This article is always going to contain important advice. But you are 0-3; it’s more important than ever that you make the right calls. The idea of just leaving guys in there who are struggling and hoping the ship rights itself just doesn’t fly in the short term. And that’s especially true for bad matchups.

So, as we do every week, let’s take a look at some players on the fringe of start/sits where we have some tough decisions to make. It might be time to actually give those lesser-known players a shot and put some of the underperforming name-brand guys on the bench. A lot of teams have missed the playoffs “stating their studs” way past when those guys proved they were not really studs. 

Who Should You Start in Fantasy Football This Week?

One thing that will always remain true with this article or any of our content is that it is more satisfying when you go with your heart or your gut or whatever body part wills you to make the most fun decisions. Fantasy football is SUPPOSED to be fun. And it’s more fun when YOU make the decisions. That said, I’ve been using my pesky brain over here to come up with some reasons why you should or shouldn’t start some of the guys sitting on the fringe of lineups. So here is my fantasy football lineup advice for those guys.

 

 

 

Week 4 Quarterback Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Start: Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Some folks may have been considering this one while others have already been doing it. But this week especially, it's a good week to actually get Bryce Young into lineups. We wish more of his pass-catchers were healthy, but the Lions are simply too good of a matchup. They’ve been without both of their starting safeties, which has made them especially susceptible against the tight end (more on that later). 

Start: Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns 

He might not be a “must-start” guy yet. But he has officially entered startable territory. He’s actually second in rush attempts among QBs behind Josh Allen and he’s tied with Allen in true designed runs at 8. He’s actually sitting at QB10 on the season, so at a certain point, people are going to have to come to terms with the fact that this guy can still play the position at an NFL-caliber level. 

Sit: Drake Maye, New England Patriots

This one is extra painful for me as a Patriots fan. But it’s just not working in New England right now. A.J. Brown was clearly the focal point, and they lost him in Week One. Romeo Doubs is new to the team as well, so he pretty much only knows his role, and Mack Hollins was thrown into Brown’s role. They traded Kayshon Boutte, so they don’t have him to fall back on either. Drake Maye has really struggled against complex coverages like Cover 6, and he’s unstartable at this point until something changes. 

Sit: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

This one could turn around eventually. But there are clearly some growing pains here with the new scheme that Mike McDaniel has implemented. That’s seen the Chargers go 0-3. The Bills are a good team, and the Raiders have certainly taken steps forward, but not competing whatsoever against the Cardinals is a red flag. The other aspect for fantasy is that Herbert hasn’t been running as much in this new scheme, which really doesn’t give us much of an excuse to put him in there. 

Week 4 Running Back Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Start: Aaron Jones, Minnesota Vikings

It seems some folks lost faith in Aaron Jones over the last couple of weeks as we got more and more start/sit questions with him involved. So we just want to reiterate - until Jordan Mason is back or Jones himself gets hurt, he is a start for us. Not only is Jones a good player, but he just played ~80% of the offensive snaps this week. Whatever was ailing him in practice is clearly not a problem. 

Start: Braelon Allen, New York Jets

The waiver wire question of Braelon Allen vs. the Dolphins options was more about the long term than short term. That’s because De’Von Achane is done for the year and Breece Hall might not be. But there’s no doubt which offense has been better, and Allen has actually looked pretty good in his limited usage. So, if we added Allen off the wire, we really aren’t scared to get him in lineups - especially if we lost Hall. 

Sit: Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers

This is another tough one to report on as we had high hopes for Omarion Hampton. But not only do the Chargers look terrible, but he has not really gotten the role we envisioned. Mike McDaniel always has an RB run a lot of routes from a WR spot, but that hasn’t been Hampton - it’s actually been Keaton Mitchell, who has run the second most in the league behind only Christian McCaffrey. So Hampton has been relegated to more of an early-down role and, against a tough Seahawks defense, that’s not a guy that is a must-start. 

Sit: Jadarian Price, Seattle Seahawks 

I know, this was a pick you were probably very excited about. And Zach Charbonnet isn’t back just yet. But Price clearly is not 100%. This week he was actually third on the team in snaps with 19, while George Holani and Emanuel Wilson each played 24. So you might want to look elsewhere for the time being. 

 

 

 

Week 4 Wide Receiver Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Start: Keenan Allen, Indianapolis Colts

At 6’2”, 210+ pounds, Keenan Allen is bigger than a lot of folks imagine. Maybe that’s due to his playstyle, or maybe it’s because he’s been a part-time player as of late, but Allen can line up all over the field. So, with Alec Pierce out, Allen has been asked to take a bigger role out wide. Not only has he gotten decent targets, but he’s still a threat to score, as we saw last week. We don’t foresee Darius Slayton overtaking him anytime soon, so as long as Pierce is out, Allen is on the streaming radar.

Start: Kalif Raymond, Chicago Bears

We spent a lot of time debating which of the three Bears pass-catchers were going to be the best option in fantasy. So much so that I don’t even need to list the three I’m referring to - you know who they are. And that doesn’t mean those three can’t bounce back. But we can’t ignore that a fourth player, Kalif Raymond, is leading this team in fantasy points. And he’s second in targets (just barely) behind Luther Burden. So Raymond is now looking like a pretty reasonable start in fantasy leagues. 

Sit: Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This applies to pretty much all the Buccaneers pass-catchers, including Chris Godwin. But Egbuka is generally ranked the highest, and he’s no longer a must-start. Some teams spend up on a backup QB and have a capable veteran waiting in the wings. Tampa Bay is not one of those teams. Maybe Jaylon Daniels is actually pretty good right from the rip, but we’d like to see it first before starting his weapons. 

Sit: Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears

Three weeks in means it's time to face facts. As we mentioned above, we knew there could potentially be two fantasy-relevant pass-catchers from the Bears. And we thought it would be two of Luther Burden, Rome Odunze, and Colston Loveland. But Kalif Raymond, who came over from the Lions to join Ben Johnson, has 20+ targets and has been better in fantasy than the three of them. Burden also had 20+ targets, which has left Odunze and Loveland on the outside looking in. No matter how good a game Case Keenum had, this is not a situation that we trust. 

Week 4 Tight End Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Start: Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers

For the second week in a row, I’m getting Tucker Kraft start/sit questions. And I’m still saying the same thing - you start this guy. I was actually concerned about Kraft pre-draft because he was coming off a serious injury. But he’s now ramped up to a full snap share, running 41 routes this week. The concern about him blocking more isn’t actually true (he only blocked on 2 pass plays last week). And he just got 8 targets with Jayden Reed out. He had 2 uncharacteristic drops, or he would have had a rock-solid game in fantasy. And guys of his caliber don’t get benched over drops. Kraft should be absolutely fine moving forward. 

Start: Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers

We’d love it if Darren Waller would get just a little more work. He’s gone from a 40% route participation to 55% to 58%. But, with a matchup like he has this week, we’ll just say that’s close enough. The Detroit Lions have been the worst defense against the tight end, allowing north of 30+ PPR points to the position PER WEEK, which doesn’t seem possible until you realize they have allowed six touchdowns to tight ends in three games. And that’s not an accident, as they have been down their two starting safeties. Waller has a nose for the end zone and is as good a bet as any to score this week. 

Sit: Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Muth was worth a try last week with a cake matchup vs. the Bengals. But it didn’t quite pan out. Why? For the first time this year, the Steelers decided to deploy more of the big dog Darnell Washington. So, with 40 total pass plays, you got 25 for Freiermuth and 23 for Washington. That’s not really enough to start either of them so Muth does not need to even be rostered in leagues anymore. 

Sit: Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

We went through this with Kyle Pitts as well. There are only so many catalysts for change in an NFL season. The changing of the QB is one of them and, despite both Michael Penix and Case Keenum looking serviceable, neither Pitts nor Loveland could pop. For now, we need to seek out alternative options. 

 

 

 

Week 4 D/ST Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Start: Green Bay Packers

We picked up the Packers for a stream last week against the Falcons in some spots. And, though that didn’t quite work out, the Packers are in a better spot going against completely unproven Jalon Daniels. So we’re willing to wheel them back out there again to see what kind of unforced errors can happen. 

Sit: Denver Broncos

We talked about this last week. Their schedule is actually pretty bad. If you are committed to just rolling with them because they are a good unit in theory, I think that’s fine. But it really is not a good matchup again. If you are 0-3, you might need to give yourself every little edge, which may mean pivoting to a different defense.

How To Handle The Toughest Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Decisions?

This is actually simpler than you’d think. Because Fantasy Alarm has three different ways for you to handle your tough start-sit decisions:

  • Weekly Rankings - I do these rankings personally every week and keep them updated based on the news and rumors
  • League Sync - Sync up your actual league to our systems so you can receive custom advice for your own settings. 
  • Start/Sit Tool - Plug in the two players and see what our projections and matchup analysis have to say.