RADIO
The booms and busts keep flying in faster than Tyreek Hill flies by cornerbacks!
Week 4 of the NFL season is underway, and fantasy football owners watched Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers throw four touchdown passes Thursday night, while the Chicago Bears decided it would be better to make Jordan Howard's fantasy owners happy instead of their own fans by handing off to Howard over and over again in the fourth quarter while trailing by 28 points. But enough about Cheeseheads and cheesy teams. Let's move on to this week's under-the-radar booms and busts!
Here are some under-the-radar booms and busts for the fourth week of NFL action to help you set a winning lineup!
Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the industry! Congrats to all the award winners and nominees including Best NFL Series, MLB Series, NBA Writer, PGA Writer and Player Notes writer of the year. Be sure to follow their analysis, rankings and advice all year long, and win big with RotoBaller! Read More!
Week 4 Under-the-Radar Booms
Jacquizz Rodgers (RB, TB) vs. NYG
Rodgers is keeping the starting seat warm for Doug Martin one more week before the incumbent returns from his suspension. Rodgers is coming off a fantasy failure of 15 rushing yards against Minnesota, but that was due to the game getting out of hand early and Tampa Bay shelving the running game during the entire second half, not because Rodgers was terrible. Look for him to bounce back this week at home against the worst rushing defense in the NFL and run for 75-100 yards with a TD before “The Muscle Hamster” cuts Rodgers’ touches in half next week.
Isaiah Crowell (RB, CLE) vs. CIN
Crowell has been as helpful to fantasy owners as a $2 umbrella is to a person caught in the middle of a tropical storm. He has rushed for 114 yards and zero touchdowns in his first three weeks, which many tailbacks have topped in one game this year. Yet Crowell always finds running room against his in-state rivals from Cincy. Crowell rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in two games against the Bengals last season, and this season their run defense is even worse (25th in NFL). Crowell should easily have his best game of the season for his fantasy owners this weekend.
Devin Funchess (WR, CAR) at NE
Funchess has never been one for racking up yards or touchdowns in bunches during his short NFL career (990 yards and nine TD in 34 career contests), but that has a great chance of changing this week. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton is low on receiving options since Greg Olsen is out for several weeks and Kelvin Benjamin’s knee was banged-up last week. New England’s secondary is giving up 331 passing yards per game (worst in NFL) and made Kansas City’s Alex Smith and Houston’s Deshaun Watson look like Brett Favre and John Elway. Benjamin is on track to play, but with him being at possibly less than 100 percent and with the Pats woeful defensive backfield doing the covering, Funchess has designs on a good game.
Week 4 Under-the-Radar Busts
Ameer Abdullah (RB, DET) at MIN
Detroit’s top rusher has been modest fantasy-wise this season with two games of 80-plus combined yards and zero touchdowns. Do not look for him to bust out for 100 yards this week, either. Minnesota run-stuffing defense is ranked third in the NFL and has held runners to a miniscule 3.0 yards per carry. The Vikings have also held Abdullah to 52 rushing yards the two times they have matched up against him. Look for other options at your RB2 or flex positions.
Willie Snead (WR, NOR) at MIA (in London)
Snead returns after missing the opening three weeks due to suspension, but his return is not shaping up to be triumphant. He will probably be brought back into the offensive fold slowly instead of being targeted 10 times by Drew Brees, plus Ted Ginn Jr. and Brandon Coleman have done fine in the No. 2 and No. 3 WR spots in his absence. Snead will eventually be back to being the second-best wideout behind Michael Thomas in Brees’ receiving corps. It just will not happen this week in the land of bangers and mash.
Pierre Garcon (WR, SF) at ARI
Garcon is clearly San Francisco’s No. 1 receiver after racking up 142 yards in the 49ers last game (and because there is no other receiver on the roster in his zip code). While Arizona has allowed secondary receivers to break free against them (Brice Butler comes to mind this past Monday), the Cards have done a great job shutting down No. 1 receivers. Dallas’ Dez Bryant only had 12 yards and a TD against them, and Indianapolis’ T.Y. Hilton only managed four receptions for 49 yards and no scores. Look for Garcon to be locked up by Patrick Peterson and his secondary mates this Sunday.
