What's up RotoBallers. Below you will find our Week 4 NFL Monday Night matchups analysis & fantasy football start/sit recommendations for the 2016 NFL football season. Ben Ruppert breaks down the Week 4 Monday Night matchup between the Giants and the Vikings to help you prepare your lineups to win this week. Be sure to also check out part one of this week's matchups analysis by Pierre Campus (@pfunk00) and part two of this week's matchups by yours truly (@Ben_Ruppert_21).
Each week of the NFL season, we will be breaking down individual matchups and providing you with some fantasy football advice and lineup recommendations based on matchups that we love, matchups that we hate, and some high-risk/high-reward players, as well. It’s essential to analyze the weekly NFL match-ups to find lineup sleepers and gems, while also avoiding those players who may turn out to be busts.
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Giants @ Vikings - Monday 10/3 @ 8:30 PM EST
Matchups We Love:
Odell Beckham Jr. (WR, NYG)
Let me preface this by saying you start Beckham no matter who he is playing. He is one of the top receivers in the league and has been absolutely dominant in his first two seasons. This week he is going up against the Vikings defense, which has been the top unit in the league through three weeks. Last week the Vikings completely took Kelvin Benjamin out of the game, limiting him to zero catches on one target. A far cry from his dominant Weeks 1 and 2. Hopefully the Giants take note of this; the Panthers under-utilization of Benjamin limited their offense to just 10 points. Manning should be looking the way of Beckham no matter who is covering him given his game-breaking ability. Even with the tough matchup, I love OBJ this week. Look for Manning to give Beckham around 10 targets again this week.
Stefon Diggs (WR, MIN)
The New York Giants have not done so well against the pass this season. Over the past two weeks, the Giants have allowed an average six catches for 82 yards to opposing WR1s (DeSean Jackson and Brandin Cooks). This week Stefon Diggs takes on this defense as his connection with Sam Bradford continues to grow. He was held to only four receptions for 40 yards last week, but that was after he posted two straight games over 100 yards receiving. This Giants defense is much less stingy than the Panthers defense he faced last week, so he should be able to put up some nice numbers in Week 4. He is a safe play in all formats with huge upside.
Kyle Rudolph (TE, MIN)
Kyle Rudolph has been the biggest benefactor of Sam Bradford coming to town. The long time TD-dependent TE has had a nice stretch of games to begin the season, averaging five catches for 55 yards with TDs in two of three games played. Bradford clearly loves his new weapon at TE, and while the Giants have been good at defending TEs so far this season there will still be room for Rudolph to operate. In Week 1 Jason Witten was able to haul in nine passes for 66 yards, and while Jordan Reed was held to four catches for 56 yards last week, the Redskins offense has many more weapons to spread the ball out to than the Vikings do. I expect another solid game from Rudolph with a TD thrown in for good measure. Play him with confidence against the Giants.
Matchups We Hate:
Eli Manning (QB, NYG)
This Vikings defense keeps getting better and better as the weeks roll on. In Week 2 they held Aaron Rodgers in check, limiting him to 213 passing yards with one TD and an INT, sacking him five times. Last week they gave the NFL the formula to stopping Cam Newton, limiting him to 262 yards passing, no TDs, three INTs, while sacking him a whopping eight times. Eli Manning does not have the escapability factor that Newton and Rodgers possess, so I cannot see him being able to avoid the pressure the Vikings put on. This game will the Manning’s most difficult test, one that I do not think he will pass. This is a matchup to sit Manning in.
Notable Players:
Sterling Shepard (WR, NYG)
While the Vikings defense keys in on O’Dell Beckham, Sterling Shepard will be there to pick up what’s available from Eli Manning. Last week while shutting down Kelvin Benjamin, Ted Ginn was able to rack up 62 receiving yards with some chunk gains. Shepard is a very solid rookie with nice hands that can get things done in the open field. This will be a tough test for him, but I think he comes out of this one with a decent game. If you have similar options you can play I would start them, but if you have to start Shepard this week he will be an OK play.
Jerick McKinnon/ Matt Asiata (RB, MIN)
Matt Asiata started the game last week, but was out-snapped by McKinnon 65%/35%. The Giants have had an underrated run defense this year; they have allowed the second to last amount of points to the RB position so far only behind the Green Bay Packers. Asiata will likely be the TD vulture, but McKinnon would be the one to play for fantasy purposes since he gets more snaps and will catch more passes out of the backfield. With the Vikings likely to throw more given the weak secondary of the Giants, these backs will see limited work. They are both OK plays, but their upsides are limited by the defense they’re up against.