Week 4 was ugly from the low scoring Sunday night game to the fumble-fest in Detroit. Fortunately, we didn’t lose any fantasy stars this week, though, and there were, of course, some highlights. Most came in the Rams/Bucs shootout, but Leonard Fournette and Nick Chubb both went nuts. Chances are, you saw all of that, but my goal today is to tell you about some tidbits you may have missed. I went back through and watched every play of every game. I saw the Thursday night game and three Sunday games live then used NFL Game Pass to see the other 9 contests this morning. Let’s do this!
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D.J. Chark reminds me of a certain star receiver
Every year some seemingly random wide receiver becomes a star overnight. A few years ago it was Allen Robinson followed by Tyreek Hill, Adam Thielen and last year Tyler Boyd was borderline. This year it seems to be Chark who is already a fantastic football player after being nothing more than an athlete last year. In fact, Chark reminds me more and more of Thielen with each passing week. He is a plus route runner with exceptional body control and the hands to match. Don’t be surprised if he comes an every-week WR2 by season’s end as he is already Gardner Minshew‘s clear favorite target.
Cole Beasley is becoming Josh Allen‘s go-to target
Speaking of favorite targets, Allen locked in on Beasley virtually every time he sensed the pass rush. Granted, they won’t play the Patriots’ incredible defense every week, but Beasley now has 23 targets over the past two weeks. He isn’t flashy, nor will he pile up red-zone targets, but if you are in need of a flex play, you can pick up Beasley off your waivers for dirt cheap this week.
Ronald Jones had a phenomenal performance
While we are talking about the waiver wire, the top pickup of the week is Jones of the Bucs. They have made it clear that he is their lead back moving forward as he has gone from 4 to 14 to 19 carries over the past three weeks, but I’m here to talk about what he did with those carries. Last year Jones looked slow and he was trying to do too much when he had the ball in his hands. This year, the zone blocking Bruce Arians scheme has played into his Jones’ strengths. He compiled 82 yards and a TD Sunday, but had two long and impressive runs called back against a strong Rams’ defense. He is a fringe RB2/RB3 moving forward.
Devin Singletary has nothing to worry about with Frank Gore
Yes, Gore ended up with 109 yards on 17 carries against the Patriots, but the vast majority of that production came from two carries that had holes large enough for an elephant to waltz through. He did nothing on his 17 carries to add to the play, but took what was given to him. While that is useful, Singletary offers much more and I’ll bet his fantasy owners will sell him low after what Gore did so don’t hesitate to put in an offer.
Gardner Minshew is much better than his stats indicate
As we saw in Week 3’s Thursday night game, the Jags came out passing and Minshew looked great but then they went conservative the rest of the game because they had a lead. Minshew was under pressure against an excellent Broncos defense so they ran the entire second half versus the Broncos, but with what the offensive line gave him, Minshew was ridiculous. He was scrambling like Tony Romo with an amazing sense of the pass rush. More importantly, he exercised remarkable discipline and accuracy for a rookie. It may not happen this season, but when the offensive line protects him and the Jags’ coaching staff lets him loose, we may have a serious NFL QB on our hands.
Other notes
- Teddy Bridgewater didn’t look bad at all, the Cowboys just seem to have a Super Bowl defense
- The Rams’ offensive line was a total disaster
- Shaq Barrett (again) won the game for Tampa. Outside of Mahomes, he is the NFL MVP so far
- David Montgomery is about to explode for fantasy owners once he comes into good matchups (OAK Week 5)
- Keep David Moore on your radar. He was on the field nearly as much as D.K. Metcalf for Seattle
- Chris Carson finally ran like a man on a mission (and held onto the ball!)
- A.J. Brown actually didn’t play that much (and only saw three targets)
- Dontrelle Inman remains one of the best-kept secrets in the NFL
- Chase Daniel looks like Alex Smith without the running ability
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