Story by Jayce Standridge / Contributing Writer
Week three was much needed for some owners as we finally saw key players living up to expectations. Quarterbacks Josh Allen and Justin Herbert finally played like themselves. Week four is a big week for many fantasy teams trying to secure first place and pull out in front. I’ll have my Love/Hate for this week along with the top five waiver wire pickups.
Love
1. Julio Jones (WR) TEN
2. Rob Gronkowski (TE) TB
3. Cole Beasley (WR) BUF
4. David Montgomery (RB) CHI
5. Joe Mixon (RB) CIN
These five guys should have a big week four. Starting off with Julio Jones, he should be listed as a top receiver with A.J Brown being week to week with a strained hamstring. Only having four targets last week can be scary for some owners, but his share will be going up against the Jets. Rob Gronkowski is following on this list. He will be playing in Foxborough for the first time since his New England days. I have him being a huge factor in this game with Brady. Cole Beasley is next on the list. With having 2 games of 13 targets, he should absolutely continue against the Texans. David Montgomery is the first RB on this list. He had a down week against the Browns but should bounce back versus the Lions. Joe Mixon is the last guy I have on this list. He is averaging nearly 23 carries a game and will show up against the Jaguars Thursday Night.
Hate
1. Ceedee Lamb (WR) DAL
2. Saquon Barkley (RB) NYG
3. Jamaal Williams (RB) DET
4. Juju Smith-Schuster (WR) PIT
5. Carson Wentz (QB) IND
Here are the players I believe will struggle this week. Ceedee Lamb is at the top of the list. Lamb has had a hard time this year with drops, and he faces one of the best defenses in Carolina. I have him failing to meet expectations this week. Saquon is the first RB on my hate list. Barkley finally showed some life last week against the Falcons catching six passes, but I really don’t like his matchup against the best fantasy defense so far in the Saints. Jamaal Williams is the next guy up here. He is currently the RB14 but will have a hard time playing the Bears defense. Juju Smith-Schuster is following here. He has fallen below expectations twice already, and he is only averaging 6 targets a game. The only QB I have here is Carson Wentz. Coming off a tough game playing the Titans, and being questionable for week 4 he should be on your bench for this week.
Waiver-Wire
1. Chuba Hubbard (RB) CAR – 43% Rostered
2. Emmanuel Sanders (WR) BUF – 38% Rostered
3. Tim Patrick (WR) DEN – 37% Rostered
4. Peyton Barber (RB) LV – 8% Rostered
5. Tommy Tremble (TE) CAR – 0% Rostered
These are my five best waiver-wire pickups. With Christian McCaffery out for a few weeks, Hubbard should be in for a big role. We saw last year what happened to Mike Davis in his place. Emmanuel Sanders is next up here. He has had 6+ targets each game and will continue against the Texans. Tim Patrick is third on my list. He has had at least 12 points in every game so far. I really like him for WR depth. I was very tempted to put Barber on last week’s list but didn’t commit to it. Josh Jacobs will be out for a few more weeks, so that brings in more reps for Barber. Tommy Tremble is finishing off this list. The Panthers traded Dan Arnold away, so Tremble should be in for a bigger workload.