Hey, folks! We’re back with our fourth installment and the final block of games for the Week 4 NFL slate, and we’re finishing the late games on Sunday, plus Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football as well in this block. We’ve compiled the groupings of games here to make it easier to find the games you want:
We’ve compiled the groupings of games here to make it easier to find the games you want:
- Block 1: PIT-CLE (TNF), IND-WAS, NE-BUF, NYJ-CHI
- Block 2: JAC-CIN, ARI-NYG, LAR-PHI, GB-TB
- Block 3: TEN-BAL, DAL-HOU, MIA-MIN, KC-LV
- Block 4: DEN-SF, LAC-SEA, DET-CAR (SNF), ATL-NO (MNF)
This article, “The Outlook,” will give you details, stats, angles, recommendations and everything else you need to know to help you make your fantasy football decisions. Every fantasy-relevant player on each team playing will be profiled in this article. We want everybody reading this to bring home championships in your fantasy leagues!
I’m incredibly
excited to bring this article to all of you this season and hope you all enjoy the ride. If you have any questions, feel free to find me on Bluesky and tag me in a post to ask me any lineup questions you have, and I’ll do my best to get them answered for you.
Let’s get into it!
(All game/implied point totals listed were compiled via DraftKings Sportsbook on Thursday evening for DEN-SF, LAC-SEA, DET-CAR, ATL-NO.)
Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers
- Favorite: 49ers -3
- Game Total: 47.5
- Implied Point Total: 49ers 25.25. Broncos 22.25
Broncos Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
QB Bo Nix
It’s truly been a tough runout for Nix despite the comeback win over the Rams on Sunday Night Football. Sure, Nix scored 25.1 fantasy points, but he’s been pretty bad all season. He only completed 50% of his passes but did most of his scoring on touchdowns, with two passing touchdowns and a rushing score. Through three games, Nix only has 15 yards rushing this season after putting up 430 and 356 in the last two seasons. His throws haven’t been catchable (seventh-lowest catchable target rate) either, and the struggles from his receivers are all obviously correlated.
Fantasy Advice: Traveling to San Francisco in Week 4, I’m not sure if this is the week the Broncos and Nix will turn this around. He’s more of a QB2 option in multiple-quarterback formats rather than a single-quarterback play this week.
Broncos RBs
In Week 3, the workload pretty much followed the production from both J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, the latter of whom returned from a one-game absence following a hamstring injury. Dobbins took 17 rather underwhelming carries for 50 yards, good for less than three yards per carry. While Harvey handled just two carries, he co-led the Broncos in targets with seven targets, bringing in a 6-61 line. Both backs pretty much split each half of the role here for Denver, but the split has never been this pronounced. Perhaps Harvey will take on more rushing work? We do know Dobbins isn’t cut out for pass-catching.
Fantasy Advice: Harvey would be the one back you want here, as he won’t get just two carries in the vast majority of the games he plays in. Dobbins is just a two-down grinder with some touchdown equity and little receiving work to speak of. Both are flex plays, but the lean, again, goes to Harvey.
WR Jaylen Waddle
Waddle was held in check by a tough Rams secondary (and by Nix, his quarterback), catching just 2-of-7 targets for 10 yards, though he added a 14-yard end-around run and a two-point conversion, if you’re into that kind of thing. Waddle did co-lead the receiving room with seven targets alongside Courtland Sutton and Harvey, but this offense has not found its stride under new playcaller Davis Webb. How long until Webb returns playcalling to head coach Sean Payton? That’s a real question, and that’s about all we can do here. We’re just asking questions with our brave faces on.
Fantasy Advice: You’re starting Waddle as a high-end WR3, hoping for some more efficiency from Nix as well as some more fruitful utilization from the offensive scheme, but we’ve barely gotten any of that so far through three games.
49ers Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: QB Brock Purdy, RB Christian McCaffrey, TE George Kittle
WR Mike Evans
I bet if you search “Mike Evans injury” on your search engine of choice, you’ll get a response something like “which one?”
The now oft-injured veteran receiver is on his fourth injury in the past two months. We’ve gone from quad strain to groin pull to a hip injury in the regular season, and now a rib injury that ended his day at halftime in Week 3. Before that, Evans caught 3-of-6 targets for 34 yards and was credited with a touchdown reception on a wild hook-and-lateral. You have to be on the field to score fantasy points, as many people are saying these days. I’m not here to make substation jokes at Evans or the 49ers’ expense. Use that search engine to find them, because there are a LOT of them.
Fantasy Advice: Evans is a solid WR3 option and one of the top targets for the 49ers when on the field. However, at age 33, the injuries are mounting. He’s great when he’s playing, but this is concerning.
WR Deebo Samuel
In one of the craziest stat lines ever recorded on an NFL field, Samuel finished with zero catches on zero targets, yet somehow produced 80 receiving yards and a touchdown. That score was the result of a bizarre hook-and-lateral trick play where he took a backward pass from Evans and sprinted the rest of the way for the score. It’s the most receiving yards ever recorded by a player without an official reception in NFL history. He also rushed twice for 14 yards, but those yards were earned by more conventional means. If Evans is out in Week 4 with his rib injury (he is listed as questionable on the Week 4 injury report), Samuel and George Kittle stand to benefit the most in the passing game.
Fantasy Advice: There aren’t many targets left standing in San Francisco, so Samuel is an option both by choice and by default, with role players coming in off the street and condensing the targets to the players who remain there. Consider Samuel a WR3 with some target-based upside in Week 4 and beyond.
Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks
- Favorite: Seahawks -7
- Game Total: 42.5
- Implied Point Total: Seahawks 24.75, Chargers 17.75
Chargers Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
QB Justin Herbert
One of fantasy football’s biggest disappointments through three games, Herbert threw for 226 yards with a touchdown and an interception and still lost in a game where the Chargers had FIVE takeaways. The offense simply couldn’t capitalize on the extra possessions created by the turnovers. Herbert’s early-season struggles have continued into a third straight game, and the Chargers remain winless. Anybody starting Herbert in fantasy football expecting a turnaround in these past few weeks is likely also winless. Herbert has finished as fantasy’s QB22, QB24 and QB23 in the past three weeks, and that’s not going to get it done.
Fantasy Advice: Facing off with the Seahawks in Seattle, you’ve got to leave Herbert on the bench until he shows signs of life.
Chargers RBs
Keaton Mitchell outproduced Omarion Hampton on a per-carry basis against the Bills, rushing eight times for 52 yards and catching a 1-yard touchdown pass, while Hampton managed just 56 yards on 15 carries against a tough Buffalo run defense. Mitchell’s receiving role gives him standalone value, even in a timeshare. Hampton remains the early-down workhorse overall, but this game showed Mitchell can carve out a meaningful complementary role. Monitor the split closely going forward, as Hampton clearly offers value, but Mitchell is the home-run hitter and has some major upside.
Fantasy Advice: Hampton has been a bit underwhelming so far, but should produce at least RB2-level value. Meanwhile, Mitchell is on the cusp of some standalone value, but play it safe and keep him stashed for now as one of the best contingent plays in fantasy football.
WR Ladd McConkey
McConkey caught four passes for 66 yards on five targets, but the main concern leading into Week 4 is his foot injury. McConkey put forth a limited practice on Wednesday, but was downgraded to “DNP” on Thursday before another limited session on Friday. If McConkey plays, he could be managed a bit, but it’s still a tough matchup no matter how you slice it.
Fantasy Advice: McConkey is listed as questionable on the Week 4 injury report, but this questionable tag feels more doubtful than probable given the report that he did little more than dress for practice on Friday. It’s certainly possible the Chargers are taking it as easy as possible on McConkey this week, but his true status is one of the big question marks for this weekend.
Chargers WRs
Tre Harris had his best game as a pro, leading the Chargers in targets and receptions with a 6-76 line. Quentin Johnston chipped in three catches for 40 yards. With Harris playing well in more limited time on the field and Johnston stinking up the joint, I wouldn’t be shocked if both players flip, with Harris getting more opportunity. The Chargers need SOME kind of spark.
Fantasy Advice: Harris may still be out there on waivers with people clearly spooked by how bad the Chargers have been this season. I’m adding him wherever I can and stashing him on my bench. Conversely, Johnston is somebody I’d be looking to drop or, at the very least, hold on the bench because he’s difficult to start right now.
Seahawks Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Seahawks RBs
The Seattle running backs are … not great, y’all. That was certainly the case in Week 3 against the Commanders. All three of Jadarian Price, Emanuel Wilson and George Holani combined for 17 rushes for 39 yards on the ground. At least Holani wasn’t a total zero, catching five passes for 48 yards through the air in a pass-catching role. Price lost a fumble for the second straight week and was very much in the “James Cook III Memorial Doghouse” that the three-time Pro Bowler was in very early in his career after a Week 1 fumble a few seasons ago. No matter how you try to make sense of it, any of these backs are really poor fantasy starts right now until we figure out what we’re doing with these backs and the roles they’ll be in. To make it even more muddy, Zach Charbonnet returned to practice on Thursday.
Fantasy Advice: Price is a clear hold, but I’m not rostering Wilson or Holani if I can help it. That said, Price was ruled out with a chest injury on Friday, which opens the door for Wilson to handle something approaching a workhorse role against a winless opponent. I’m not starting any Seattle running back with such a low floor and ceiling for fantasy, but a case can be made for Wilson as a low-end flex for managers dealing with multiple injuries on their rosters.
TE AJ Barner
It’s hard to find passing-game targets that aren’t named Jaxon Smith-Njigba in this Seahawks offense, but Barner had his best game of the season against the Commanders in Week 3, catching five of nine targets for a nice 69 yards. It was Barner’s first game with more than two catches this season, and he clearly benefited from the Commanders’ defense focusing heavily on Smith-Njigba. Sure, they may be short targets (1.7-yard aDOT), but in PPR, they count just the same.
Fantasy Advice: Barner is more of a TE2, as his nine targets from Week 3 could fluctuate wildly week to week, which is why he’s not anywhere close to being a locked-in starting tight end for fantasy football.
Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers (SNF)
- Favorite: Lions -3.5
- Game Total: 50.5
- Implied Point Total: Lions 27, Panthers 23.5
Lions Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: RB Jahmyr Gibbs, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
QB Jared Goff
Goff put up 269 yards and two scores against the New York Jets in Week 3, throwing for two touchdowns in what was a very fun game for fantasy and DFS alike. Goff hasn’t thrown an interception yet this season, and with the hyper-condensed passing-game weapons in abundance in Detroit, Goff continues to be a rock-solid QB1 for fantasy football.
Fantasy Advice: Continue plugging Goff into fantasy lineups, especially in Week 4 against Carolina on Sunday Night Football.
WR Jameson Williams
While Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs have gotten all the fanfare and accolades through three games, Williams has been lying in the weeds. Williams is running plenty of routes, with a 91% route participation, but his looks have been a bit more sparse compared to the other targets in the offense. It’s only a matter of time, but after three weeks, it’s understandable if fantasy managers are growing a little impatient about Williams.
Fantasy Advice: Williams is a classic “boom-bust” fantasy wide receiver, but it’s been a lot more “bust” so far in 2026. Let’s hope for a boom when slotted in your WR3 spot in fantasy lineups against the Panthers, who will be without their top two corners for the foreseeable future.
TE Sam LaPorta
Also stuck a little bit behind St. Brown and Gibbs, LaPorta has been a little more involved as the tight end who was a bit more downfield in Week 3 with a 12.0-yard aDOT. LaPorta is averaging a little more than five targets per game and is still on pace for a solid 79-816-6 line, so all is not lost here. But the spike-week stuff hasn’t manifested through three weeks. It also doesn’t help that St. Brown and Gibbs have been absolutely sublime from a target-earning and production standpoint. The comparison isn’t super fair, but the bar is a little bit lower for a player like LaPorta than it is for Williams in his own offense, who has struggled for three weeks.
Fantasy Advice: Like Williams, LaPorta can blow up at any time, so continue slotting him into lineups as a mid-range TE1.
Panthers Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
QB Bryce Young
With two top-seven games among fantasy quarterbacks, one could assume that Young may be turning a corner in his fourth season as a pro. He still might! However, in Cleveland, Young put up a dud game on his most passing volume (48 pass attempts) of the young season. That said, he still threw for 291 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Not having Jalen Coker certainly didn’t help. It is noteworthy that 10 players earned a target against Cleveland; the opposite of the concentration Young has exhibited in his previous two games.
Fantasy Advice: This matchup in Week 4 against Detroit is a nice get-right spot for Young, where he’ll be a low-end QB1 capable of putting up stats and heavy volume, especially if Coker is active for the Panthers.
RB Chuba Hubbard
Hubbard was Carolina’s most reliable weapon as a three-down workhorse, rushing 19 times for 82 yards and catching all four targets for 28 yards on the day. With no Jonathon Brooks for the next few weeks, at least, it was nice to see some efficiency out of Hubbard, where that was the massive issue last season and really took the wind out of his sails for fantasy football drafts.
Fantasy Advice: Detroit has been a middle-of-the-road defense in terms of giving fantasy points per game to the running back position. With Hubbard seeing the bulk of the workload, consider him a steady RB2 with rushing and receiving upside.
WR Tetairoa McMillan
McMillan managed just two receptions for 17 yards on four targets against the Browns in Cleveland; no doubt a disappointing follow-up after emerging as Carolina’s most consistent weapon through two games. McMillan struggled against some coverage from Browns cornerback Denzel Ward. According to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, Ward had 25 matchups against McMillan; Ward was targeted twice and allowed just one reception for 12 yards when matched up against McMillan. But McMillan is way too talented to let this dud game get to him. No worries here, as the Lions’ secondary is much more friendly.
Fantasy Advice: Continue to treat McMillan as a solid mid-range WR2 with consistent upside.
WR Jalen Coker
More on the injury front for one of the fastest starters and best stories of the young season as Coker caught two passes for 18 yards but left the Panthers’ Week 3 game against Cleveland in the third quarter with a quad injury, compounding a rough day for Carolina’s receiving corps. The clear top two targets in the Panthers’ offense, Coker and McMillan combined for just four catches and 35 yards on the afternoon. The severity of Coker’s injury will be worth monitoring closely, but Coker did practice on Thursday, which is a good sign for potentially being active on Sunday night.
Fantasy Advice: Coker has been a locked-in low-end WR2 when healthy, and if he is for Sunday Night Football against the Lions, he should be in your fantasy lineup in what could be a shootout at home.
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints (MNF)
- Favorite: Saints -2.5
- Game Total: 47.5
- Implied Point Total: Saints 25, Falcons 22.5
Falcons Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: RB Bijan Robinson, WR Drake London
Let’s face facts: it’s just not worth starting any non-Robinson or non-London pieces of this Falcons’ offense. The receivers are extremely condensed in their routes and in production, with players like Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus, who are unproductive, or Zachariah Branch, who doesn’t have enough of a role right now to matter. Michael Penix Jr., who made his season debut in Week 3, can’t be trusted in any fantasy lineups at the moment.
Don’t get me started about Kyle Pitts, who has scored a whopping 4.0 fantasy points in three games. That’s TOTAL. Just two catches for 20 yards. Brian Robinson might be the best of the remaining offensive players, but he’s merely a handcuff without much standalone value. Leave these Falcons be, folks.
Saints Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: QB Tyler Shough, WR Chris Olave
Saints RBs
Where to begin … Travis Etienne Jr. hits the IR with a hamstring injury, causing a backfield split between Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller to break out in Week 3, with CJ Donaldson trailing behind them. That’s a lot of backs who really aren’t that good (or unproven, in Donaldson’s case) splitting time. It’s not going to be just one back here, so that’s what makes it extremely difficult to meter out a role for any of these guys. Kamara is probably safe to bet on a receiving role, and Miller, the two-down grinder role, à la RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins. Outside of that, it’s just pure speculation here. And the running back room to begin with wasn’t very fruitful through three games!
Fantasy Advice: All jokes aside, Miller is a decent speculative bench add, as is Kamara. That said, I’m not looking to start any of these backs right now until we see what kind of roles we’re looking at. Remember, Etienne will miss at least four weeks, so this is going to be a split for the next month or so.
WR Devaughn Vele
Vele started his 2026 season with a bang but has backslid just a bit since then, going from his 7-69-1 line to 5-64-0 to 3-39-0. He continues to run a ton of routes, totaling 93% of routes per dropback on the season, so he’s never coming off the field. We’ll see what happens when Jordyn Tyson returns to the Saints, but you can ride the wave as long as Vele is entrenched as the starter for the Saints.
Fantasy Advice: As long as he’s starting for the Saints, Vele is a solid target-earning flex in one of the fastest-paced offenses in the NFL.
TE Juwan Johnson
Juwan Johnson had a monster game statistically, with eight receptions for 48 yards and two touchdown catches, but that game was partially overshadowed by a costly fumble with under a minute remaining, which sealed the loss for the Saints. Saints fans will remember that, but fantasy managers will turn a blind eye, as Johnson turned in TE5 numbers for our silly game of fantasy football. Johnson has been neck and neck with Vele as far as New Orleans’ second target, but Johnson will have more staying power once Tyson returns to the team in a month or so.
Fantasy Advice:
Johnson has been TE3 overall this season, behind Trey McBride and Travis Kelce, so you’re starting Johnson in most instances. Certainly, that’s the case in Week 4 against the Falcons on Monday Night Football.
This article originally appeared on The Huddle: The Outlook - Week 4 (DEN-SF, LAC-SEA, DET-CAR, ATL-NO)
