The 2024 National Football League has officially reached what is roughly the quarter point of the regular season, and it’s a bit past the quarter-pole of the fantasy season.
Thankfully, the injury bug didn’t bite too badly in Week 4 like in the first few weekends of the season. In fact, a lot of injured players are nearing a return, and should be back soon.
We continue to see some high-round fantasy options underproduce, however, forcing fantasy managers to change their thinking. It might not necessarily be time to cut bait, but you have to bench guys rather than just starting them, and hoping for the best, even if they were early picks.
This season, perhaps more than any in recent memory, has had so much turmoil due to injuries and players not even coming close to their preseason projections. We’re seeing depth charts changing weekly, and we’re trying to stay on top of things to help you set a better lineup in the weeks ahead.
As we look back at Week 4, we’ll check out some utilization situations, and how they’re changing the fantasy landscape going into Week 5.
Carolina Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard
Hey, the Carolina Panthers have an NFL-caliber offense again. I work out of the Raleigh/Durham area, and I get to see A LOT of Panthers football. Over the past couple of years, that’s not a good thing.
Head coach Dave Canales had the guts to get owner David Tepper to pull the plug on the Bryce Young experiment, as the offense was BRUTAL. Andy Dalton has brought veteran leadership and stability to the offense, but, more importantly for us, Carolina skill-position players are worth using again from a fantasy perspective.
Chuba Hubbard had 16 carries for 78 yards in the first two games as teams were either stacking the box with no threat of Young doing anything in the pass game, or the Panthers were into such early holes that the running game was abandoned.
In the past two games, he has 39 carries for 218 yards and a rushing score, while adding a receiving touchdown in Week 3. The Panthers are in games until the end, and the running game is in effect for the entirety of the contests. That has benefited Hubbard the most, logging consecutive 100-yard games with a TD. After being waiver wire fodder the first two weekends, he has been a solid RB2 fantasy option in the past two outings.
With the impending debut of rookie running back Jonathon Brooks over the next month or so, Hubbard may have a short runway; lean on him while you can.
Carolina Panthers wide receivers
Hubbard isn’t the only one benefiting from solid quarterback play in Charlotte.
Diontae Johnson was brought in from Pittsburgh via offseason trade to give Young some help. Unfortunately for Young, you could give him Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald and Terrell Owens, and it might not matter.
Since changing gears to Dalton, Johnson has flourished. D.J. had five receptions for just 34 yards on 12 targets in Young’s first two starts. In the past two games with Dalton, he has managed 15 receptions for 205 receiving yards and a score in each game. Johnson has been targeted 27 times in the two-game span, too, as Dalton knows where his bread is buttered. Johnson is a solid WR2 in all fantasy formats right now.
Dalton had another weapon in Adam Thielen, but he was injured in Las Vegas in Week 3 on a sliding touchdown is done for multiple weeks. That opened the door for 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette, who is ready for fantasy use.
It’s sounding like a broken record, but Legette had four catches for 35 yards in his first two games, including zero stats in Week 2, with Young. As the WR3 in Week 3, he had two grabs for 42 yards with Dalton, but as the starter opposite Johnson, with Thielen on IR, Legette had six catches, 66 yards, and a touchdown on 10 targets. The former South Carolina speedster is worth a look as a WR4 or flex fantasy option in leagues of 12 or teams, and he has a lot of upside.
Indianapolis Colts wide receivers
We touched on this group previously, but a lot has changed since then.
Colts QB Anthony Richardson has struggled with accuracy. He didn’t last long in Week 4, getting knocked out of the game with the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a hip pointer. Veteran QB Joe Flacco entered the fray, making the Colts receivers and their fantasy managers thankful.
Flacco has instant rapport with Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs as the top two Indy receivers had easily their best showings of the season with the 39-year-old under center.
Pittman had 36 or fewer receiving yards in Richardson’s first three starts. With Flacco playing a majority of the Week 4 game, Pittman shined with six receptions and 113 yards on nine targets, and that’s against Pittsburgh’s stingy defense! If Pittman could do that, he’d jump from the flex fantasy conversation to WR2 or WR3. However, we need to see if more regularly, and that might not happen if Richardson returns sooner rather than later.
Downs missed most of the first two games of the season due to injury, but he returned with just three catches and 22 yards with Richardson in Week 3. Last week, Downs tied a career high with eight catches, and his 82 yards were the second-best of his career, while he added just his third career TD.
Downs would be a fine low-end WR2 option in PPR leagues, and a WR3 or flex fantasy option in standard play, if he can produce like that, but he needs an accurate, NFL-caliber quarterback. Be cautious.
Green Bay Packers TE Tucker Kraft
Over the years, the Green Bay Packers have had tremendous pass-catching tight ends. From Mark Chmura, Jermichael Finley, Bubba Franks, Richard Rodgers and Robert Tonyan, there is usually a reliable guy at that position for the Pack.
Luke Musgrave was expected to be the TE1 in Green Bay, and he was drafted on average in Rounds 10-12. However, Kraft, who had an ADP of 193, has blown past Musgrave for on the fantasy depth chart. He is especially useful when QB Jordan Love is under center, too.
The former South Dakota State Jackrabbit had six receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown in Week 4, jelling nicely with Love. In the previous two weeks with Malik Willis under center, Kraft had just four catches and 40 yards on five targets.
The tight end position is such a fantasy wasteland, that this kind of performance is basically TE1 production, and among the top-10 at his position. He has some staying power, though, as Green Bay loves to rely upon the tight end. Don’t hesitate to lean on him as a starter.
Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams
Entering the season, Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams had an ADP of 109, which put him in the area of Rounds 8-10 in most fantasy leagues. He was drafted for his potential, but the jury was still out.
While he laid a giant egg in Arizona in Week 3, going for just a 9-yard catch on three targets, he has shown his blazing speed on several occasions, including Week 4 on Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks.
In Week 1, Williams had a 52-yard touchdown connection with QB Jared Goff. He didn’t score in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he had 79 yards, including a catch of 50 yards. And, in Week 4, he exploded for a 70-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Williams is a home run hitter who is not only a legit WR2 in all fantasy leagues, but he is especially useful in formats that reward length of score. The nature of his style of play lends to inconsistency, however.
