Somebody needs to wake up Green Day, because September is about to end and so is the first month of the NFL season. While we might have some regrets about the players we picked, or enjoy the surprises of others, it’s another week of fantasy football. Let’s see what the fantasy football gods have in store for us this week!
I would normally go over last week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers,” but after last week, I’m going to follow the theme of the early Sunday slate and block the bad calls from my memory. I don’t think anybody expected what the D/STs did during that time with blocking, scoring and everything else in between. I did have one huge call with Mark Andrews, as he singlehandedly saved the week from being an all-time bad one, scoring 17.8 points over projection. Yeah, having six receptions for 91 yards and two touchdowns will do that, and it softened the blow to only 5.2 points under projection last week. I’m hoping for more plays like Andrews in Week 3.
Let’s get into some Week 4 Sleepers, shall we?
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 4 Sleepers (2025)
Quarterback
Carson Wentz (Minnesota Vikings)
You can’t spell Dublin without “dub” so I’m hoping to get a “dub” with this call of Carson Wentz in Dublin. He scored 15.3 fantasy points last week in the blowout win against the Bengals, throwing for 173 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. But there’s so much more to unpack from that. Imagine if the Vikings’ defense, or should I say, Isaiah Rodgers, didn’t score two touchdowns. Wentz would see more snaps and probably would’ve had a better game. Then, add in the fact that the Vikings are getting Jordan Addison back this week. The team won’t be at full strength, as obviously Wentz is the backup-turned-starter but it’s only looking up for him.
The Steelers have allowed a quarterback to have 218+ passing yards, throw a touchdown and score 17.8+ fantasy points in every game this season, so why not Wentz? Oh, and it gets better! In back-to-back weeks, the Steelers have allowed a quarterback to have 268+ passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Despite those two quarterbacks also each throwing an interception, the mistake isn’t quite so costly when you also have the passing yards, touchdowns and most importantly, fantasy points.
All we have to hope for is that the Vikings’ defense still forces turnovers but does not turn them into touchdowns, giving the offense more opportunities to score points. That and for Wentz to not do “Wentz-like” things. But the offense looked like they were clicking under Carson Wentz last week and getting a key player like your WR2 back means I think it’s going to be more than okay.
Running Back
Ollie Gordon II (Miami Dolphins)
If you missed last week’s game on Thursday Night Football, you missed your opportunity to see the Miami Dolphins RBII, that being Ollie Gordon II. After only seeing three opportunities in the first two games, he had nine carries for 38 yards and a touchdown. But let’s take a closer look at the stats and see where he really shines. Gordon saw three of his nine carries in the red zone on Thursday, and he four attempts of his 12 carries on the season came in the red zone, both stats in which he has outperformed his teammate De’Von Achane.
What I’m trying to say here is that if the Dolphins get into the red zone, Gordon may steal some opportunities and touchdowns. It bodes well for him going against a team that allowed all three rushing touchdowns on the season in Week 2, with two of those touchdowns being inside the red zone (granted, one was by a wide receiver). You may get some yardage from Gordon, as the RB2 against the Jets averages 18.3 rushing yards, but I really like the redzone touchdown potential for the rookie.
It just depends on the Dolphins’ offense getting in the red zone, which they’ve steadily improved on. They currently have only 16 plays in the red zone this season (second fewest in the league), and ten of those came on Thursday Night (tied for tenth most in Week 3). All of this should give Ollie Gordon II some time to shine so let’s hope for some more of that.
Kyle Monangai (Chicago Bears)
The other running back I’m featuring this week is Kyle Monangai. You may be thinking, “who?” The statistics will tell you! The Bears RB has gone back-to-back games with six-plus carries and at least one target, while Roschon Johnson hasn’t logged a carry despite being active these past two games. It’s not much, with only 44 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards this season, but Monangai has seen 29% or more of the snaps in the past two weeks. Why is that? Well, D’Andre Swift has only logged limited practice sessions with a quad injury last week and now a hip injury this week.
Now, I don’t think Swift will miss this game but if he does, the keys are going to go to Monangai. Limited carries or not, I love this matchup. The Raiders have been struggling with RB2s all season and it really showed last week. In every game this season, the Raiders have allowed an RB2 to have at least 25 scrimmage yards and score a minimum of 3.5 PPR fantasy points (if Omarion Hampton didn’t fumble). I know that the fantasy point total is low, but like I said, it got worse last week. The Raiders allowed two running backs to score a touchdown and get double-digit fantasy points, making it three running backs in the past two weeks to score at least 6.8 fantasy points.
While they did a lot through the air last week against the Cowboys, maybe this week they’ll do a lot through the ground against the Raiders. Either way, Kyle Monangai is stepping up to the occasion and I think it’s finally time for him to deliver.
Wide Receiver
Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills)
In Buffalo, the term they are using is “everyone eats.” Well, it’s time to fire up the Coleman grill and see why I think Keon Coleman will be eating on Sunday. Out of the team, Coleman averages the most targets per game with six, receptions per game with 4.7, and receiving yards per game with 52.7. But even with the most work on the team, it hasn’t been great since that Week 1 game; he’s only seen four or fewer targets and has been held to 26 or fewer receiving yards. That’s the bad part.
But why will he be eating on Sunday against the Saints? New Orleans has allowed the most-targeted wide receiver to have 71+ receiving yards and a touchdown in every single game this season. If that stat isn’t enough to get you salivating, consider that the Saints have also allowed a WR duo to score 9.2+ fantasy points in back-to-back games, including three of those four wide receivers scoring a touchdown. You want more?! Don’t worry, I got you! Remember when I said Coleman is averaging six targets per game this season? Well, when a wide receiver has six or more targets against the Saints this year, they are averaging 4.7 receptions for 78 yards, 0.7 touchdowns and 16.9 fantasy points.
I understand your concern that he might not get as many fantasy points in a blowout. First off, it’s “Any Given Sunday,” and second off, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was able to put up a 5-96-1 stat line in that 44-13 blowout victory against the Saints just last week. Let Keon Coleman eat this week!
Josh Downs (Indianapolis Colts)
While the Colts players have generally all been positive surprises, it’s been a downer season for Josh Downs. Currently, he is averaging 3.3 receptions on 4.6 targets for 32.3 yards and 6.5 fantasy points. It’s almost as if Alec Pierce has taken his role. Even though Downs has more receptions and targets than Pierce, he’s run 20 fewer routes than Pierce. That being said, Pierce is currently in concussion protocol and I would assume he’s unlikely to play this week’s game against the Rams.
While many might assume the biggest benefit will be for teammate Adonai Mitchell, as he’s more likely to fill Pierce’s role, I think it’ll be Josh Downs who benefits more overall. If you’re going to give him more opportunities to run some routes, more targets should come. That’s a bad thing for the Rams, as they’ve gone back-to-back games allowing a WR duo to have 56+ receiving yards and 8.7+ fantasy points. Oh, and the WR2 in those games? They average six receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown for 17.8 fantasy points. Give John Downs more routes to run and have him join in on the fun of this very fun Colts team to watch, led by Daniel Jones!
Tight End
Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles)
Dallas Goedert might’ve only gotten one reception last week, but he made the most of it by scoring a 33-yard touchdown. In both games he’s played this season, he’s scored double-digit fantasy points. Last week was the lowest of lows, with only two targets, but I also think that the passing attack was more focused on the wide receivers and Goedert did miss the previous week with an injury. He very rarely sees just two targets in a game, so I think he’ll pick back up where he left off in Week 1.
I get it, though. The Buccaneers have allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to the position, including only one tight end to score double-digit fantasy points. That’s where I looked closer, especially in the last five regular-season games against the NFC for the Buccaneers. They’ve allowed a tight end to average 10.2 fantasy points and in four of those five games, including the one from this year, tight ends have scored double-digit fantasy points. But I needed more! In the last three matchups against the Buccaneers, Dallas Goedert has averaged 5.3 receptions for 41.3 yards, 0.3 touchdowns and 11.4 fantasy points. That’s more, indeed!
Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
*Photo Credit: Lon Horwedel – USA TODAY Sports*
