Week 4 in the NFL is nearing its completion, and we’ve got many storylines across the NFL. We’ve got some 4-0 surprises such as the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals. We also have some very under-achieving teams such as the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and Philadelphia Eagles.
We’ve also got some surprises in the wide world of fantasy football, including the two-week coming out party of Devonta Freeman and the lack of stability at the quarterback position, where we’ve seen key injuries to Romo, Brees, Roethlisberger, Cutler, Luck, and more.
Here are this week’s players to add and drop for the coming week of fantasy football.
Five to Add:
QB Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars may not be winning many games and scoring many points, but Bortles is clearly getting the chance to show off his arm over these first four games of the season. He has thrown the ball 33 times in two of his four starts this season, to go along with 40 throws in the first game, and 50 throws in Week 4. As long as Bortles continues to get the chance to throw the ball, he will start making things happen. He’s finally got a crew of talented receivers to work with as well, such as Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson. The key to success for Bortles has been his lack of turnovers. He’s only thrown three interceptions in his four starts this season, which is extremely encouraging, considering that he threw 17 interceptions a season ago in 14 starts. In my opinion, Bortles is a better start than any of the backup quarterbacks that are filling in due to injuries, such as Michael Vick and Brandon Weeden.
RB Boobie Dixon, Buffalo Bills
News leaked out today that LeSean McCoy could be out for several weeks, in what has been a struggling Bills offense as of late. With quarterback Tyrod Taylor struggling to establish consistency with any of his receivers, partially due to an injury to top receiver Sammy Watkins, I expect the Bills to start turning to their running game to establish a more well-paced, well-balanced offensive attack. Karlos Williams is expected to be the lead back for Buffalo moving forward until McCoy regains his health, but Dixon should be the #2 option in Buffalo. He could be worthy of some looks because of his ability to catch passes out of the backfield.
RB Zac Stacy, New York Jets
A week ago, I suggested Bilal Powell as a player to add for your Week 4 fantasy lineup. But, early in the Jets victory against Miami in Week 4, Powell went down with a groin injury, which is never good news for a running back. Stacy, the former starting running back for the St. Louis Rams, should now back up Chris Ivory in New York. While Ivory has had a tremendous start to the season and will not be losing the starting job any time soon, he also has a history of injury problems, and cannot be relied on for a healthy, full season. Stacy once showed promise as an elite running back, and at the very least, as a big, physical back, he should accumulate some touchdowns, as he did in this week’s Jets victory. I would not suggest plugging Stacy into your starting lineup in the next couple of weeks, but he may be an intriguing option as the season goes on.
WR Allen Hurns, Jacksonville Jaguars
After putting together a nice rookie season a year ago and placed as the #2 wide receiver on the Jaguars depth chart, Hurns is still only owned in about 10 or 11% of leagues across ESPN. That should change after a promising Week 4 performance, as he was targeted 15 times, catching 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Hurns should continue to get targets and make catches for Jacksonville, as they’re allowing quarterback Blake Bortles to throw the ball on offense with their inexperienced running game. Hurns is a great option for those teams missing wide receivers over the next several weeks due to bye weeks.
WR Leonard Hankerson, Atlanta Falcons
After spending his first four NFL seasons with the Redskins, Hankerson has found his identity in Atlanta, and is a big reason for the Falcons 4-0 start. Hankerson has solidified himself as the #2 receiver on Atlanta’s pass heavy offense, behind Julio Jones, and could be a start-worthy player on fantasy teams over the next several weeks. Unfortunately for Hankerson owners, Devonta Freeman has been catching a lot of passes out of the backfield for Atlanta, which may take away some targets. Still as a #2 receiver on a 4-0 team, Hankerson is worth looks in every league. In Week 4, he caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, receiving eight targets—two more targets than both Freeman and Jones.
Five to Drop:
QB Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
It’s no secret that the 49ers are not the same team that reached the Super Bowl just a few seasons ago. They’ve lost their key components on defense, such as Patrick Willis and Aldon Smith, but offensively, they’re not much different. They no longer have Michael Crabtree, and Carlos Hyde is certainly an upgrade over Frank Gore. They key to their offense was always Kaepernick, and he just seems to be lost out there this season. Numbers wise, Kaepernick’s best game this season came in a Week 2 loss against Pittsburgh, where the 49ers lost 43-18. In a 47-7 loss in Week 3, Kaepernick only completed nine passes for 67 yards and four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. He did not fare much better against the Packers in Week 4, as the 49ers were not able to get anything going on offense all day. He’s also not doing much with his feet—his best rushing game on the season came this week, where he rushed for only 57 yards on 10 attempts.
RB Alfred Blue, Houston Texans
Blue opened the season as the Texans top running back, but with Arian Foster returning from injury in Week 4, and the emergence of backup running back Chris Polk, it seems as if Blue’s fantasy value is diminishing rather quickly. As the starting running back, Blue did not do too much to warrant a lot of carries in the weeks moving forward. His best performance came in Week 3, where he rushed for 139 yards on 31 carries for a touchdown, but he still only averaged 4.5 yards per carry in that game. Foster will undoubtedly be the starting running back for Houston moving forward. Blue’s inability to make an impact in the passing game should make Polk a favorite to receive a bulk of the backup work behind Foster, leaving little value for Blue over the coming weeks.
RB DeAngelo Williams, Pittsburgh Steelers
Williams was putting up huge numbers for the Steelers over the first two weeks of the season during star running back Le’Veon Bell’s suspension, but has barely seen the field over the last two weeks. In Week 3, Williams picked up one carry for two yards, and in Week 4, he only picked up two carries for five yards. While Bell stays healthy, I continue to expect Williams to see very little playing time in the weeks moving forward. There are many backup running backs that are worthy of adds than Williams.
WR Anquan Boldin, San Francisco 49ers
Boldin used to be quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s secret weapon, but as mentioned above, Kaepernick has struggled mightily all season long. As a result of Kaepernick’s struggles, Boldin has also seen a drop of production due to Kaepernick’s inability to get him the ball. Boldin’s best game of the season came in Week 2, where he caught six passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Besides that game, he’s been extremely ineffective. In the Week 4 loss to the Packers, he caught three passes for a meager 12 yards. He’s only caught the one Week 2 touchdown on the season. As long as Kaepernick continues to struggle, Boldin will as well.
WR Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles first round pick out of USC in this past year’s draft, Agholor has struggled to maintain any sort of consistency in what is a relatively new offense under head coach Chip Kelly. While Agholor put together his best game yet in the Eagles’ Week 4 loss to the Redskins, I believe that Agholor will struggle to receive a fair share of targets this season. The Eagles have a number of weapons in their passing game, including running backs DeMarco Murray and Darren Sproles, to go along with fellow receivers Jordan Matthews, Riley Cooper, and Miles Austin. Agholor should have a very nice NFL career, but I do not believe he will be a fantasy impact player at all throughout 2015.
Photo: Hankerson