Analysis
9/28/22
6 min read
Wheeler's Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings
Since we're three weeks into the season, we can start to operate with some data and some sticky information. Three games aren't enough of a sample to have any degree of confidence in average projections, but some obvious trends can support or reject our preseason narratives.
Saquon Barkley is BACK! It’s not just the usage that we hoped for. He has his burst back, as he displayed with a 68-yard rushing touchdown in Week 1 and a 36-yard rushing touchdown in Week 3.
It is definitely looking like this was the year to take a wide receiver in Round 1 of your fantasy football drafts. We may not have had the order of the receivers exactly right to this point, but the consensus top five are all currently within the top-12 scorers at the position. However, our consensus top-two running backs are currently the RB10 and RB11. Instead, Nick Chubb and Barkley lead the pack.
Way back before I started ranking players and writing about fantasy, I would search for analysts' “rest of the season” rankings. At the time, there were very few people actually doing that. When I started writing, it then became a large part of my process. Rest of the season rankings help me with waiver wire or free-agent pick-ups before Sunday game-time.
Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings
When examining these rankings, consider I am really only looking at positional ranks, not flex or overall rankings. When it comes to whom you start in the flex, a lot will depend on your specific league rules and roster construction. If players are ranked within three spots of each other, the difference between them is negligible. They are expected to score the same amount of points; in those cases, go to our Discord.
Check this link throughout the week and on Sunday morning for the latest updates, too.
Quarterback
| Rank | QB | Team | Opp |
| 1 | Josh Allen | BUF | @ BAL |
| 2 | Lamar Jackson | BAL | vs. BUF |
| 3 | Jalen Hurts | PHI | vs. JAC |
| 4 | Patrick Mahomes | KC | @ TB |
| 5 | Joe Burrow | CIN | vs. MIA |
| 6 | Kyler Murray | ARI | @ CAR |
| 7 | Justin Herbert | LAC | @ HOU |
| 8 | Tua Tagovailoa | MIA | @ CIN |
| 9 | Kirk Cousins | MIN | @ NO |
| 10 | Derek Carr | LV | vs. DEN |
| 11 | Russell Wilson | DEN | @ LV |
| 12 | Marcus Mariota | ATL | vs. CLE |
| 13 | Aaron Rodgers | GB | vs. NE |
| 14 | Jared Goff | DET | vs. SEA |
| 15 | Tom Brady | TB | vs. KC |
| 16 | Matthew Stafford | LAR | @ SF |
| 17 | Trevor Lawrence | JAC | @ PHI |
| 18 | Carson Wentz | WAS | @ DAL |
| 19 | Jameis Winston | NO | vs. MIN |
| 20 | Geno Smith | SEA | @ DET |
| 21 | Jacoby Brissett | CLE | @ ATL |
| 22 | Justin Fields | CHI | @ NYG |
| 23 | Daniel Jones | NYG | vs. CHI |
| 24 | Ryan Tannehill | TEN | @ IND |
| 25 | Matt Ryan | IND | vs. TEN |
Running Back
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We currently live in a world where James Robinson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Cordarelle Patterson are top-five running backs.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored 14.9 fantasy points in Week 3, but he remains in a three-man committee. He was only in on 40% of the offensive snaps, had 35% of the rushing attempts, 37% route participation and none of the two-minute offense. Broncos' running back Javonte Williams finds himself in a similar committee situation:
Broncos RBs, with Mike Boone complicating everything pic.twitter.com/z9WOIq1rEu
— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) September 26, 2022
| Rank | RB | Team | Opp |
| 1 | Nick Chubb | CLE | @ ATL |
| 2 | Saquon Barkley | NYG | vs CHI |
| 3 | Jonathan Taylor | IND | vs TEN |
| 4 | Christian McCaffrey | CAR | vs ARI |
| 5 | Austin Ekeler | LAC | @ HOU |
| 6 | Derrick Henry | TEN | @ IND |
| 7 | Joe Mixon | CIN | vs MIA |
| 8 | Leonard Fournette | TB | vs KC |
| 9 | Najee Harris | PIT | vs NYJ |
| 10 | Aaron Jones | GB | vs NE |
| 11 | Alvin Kamara | NO | vs MIN |
| 12 | Cordarrelle Patterson | ATL | vs CLE |
| 13 | Javonte Williams | DEN | @ LV |
| 14 | Dalvin Cook | MIN | @ NO |
| 15 | Jamaal Williams | DET | vs SEA |
| 16 | James Robinson | JAC | @ PHI |
| 17 | James Conner | ARI | @ CAR |
| 18 | Antonio Gibson | WAS | @ DAL |
| 19 | Khalil Herbert | CHI | @ NYG |
| 20 | Dameon Pierce | HOU | vs LAC |
| 21 | Miles Sanders | PHI | vs JAC |
| 22 | Jeff Wilson Jr. | SF | vs LAR |
| 23 | AJ Dillon | GB | vs NE |
| 24 | Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | vs WAS |
| 25 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | KC | @ TB |
| 26 | Josh Jacobs | LV | vs DEN |
| 27 | Kareem Hunt | CLE | @ ATL |
| 28 | Rashaad Penny | SEA | @ DET |
| 29 | Breece Hall | NYJ | @ PIT |
| 30 | Devin Singletary | BUF | @ BAL |
| 31 | Rhamondre Stevenson | NE | @ GB |
| 32 | Damien Harris | NE | @ GB |
| 33 | Tony Pollard | DAL | vs WAS |
| 34 | Michael Carter | NYJ | @ PIT |
| 35 | Cam Akers | LAR | @ SF |
| 36 | J.K. Dobbins | BAL | vs BUF |
| 37 | Chase Edmonds | MIA | @ CIN |
| 38 | Melvin Gordon III | DEN | @ LV |
| 39 | Darrell Henderson Jr. | LAR | @ SF |
| 40 | Travis Etienne Jr. | JAC | @ PHI |
Rhamondre Stevenson stepped into an RB1 utilization profile in Week 3, per PFF data 😤😤😤
62% snaps
54% rushing atts
64% route participation
16% target share
60% short yardage
60% long-down-distance
100% two-minute— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) September 26, 2022
Wide Receiver
| Rank | WR | Team | Opp |
| 1 | Cooper Kupp | LAR | @ SF |
| 2 | Stefon Diggs | BUF | @ BAL |
| 3 | Justin Jefferson | MIN | @ NO |
| 4 | Ja'Marr Chase | CIN | vs MIA |
| 5 | Davante Adams | LV | vs. DEN |
| 6 | Tyreek Hill | MIA | @ CIN |
| 7 | Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET | vs. SEA |
| 8 | A.J. Brown | PHI | vs. JAC |
| 9 | Deebo Samuel | SF | vs. LAR |
| 10 | Jaylen Waddle | MIA | @ CIN |
| 11 | Tee Higgins | CIN | vs. MIA |
| 12 | Mike Evans | TB | vs. KC |
| 13 | Michael Pittman Jr. | IND | vs. TEN |
| 14 | CeeDee Lamb | DAL | vs. WAS |
| 15 | Mike Williams | LAC | @ HOU |
| 16 | Courtland Sutton | DEN | @ LV |
| 17 | Christian Kirk | JAC | @ PHI |
| 18 | Marquise Brown | ARI | @ CAR |
| 19 | Drake London | ATL | vs CLE |
| 20 | Gabe Davis | BUF | @ BAL |
| 21 | Diontae Johnson | PIT | vs. NYJ |
| 22 | Brandin Cooks | HOU | vs. LAC |
| 23 | Amari Cooper | CLE | @ ATL |
| 24 | Keenan Allen | LAC | @ HOU |
| 25 | Rashod Bateman | BAL | vs. BUF |
| 26 | Terry McLaurin | WAS | @ DAL |
| 27 | DK Metcalf | SEA | @ DET |
| 28 | Michael Thomas | NO | vs MIN |
| 29 | DeVonta Smith | PHI | vs. JAC |
| 30 | Chris Olave | NO | vs. MIN |
| 31 | Curtis Samuel | WAS | @ DAL |
| 32 | D.J. Moore | CAR | vs. ARI |
| 33 | Tyler Lockett | SEA | @ DET |
| 34 | Jerry Jeudy | DEN | @ LV |
| 35 | Garrett Wilson | NYJ | @ PIT |
| 36 | Brandon Aiyuk | SF | vs. LAR |
| 37 | JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC | @ TB |
| 38 | Allen Robinson II | LAR | @ SF |
| 39 | Elijah Moore | NYJ | @ PIT |
| 40 | Allen Lazard | GB | vs. NE |
Matt LaFleur said all this about Romeo Doubs today
body-movement skills
explosiveness
can get off bump coverage
game isn't too big for him
has a ton of potential
not even close to his ceiling
versatile, can play Z, X, F
knows the concepts
cares about game
gives great effort— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) September 27, 2022
Tight End
| Rank | TE | Team | Opp |
| 1 | Mark Andrews | BAL | vs. BUF |
| 2 | Travis Kelce | KC | @ TB |
| 3 | Darren Waller | LV | vs. DEN |
| 4 | Kyle Pitts | ATL | vs. CLE |
| 5 | Dallas Goedert | PHI | vs. JAC |
| 6 | George Kittle | SF | vs. LAR |
| 7 | Zach Ertz | ARI | @ CAR |
| 8 | T.J. Hockenson | DET | vs. SEA |
| 9 | Tyler Higbee | LAR | @ SF |
| 10 | Pat Freiermuth | PIT | vs. NYJ |
| 11 | Gerald Everett | LAC | @ HOU |
| 12 | Tyler Conklin | NYJ | @ PIT |
| 13 | David Njoku | CLE | @ ATL |
| 14 | Evan Engram | JAC | @ PHI |
| 15 | Hayden Hurst | CIN | vs. MIA |
| 16 | Irv Smith Jr. | MIN | @ NO |
| 17 | Dawson Knox | BUF | @ BAL |
| 18 | Robert Tonyan | GB | vs. NE |
| 19 | Logan Thomas | WAS | @ DAL |
| 20 | Dalton Schultz | DAL | vs. WAS |
Also, be sure to check out my waiver wire rankings. Good luck this week!
WATCH MORE: Tank Williams Thinks You Should Keep This Struggling RB in Your Lineup
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