After we saw D.J. Chark break his Ankle (out for the season) and Joe Mixon injure his own ankle (week to week) on Thursday night to start week four, David Montgomery hurts his Knee after rushing in two scores and Trey Lance started the second half for the 49ers after Jimmy Garoppolo hurt his Calf. After having a few dud weeks, Tyreek Hill broke out of his production slump to burn the Eagles for three touchdowns. Speaking of three touchdowns, Cordarrelle Patterson continues to show why he is the best waiver wire pick up thus far this season. Saquon Barkley put up a huge week of production after scoring touchdowns on the ground and in the air and Jonathan Taylor gave investors a lot to smile about after two down weeks. Dalvin Cook and Travis Kelce investors are among those singing the blues after weak weeks, as were all who expected to grab a ton of fantasy points from the Tampa Bay offense in Tom Brady’s return to Gillette Stadium. After four weeks of action, here are the players we must keep an eye on over the next few weeks.

RISERS

Sam Darnold, QB CAR

Maybe a change of scenery is just what Darnold needed because through four weeks, he's been a top-10 fantasy football producer at QB and he leads the league in rushing touchdowns with five. The Panthers will be without Christian McCaffrey for at least one more game and with the Eagles visiting this Sunday who have allowed 40-plus points in both of the last two weeks, it bodes nicely for Darnold. His next four matchups are against one-win teams. Darnold is completing nearly 68 percent of his passes and he’s tied for 10th in the NFL with 99 completed passes. He’s thrown for over 300 yards in three straight games and he’s been able to be productive despite getting sacked 11 times in 2021. He doesn’t have a strong offensive line, but he does have strong weapons in McCaffrey (when healthy), DJ Moore and Robby Anderson who he targeted 11 times in Week 4 after targeting Anderson 11 times total in the Panthers three previous games.

Cordarrelle Patterson, RB/WR ATL

Has there been a better waiver wire pick up so far than Patterson (excluding QBs)? If you play on Yahoo! and have Patterson on your team, you can start him in either an RB or WR roster slot. Remember, the Falcons still have Mike Davis and Patterson hasn’t grabbed more than seven carries per game through four, but he’s been targeted at least six times in the Falcons passing game in each of the last three weeks. Patterson has caught four touchdown passes, three in week four alone. He has more receptions and receiving yards than Kyle Pitts. Just like the stock market, trends can change very quickly, but after Matt Ryan threw the most passes of any QB last season, he currently ranks fifth in pass attempts and the Falcons will be playing from behind a good amount as the season continues. Patterson isn’t on the field the most as he played just 30 percent of the Falcons snaps on Sunday and played above 40 percent of them just once this season. It’s something to keep in mind as right now brings a good sell-high opportunity for Patterson investors.

Deebo Samuel, WR SF

Samuel has been on fire to start the season and has secured the most  receiving yards in the NFL with 490 through four weeks. He has been targeted at least 10 times in three of four games this year and he’s caught three touchdown passes. The 49ers Quarterbacks haven’t been looking Brandon Aiyuk’s way for the most part and Samuel has been targeted 13 more times than George Kittle. Kittle hasn’t registered a touchdown yet. Samuel has caught 28 passes and only four Wide Receivers have caught more passes than him. Up next for Samuel is a battle against the Cardinals with rookie Trey Lance likely starting under center and their defense is middle of the road and Lance was looking Samuel’s way a good amount in week four and he’ll likely be playing from behind throughout this game against the undefeated Cardinals meaning he’ll have to throw more. We don't know what the future holds regarding the 49ers QB situation long term, but Lance will get his chance to show he is ready and capable of leading this offense for at least one week.

FALLERS

Miles Sanders, RB PHI

Sanders has been hardly existent for the last two weeks catching just six passes total and being given just nine total carries. The Chiefs and Cowboys are tough offenses to deal with and the Eagles needed to throw more, but even against both teams, Jalen Hurts ran the ball more than Sanders. The Eagles are on the lower end of points-scorers in the NFC. Sanders has yet to play 70 percent of the Eagles offense snaps in a game and up next for them is Carolina who has allowed 95 rushing yards per game. After that match up, they play the toughest rush defense in the league in Tampa Bay and Sanders will barely be utilized much again in that game unless they throw to him. We’re also starting to see Kenneth Gainwell on the field more and he proved that he was also capable of catching passes, securing six receptions against the Chiefs. It will never be easy for Sanders because of how mobile Hurts is and Hurts will vulture touchdowns away from Sanders. Even Gainwell has rushed in two scores this season.

Ty'Son Williams, RB BAL

While Williams investors wanted to believe that he would be the prioritized RB in Baltimore, we were told that the Ravens were going to use multiple running backs moving forward and since rushing for 77 yards against the Chiefs in Week 2, Williams was given just five carries in Week 3 and then he didn’t even suit up against the Broncos. Latavius Murray, Devonta Freeman and Le’Veon Bell were all active and given carries against a very tough Broncos rush defense and after seeing Murray get more carries than Williams against the Lions the previous week, he was given 18 against the Broncos showing that he is currently the leader of the Ravens flock of runners. For a player rushing for 6.1 yards per carry, Williams being inactive against a contender of a rush defense shows that there are other parts of his game that need to be refined and they’ll rely on their veterans over him as long as they hold up. The coaches don’t believe in Williams despite his strong blocking ability. A lot of questions will come up as to why the Ravens didn’t dress him on Sunday. 

Rondale Moore, WR AZ

Moore was the prize on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues after he toasted the Vikings for seven receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted eight times in that game. Since then, he’s been targeted just five times. He’s in a major timeshare for targets against Chase Edmonds and the rest of the receiving options. Even Maxx Williams has one less reception than Moore. Someone is going to be the odd man out in Arizona. Besides DeAndre Hopkins, who obviously is the Cardinals top WR, Christian Kirk and A.J. Green have been playing way more snaps than Moore. Kirk was on the field for 23 more offensive snaps than Moore against the Rams. Kyler Murray can also do a lot on his own as he can run in touchdowns. At this point, based off the snap-percentages, it’s very hard starting Moore with confidence as he’s clearly behind three other receivers and the Cardinals utilize many weapons on offense and it will be hard for Moore to get more love in the offense consistently unless injuries occur.