Welcome to Week 4 of The List! This season, our Rankings Team will be providing a few thoughts on players they are particularly high or low on this week to give some perspective on their FLEX and positional rankings. You can find these thoughts below, followed by our full Top 150 FLEX. Positional rankings are also available to help you make your toughest lineup decisions of the week!
Jordan Love is one of the biggest movers among quarterbacks this week, jumping all the way up to QB5 in our consensus rankings this week. He has been solid this year, averaging just over 16 fantasy points per game, but his underlying metrics suggest that a boom is just around the corner. Love continues to air it out, pushing the ball downfield with a league-best 12.5 air yards per attempt, and is once again throwing the ball to the end zone at an incredible clip. This has become his calling card, and Love’s 5 touchdowns on throws to the end zone are the most in the NFL. Week 4 rolls out the red carpet for Love as he faces a Cowboys defense that has seen their opponent finish as QB8, QB2, and QB1 in each of their prior weeks. The only real concern here is a very real blowout consideration, but if that comes to pass, it’s likely due to a big performance from Love. –Eric Romoff
A stint in the concussion protocol forced Justin Fields to miss Week 3, but the reporting out of the Jets beat suggests optimism about his ability to play this week. Awaiting him is the ultimate “get right” spot against a Miami Dolphins defense that carries an absolutely absurd 58.6% DVOA and has allowed the 7th-most rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks. We are all well aware of the damage Fields can do as a rusher, and that alone should have him slated to finish as a QB1, but the Dolphins’ defense offers an additional boost to the Jets quarterback. Miami runs man coverage at the third-highest rate in the league this season, 47.4% of plays, where Fields sees his passer rating jump from 81.8 against zone coverage to 128.1 versus man coverage. Fields currently sits as QB12 in our consensus ranks, but I’d expect that he jumps on a good bit once we have confirmation that he’s playing. –Eric Romoff
Daniel Jones has looked electric as the starter for the Colts this season. He’s set career marks for completion percentage at 71.6% and his 9.3 yards per attempt is not just his best by far, but currently the best in the league this season. Despite the positive signs for Jones, I’m exercising caution this week. Daniels Jones has yet to face a defense as disruptive as his Week 4 opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, who are applying pressure on nearly a third of drop-backs and are the league leaders with 12 sacks. Giants fans will remind you how quickly the train can come off the tracks for Jones when facing pressure, and I simply want to see him sustain his productivity in this difficult setting before I feel comfortable ranking too high. I’ve got him at QB13 currently, four spots lower than the average of our other QBL rankers. –Eric Romoff
Week 4 presents some challenging situations for several elite running backs. Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, and Jahmyr Gibbs all face top-five run defenses that allow the fewest fantasy points per game to the position. The biggest concern may be Jonathan Taylor, even after his explosive performance last week. The Rams just held Saquon Barkley under 60 total yards, showing how tough this matchup can be. –Steve Pintado
One back I’m excited to see climb the ranks is Omarion Hampton. With Najee Harris out for the season (Achilles), Hampton steps into a strong matchup against the Giants, who are surrendering the third-most fantasy points per game to running backs (per Pro Football Reference). –Steve Pintado
Week 3 brought more injuries, with James Conner and Tyrone Tracy both expected to miss extended time. That opens the door for Trey Benson as a viable Week 4 streamer against the Cardinals, a below-average run defense that also allows the third-most receptions to running backs. -Steve Pintado
You may want to be a bit more cautious with Cam Skattebo against the Chargers. L.A. ranks near the top in run-defense efficiency, but they also give up plenty of RB receptions, an area where Skattebo flashed last week with six catches. -Steve Pintado
A sneaky Week 4 play could be the Houston backfield featuring Nick Chubb and Woody Marks. With the team unlikely to rush Joe Mixon back, this duo gets a juicy matchup versus the Titans, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to RBs, including a league-high five rushing touchdowns. –Steve Pintado
The Raiders allow the fourth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, and the game has one of the largest implied totals of the week. In what could be a sneaky shootout, the Rome Odunze breakout will include a second top 5 fantasy finish in the first four weeks. –Jay Felicio
How the mighty have fallen. It was hard enough to rank Ja’Marr Chase outside of the top 10, let alone as a WR2. But he’ll see shadow treatment from Patrick Surtain this week. I may actually be a bit too high on him. –Jay Felicio
Welcome to Tet McMillan week, ladies and gentlemen. The Pats have been one of the friendliest matchups to opposing wide receivers, and New England should be able to put at least, you know, one point on the board. Bryce Young will actually have to throw the ball this week. –Jay Felicio
*sigh* I love me some Brian Thomas Jr, but his struggles plus a tough matchup equals no bueno. Until Jacksonville figures out whatever the heck they’re trying to do on offense and BTJ gets over his case of the dropsies, I can’t rank him any higher. –Jay Felicio
Jake Ferguson finds himself with a large bump to his Week 4 ranks, and that should be for the foreseeable future. CeeDee Lamb went down Sunday with an ankle injury, which should open up that many more targets to a position group that is at the top of the league in allocated targets. The Cowboys’ offense now has a ceiling, so scoring could prove to be scarce, especially with the matchup against the Packers, but the volume will be there. –Brian Hartman
Dalton Kincaid is not ranked nearly as high as his first three weeks of production would project. Despite being tight end three on the year, we are seeing the Bills spread the ball around, and Kincaid’s production outweighs the opportunities he is getting. James Cook has been the linchpin of this offense, and the targets are spread across a handful of pass catchers, leaving you hoping Kincaid finds himself in the endzone. –Brian Hartman
The Vikings find themselves with some questions at the signal-caller position. TJ Hockenson had himself a bounce-back week and was more involved in the offense, but did so the week before wide receiver Jordan Addison came back from suspension. The offensive line issues in Minnesota could lead to some issues if Carson Wentz is behind center again and the pass rush from Pittsburgh. –Brian Hartman
Mark Andrews. Oh, Mark, where do we go from here? He had a big game last week, some of which was boosted by garbage time. How does he stack up when it comes to consistency? The addition of DeAndre Hopkins and Tez Walker has taken away the touchdowns we saw Andrews walk away with last year in so many games. Moving forward, I will be watching matchups, but I don’t believe that he can be considered a locked-in starter. As far as upside goes, he will maintain being someone who can break any game. –Brian Hartman
And now, our top 150 FLEX rankings for Week 4!