateman

Sam I can definitely see avoiding weather, especially if it's that bad, but we literally ranked Bullock 32nd out of 32 kickers, so it would be difficult for me to recommend him.

Craig I like Javonte and Lazard

Good luck all

David Lutz

Lancaster, MA
2022-10-02T16:23:10Z
Weather will destroy the bills and eggles games...

Bob Gum

Murrells Inlet, SC
2022-10-02T16:27:34Z
Hi Andy PPR Zeke home against wash or jacobs home vs Denver

Jimmy Hansen

Mexia, TX
2022-10-02T16:40:59Z
Jeff Wilson or R. Penny?
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