Fantasy Football Week 4 Quarterback Preview: Jaxson Dart debut, plus DFS, streamers, start/sits and more
Everything you need to know about quarterback for Fantasy Football in Week 4
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3 min read
The quarterback position has not been a particularly reliable one early this season. Through three weeks, Lamar Jackson and Caleb Williams are the only quarterbacks who have scored at least 20 Fantasy points in all three of their games. Williams is clearly one of the biggest positive surprises of the early season, particularly after so many negative camp reports, and we view him as a must-start QB in Week 4 against the Raiders. Lamar hasn't just been good, he's been incredible, with at least 33 Fantasy points in all three starts. We analysts who said you should use a top 20 pick on a QB are going to look pretty foolish if he keeps this up.
Technically, if you wanted to insert an asterisk, the Washington Commanders' starting quarterback has also scored 20 Fantasy points every Week. Jayden Daniels did it in Week 1 and Week 2, Marcus Mariota did it last week. As of Tuesday morning, we don't know who will be starting for Washington, but whoever it is should be in your starting lineup against the Atlanta Falcons. Mariota has thrown 65 passes for Washington over the past two years, completing 75% of them, and averaging 8.8 yards per attempt. He's also averaged 7.3 rush attempts and 8.3 Fantasy points on the ground in the three games he has played at least half of the snaps.
One of the most difficult start/sit decisions this week may be Jared Goff. Goff is currently QB7 on the season, but he has only topped 15 Fantasy points once in three games. Of course, that one game was at home, where he has been incredible the past three seasons, and he is at home again. The problem? He is facing the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have faced Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Jordan Love this year and they're giving up 173 passing yards per game. Their 11 sacks rank third in the NFL. This will is a battle between defensive matchup and home/road split, for now I have Goff ranked outside of my top 12 and behind the top streamer below.
Let's get to the rest of the preview:
Week 4 QB Preview
QB Preview
Numbers to know
- 2.22% -- Daniel Jones leads the NFL with a 2.22% sack rate. His Week 4 opponent, the Rams, are tied for the NFL lead with 12 sacks. This will be a big test.
- 277 -- Geno Smith is averaging nearly 280 passing yards per game. The Bears have given up the sixth-most passing yards in the NFL.
- 5 -- Jake Browning leads the NFL with 5 interceptions despite playing one and a half games. Hard to imagine that will improve against the Broncos.
- 80% -- Only 80% of Bo Nix's passes have been graded as catchable, Russell Wilson is the only NFL QB with a lower rate.
- 21% -- More than a fifth of Patrick Mahomes passes have been off target, something is way off in Kansas City.
- 42 -- Justin Herbert is averaging 42 drop backs per game. He only averaged 33.7 last year.
- 27.6% -- Drake Maye has a 27.6% rush share, only Jalen Hurts accounts for more of his team's rush attempts.
- 32.3 -- The Cowboys are giving up 32.3 FPPG to QBs. No other team is over 30. Go right back to Jordan Love this week.
- 66.9% -- The Dolphins have the league's second-highest drop back rate at 66.9%. Tua Tagovailoa could be a sneaky start against a Jets defense that has given up the sixth-highest passer rating in the league.
- 43.3% -- Cam Ward has been pressured on 43.3% of his drop backs. It is hard to learn much about the rookie in this environment.
QB Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Adds/Streamers (QB Preview)
Smith has scored at least 19.4 Fantasy points in two of his three starts and has a fantastic matchup in Week 4 against the Bears. He is averaging 35 pass attempts per game as the Bears struggle to get their run game going and producing an very good 7.8 yards per pass attempt. The Bears defense has been subpar against the pass in 2025 and are missing several key starters.
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For the second straight week Mariota looks like maybe the best streamer of the week but also has the risk of not even starting if Jayden Daniels recovers. If you have Daniels and streamed someone else last week, make sure to add Mariota. He has now scored over 20 Fantasy points in three straight appearances for the Commanders. He is still a very efficient rusher, even at 31 years old, he's averaged 5.8 yards per rush attempt over the last three years.
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One To Stash (QB Preview)
The Giants have named Dart their starter. It's time to get Dart on a roster. His rushing ability will make him Fantasy viable against the right matchup even if his passing production takes a while to come around. And the Giants defense looks like a unit that will keep the team passing against one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL.
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DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Williams' pricing hasn't ye caught up to his production. He is the number two QB in Fantasy points and the eye test says he has improved every week in Ben Johnson's system. The Raiders are giving up nearly eight yards per pass attempt and don't present a particularly difficult matchup. Williams pedigree has never been in doubt and now he is starting to deliver on it. Week 4 could be a smash week in the dome in a game with an over/under of 47.5.
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Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
To call Tagovailoa's start to the season uneven would be an understatement. But this could be a delicious matchup. The Jets lead the NFL with 39 missed tackles this season, no other team has more than 34. The Dolphins have a lot of guys who can make people miss. The over/under on this game is just 44.5 but it looks to me like one of the potential shootouts on the slate. If the Jets punish the Dolphins defense like everyone else has, we could see 40 pass attempts from the Dolphins and a second big game from their quarterback.
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QB Preview
Heath's projections
My full set of Week 4 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You'll find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 1. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
