Week 4 of the Fantasy Football season brought more headaches to Fantasy managers. If it wasn't a player getting hurt it was someone else delivering a worse-than-expected day.
Not that it was all bad, there were some better-than-expected days for players who managed to finally break through and find the end zone, or get a bunch of targets, or both.
Our daily Fantasy Football Today podcast includes a must-watch Sunday night livestream every single week when the late games end. It's our chance to react to what happened across the league and give an initial prognosis on what will happen moving forward. It's a great place to celebrate ... or commiserate.
So while there are far more than two winners and two losers from this week's games, here are the two winners and two losers I gave on the show. Please keep in mind: I never share "winners" who are obvious studs (or else CeeDee Lamb would have been a big winner), and I never share "losers" who are obvious bench guys.
Week 4 Fantasy Winners
Packers TE Tucker Kraft
Week 4 was a big step forward for Tucker Kraft. After a relatively quiet opening couple of weeks coming off his offseason recovery, Green Bay has made a concentrated effort to get him heavily involved in the offense. He saw seven-plus targets for the second consecutive game and punctuated this performance with a touchdown catch to go with it. More importantly, his snaps and route participation have steadily climbed across three straight contests, with Jordan Love leaning on Kraft as a reliable, high-volume safety valve. In a position group across fantasy football where consistent target volume is exceptionally rare, Kraft's expanding playing time and back-to-back weeks of focal-point usage firmly plant him back in the TE1 conversation as a starter you can feel good about locking into your lineups.
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson
While it wasn't the most efficient box score on the ground, Rhamondre Stevenson stepped back into his role as the primary back. He completely dominated critical high-value touches, taking virtually all third-down snaps and handling every single opportunity inside the opponent's five-yard line. Stevenson played 64% of the team's snaps compared to TreVeyon Henderson's 38%. Though he picked up a minor knee issue late in the game, he looked to be fine afterward, even talking to the media post-game. With a favorable upcoming schedule on deck and guaranteed goal-line and third-down priority, Stevenson holds firm, banked-in volume that keeps him solidly in line as a RB2 for fantasy rosters.
Week 4 Fantasy Losers
Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Love
We're right back to where we were two or three weeks ago, meaning you can't trust Jeremiyah Love as a top-15 fantasy running back after he failed to deliver against the Giants. Tyler Allgeier took the lead in snaps (54% to Love's 46%), handled third downs, and took all seven snaps inside the five-yard line. Mike LaFleur confirmed Allgeier is essentially their third-down and two-minute back, and Love lamented after the game that he's "not where I want to be" health-wise and is reluctantly having his snaps managed so he can finish the season. It's the right thing for the Cardinals to do, but without a solidified goal-line role and with weekly workload concerns, Love is a frustrating, unpredictable option.
Colts WR Josh Downs
Josh Downs had an ugly, tough-to-watch outing for fantasy managers. Daniel Jones was an abomination for pretty much the entire game, consistently throwing short and off-target. When the passing game is operating this poorly, it creates a near-impossible environment for a slot technician like Downs to produce meaningful numbers. As long as Daniel Jones remains stuck in this funk, it's virtually impossible to feel confident starting Downs as anything more than a fringe WR3/flex option. In fact, it's pretty easy to start Malik Nabers over Downs moving forward. Until this passing attack regains its form, Downs' upside remains capped and you should at least consider other options.
