Week 4 Fantasy Football Start/Sit Sleeper Picks (2024)

Now that we are entering the fourth week of this young NFL season, we are starting to find out which players have been underperforming. I get it! You’ve had enough of Michael Pittman Jr. not being able to score over 8 Points Per Reception (PPR) fantasy points, and he needs to ride the bench. Lucky you, I’ve compiled a lineup full of sleepers that you may want to consider in your Week 4 fantasy football start/sit decisions!

Before I get to this week’s sleepers, I have to recap the previous week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” Week 3’s version was a memorable one. It provided not one but two sleepers who outscored their projection by over 18 PPR points. Jauan Jennings scored 35.5 over his projection, and Cole Kmet scored 18.6 over his. Wan’Dale Robinson also contributed 4.3 points over his projection. Then, Gardner Minshew and Rico Dowdle did score under their projection but stayed within a point. The total last week? 54.4 points over projection. Yeah, the lineup was so red-hot it defeated my home league’s roster with three fewer players.

I’m looking forward to continuing this hot streak! So, let’s get into Week 4’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.”

Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 4 Sleepers

Quarterback

Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears)

Sometimes, it takes time for a rookie to get a hold of the professional leagues. After Caleb Williams was held to under 10 fantasy points in his first two games, he bounced back with 19 fantasy points in Week 3. An astonishing 57% of his 630 total passing yards this season came from last week! So, who says the first overall pick can’t do it again?

The Rams have been torched by quarterbacks these past two weeks. It might’ve been divisional opponents, but Kyler Murray and Brock Purdy managed to average 329 total yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, 27.1 fantasy points and top-five finishes for the respective week. It’s got me foaming at the mouth not to pass up on this opportunity!

Altogether, the Rams have allowed the third-most fantasy points to the position this season! That’s not all! You can now add that it sounds like Keenan Allen will return for this game. A Bears offense that is coming to full strength with their weaponry against a defense that hasn’t been able to stop the pass; You have to trust the rookie this week!

Running Back

Zach Charbonnet (Seattle Seahawks)

So, I’m starting the running back position with a spicy one. Zach Charbonnet was filling in for Kenneth Walker III after he suffered an oblique injury in Week 1. The expectation is that Walker III will play in this game. With that expectation, Charbonnet will likely see less action than he is currently. Still, I’d expect Walker III to be eased in coming off an injury and Charbonnet to be very productive.

Another reason this is spicy is that the Lions have allowed the fewest fantasy points to the running back position this year. However, the Lions and Seahawks have played each other in the last three seasons, and the Seahawks’ RBs have dominated in those past games. In those three games, the running back averaged 131.9 total yards, two touchdowns and 26.5 fantasy points. It’s not just an average of two touchdowns either; it’s three straight games of two rushing touchdowns.

With Walker III likely not being 100% in his first game back (if he returns), Charbonnet already scoring four total touchdowns on the season and historical analysis, I can see this 23-year-old potentially surprising people on “Monday Night Football.”

Jaleel McLaughlin (Denver Broncos)

I don’t learn my lesson, do I? For those who don’t know, the last time I put Jaleel McLaughlin on my sleepers list, he scored a whopping 0.6 fantasy points. Well, I’m trying to improve from that! McLaughlin has been the highest-scoring Broncos RB in two of the three games this season, and although they both didn’t score over 8.4 fantasy points, it still means he’s doing the best with his opportunities in fantasy football terms.

This week, the Broncos face the Jets, who are allowing the ninth-fewest fantasy points to the position. Yet, I looked closely at the numbers and found this shocking statistic. In five of the Jets’ last seven games, the opposing RB1 has scored at least 15 fantasy points, with the RB2 scoring at least five. Those two outliers just happened to be games against the Patriots. While five fantasy points aren’t much, I think that with the Denver running back room being so close in snaps and opportunities, they will equal each other out.

So, instead of a point split of 15 to five, I can see it being more even with a double-digit performance from two different running backs. McLaughlin, the only Broncos running back to score a touchdown this season, should lead the charge, and I won’t spend my time “laughlin” in pain.

Wide Receiver

Brian Thomas Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars)

While the Jaguars team, as a whole, is struggling in real life, Brian Thomas Jr. has been a bright spot for them. The rookie has scored 9.8 fantasy points in every game this year. He also has the most receptions and most receiving yards on his team!

That said, the matchup is quite enticing for Thomas Jr. In two of the three games this year, the Texans have allowed two different receivers to score at least 12.4 fantasy points. All those receivers who scored at least 12.4 points scored a touchdown, which the Texans have been struggling against. This Houston team has allowed four receiving touchdowns to WRs this season, tied for fifth-most. There has only been one wide receiver to score a touchdown this season for the Jaguars. Believe it or not, it happened to be the rookie from LSU.

Andrei Iosivas (Cincinnati Bengals)

If you were to tell me that after the first three weeks of the season, the player on the Bengals who has caught the most touchdowns would be Andrei Iosivas, I wouldn’t have believed you. Well, here we are, and that previous statement is true!

Even with Tee Higgins returning to the lineup last week, Iosivas saw more targets than him and had as many as Ja’Marr Chase. Here’s where it gets crazier: The Panthers have allowed every wide receiver that has seen five or more targets this season to score a touchdown and over 16.3 fantasy points. This is good news for this 24-year-old; He has an average of 5.6 targets per game and saw seven targets last week. He’s also been red-hot these past two weeks, scoring all three touchdowns in that span and putting up an average of 15.4 fantasy points.

Tight End

Mike Gesicki (Cincinnati Bengals)

The tight end position has been atrocious this year. It got even more disgusting after Week 3. Top tight ends Sam LaPorta, George Kittle and Trey McBride all didn’t play or left their game with injuries, and as of publication, they are questionable to play. The most tight ends we’ve seen in an individual week score double-digit points this season has been eight. Abysmal.

Now, can I ask why Mike Gesicki is getting no love? The Penn State product started the year off slow, but he’s since followed it with top-11 finishes in back-to-back weeks. This would put the veteran at TE4, with 12.4 points per game since Week 2. With this position at rock bottom, I would love to take a top-five player at the tight end position. The only wish is that Gesicki scores a touchdown, as he’s been touchdown-less for five straight games dating back to last season.

Well, my wish might be granted this week, as the Panthers are the only team this season to allow multiple receiving touchdowns to the tight end position. I want to clarify that both touchdowns did happen in the Week 1 blowout against the Saints, but it still happened! It’s not just the touchdowns, though; the Panthers have allowed a 40-yard tight end in two of their three games. If that wasn’t bad enough, they’ve allowed 152 receiving yards to the position, which is tied for the eighth-most this season. What else is there not to love about this matchup?

Check out all of our Week 4 fantasy football content:

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” or on Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ.

*Photo Credit: Sam Greene/The Enquirer – USA TODAY Sports*

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Week 4 Shore Thing Sleepers (2024)