Key takeaways
- Start Jeremiyah Love with confidence. Trey Benson and James Conner are both on IR, and the rookie handled 21 carries plus five catches in Week 3.
- Michael Wilson is a must-start after 17 targets. He was on the field for 81 of Arizona’s 87 snaps.
- Streaming QB week. Tyler Shough has scored 22-plus fantasy points in all three games, and Marcus Mariota starts for Washington with Jayden Daniels out.
- Bench the names. Tre Tucker’s season is one big game, and Woody Marks is the No. 2 back behind David Montgomery.
- D/ST note. The Cardinals, Saints and Packers defenses have combined for 14 fantasy points over the last two weeks. Look elsewhere.
Three weeks of games is enough tape to have opinions. It is also enough tape to be wrong about, which is what makes Week 4 start/sit calls the sharpest of the young season: half the league is still riding draft-board vibes and the other half is overreacting to a single small-sample game. The truth is almost always in the usage, and the usage has started telling a very different story than August did.
Below are the calls that matter this week — grouped by position — plus the traps you will want to sidestep. If you missed our Week 3 start/sit, some of the same tension carries over into this week’s slate.
Quarterback
Starts
Tyler Shough (QB – NO)
Shough has scored 25.2, 22.4 and 24.8 fantasy points, with a 410-yard opener and a four-touchdown Week 3. The Saints have needed him to throw: 56, 34 and 42 attempts. He hosts Atlanta on Monday night, and Sleeper projects him for about 260 passing yards. If he is on your wire, he is the best streamer on the board; if he is on your bench, he is starting.
Marcus Mariota (QB – WAS)
Jayden Daniels is out with an elbow injury, and Mariota stepped in for a three-touchdown, 20.4-point Week 3. Now he gets an Indianapolis defense that has allowed 41, 33 and 17 points. Sleeper projects him for 16.8 fantasy points, with a little rushing on top. That is a usable spot start in single-QB leagues and a strong superflex play.
Michael Penix Jr. (QB – ATL)
Penix made his 2026 debut in Week 3 and threw for 256 yards, a touchdown and an interception (15.0 points) as Atlanta scored 35. That is a QB2 line, not a must-start, but the Saints defense across from him has allowed 31, 17 and 35. Superflex managers can play him; in one-QB leagues, Shough and Mariota come first.
Sits
Jameis Winston (QB – NYG)
With Jaxson Dart on IR, Winston is the Giants’ starter, and he has scored 3.5 and 6.1 fantasy points with no touchdown passes. Arizona’s defense has been generous lately, but production beats matchup at this position. Bench him.
Jalon Daniels (QB – TB)
Baker Mayfield is out with a thumb injury, which puts the rookie in line to start. His NFL experience so far is four Week 3 snaps: three pass attempts, no completions and an interception. Let somebody else find out.
Running back
Starts
Jeremiyah Love (RB – ARI)
Trey Benson and James Conner are both on IR, and the rookie has taken over. Love went from 11 and 9 carries in the first two weeks to 21 carries for 90 yards plus five catches for 19 yards and a touchdown in Week 3 (21.9 PPR), while Tyler Allgeier fell to two carries. Sleeper projects about 16 carries against the Giants. He is a lock start in every league. If you want more background, our Week 3 waiver board has the earlier context.
Braelon Allen (RB – NYJ)
Breece Hall is listed out with a thigh injury, and Allen is next up. Sleeper projects nearly 15 carries and 13.3 PPR points at Chicago. The Bears have allowed 9 and 7 points the last two weeks, so the ceiling is capped, but projected volume like that is an RB2 in most leagues.
Ollie Gordon II (RB – MIA) — flex
With De’Von Achane on IR, Gordon played 61 of 73 snaps in Week 3 and scored 14.5 PPR points. He is listed questionable (undisclosed), and Minnesota’s defense has scored 10, 18 and 17 fantasy points, so he is a volume flex rather than a locked-in RB2. Confirm he is active before kickoff.
Sits
Woody Marks (RB – HOU)
David Montgomery is Houston’s lead back: 37 carries to Marks’ 22 through three weeks, and Sleeper projects Montgomery for 15.0 PPR points against Dallas to Marks’ 8.7. Marks has scored 5.0, 8.5 and 9.1. That is a bench player who needs a touchdown to matter.
The Green Bay committee
With Josh Jacobs away for personal reasons, MarShawn Lloyd, Kaleb Johnson and Chris Brooks have split the work, and none of them has topped 10 PPR points in a game. Three-way committees do not belong in your lineup. If one back separates, revisit next week.
Wide receiver
Starts
Michael Wilson (WR – ARI)
Seventeen targets in Week 3, turned into 11 catches, 89 yards and a touchdown (25.9 PPR). He had seven targets in each of the first two games as well, and Sleeper projects eight against the Giants. Start him as a WR2.
Luther Burden III (WR – CHI)
Targets of 5, 7 and 11, with a 7-catch, 61-yard, one-touchdown Week 3. Sleeper projects 12.6 PPR points against a Jets defense that allowed 31 last week. That is worth a FLEX spot over a WR3 who has been living on 3–4 target games.
Sits
“One big game” alert: a receiver whose season total is mostly a single week is not a weekly starter. Look at the targets in the other two games.
Tre Tucker (WR – LV)
Tucker’s 22.9-point Week 2 (5 catches, 119 yards, a touchdown) is carrying his season. Around it: 4 targets, 4.7 points; 4 targets, 8.3 points. He has one touchdown, not four, and Sleeper projects him for 8.5 PPR points against Kansas City. Bench him unless you are out of options.
Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR – ARI)
The name is not the role right now. Harrison has drawn 3, 1 and 5 targets while Wilson drew 31, and he has scored 4.3, 0.0 and 7.0 PPR points. Sleeper projects 5.5. Names matter in August; usage matters in October.
Tight end
Starts
Roll with the elite tier every week — you did not draft them to sit them. Among the streamers, Kenyon Sadiq (NYJ) is the pick: 7 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown in Week 3, with Mason Taylor listed out (thumb) and a 10.8-point projection at Chicago. Juwan Johnson (NO) is right behind him after 8 catches, 53 yards and two touchdowns in Week 3, with a 5.8-target projection against Atlanta.
Sits
Cole Kmet (CHI). Colston Loveland is the Bears’ TE1, and Kmet has one target and zero catches in each of the last two games. The same logic applies to any tight end whose points all come from touchdowns: you are getting 3 catches for 25 unless he punches one in, and that is a bench outcome most weeks.
Defense / Special teams
| Unit | Verdict | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Vikings D/ST (vs. MIA) | Start | 10, 18 and 17 points with 14 sacks; Miami has scored 13, 13 and 10 |
| Ravens D/ST (vs. TEN) | Start | Sleeper’s top Week 4 DEF projection; Tennessee has scored 10, 20 and 7 |
| Bears D/ST (vs. NYJ) | Start | Allowed 9 and 7 points the last two weeks; Jets without Breece Hall |
| Cardinals D/ST (at NYG) | Sit | Allowed 31 and 36 the last two weeks; minus-3 points in Week 3 |
| Saints D/ST (vs. ATL) | Sit | 3, 8 and 2 points; Atlanta just scored 35 |
| Packers D/ST (at TB) | Sit | 1, 5 and minus-2 points; allowed 39 and 35 in two of three games |
The traps to avoid
The single best Week 4 heuristic: if a player’s snap share has dropped in two consecutive weeks, do not start him because his draft slot said WR2. The role is downstream of the snap count, always.
Traps I am avoiding this week:
- The veteran RB whose team just gave a rookie 21 carries — that is not a “bad week,” it is a signal
- The receiver whose season line is one long touchdown — check the other weeks
- The backup QB who is suddenly starting with no NFL tape behind him
- Any player whose Wednesday practice status is “limited” with a soft-tissue tag — wait for the Friday report before locking him in
- The “he is due” start. He is not due. That is not how football works.
The correct question is not “is my guy good?” It is “is his role good this week?” Different question, different answer.
The pick’em angle
Start/sit is not just a fantasy exercise — it is a read on which teams can actually move the ball. Monday night’s Atlanta at New Orleans game pairs a Falcons offense that just scored 35 (Bijan Robinson ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns) with a Saints quarterback who has topped 22 fantasy points every week, and the Saints defense has allowed 31, 17 and 35. That profile points to points, not a low-scoring grind. Arizona at the Giants is the other game to think through: the Cardinals have a lead back and a 17-target receiver, while the Giants have scored 6 and 12 since Jaxson Dart went down — but Arizona’s defense has allowed 31 and 36 in that same stretch, so do not treat it as a lock. For the full pool angle, see our Week 3 preview; the same framing carries.
The close
Week 4 rewards conviction. The usage is real, and if you are sitting a player whose role has clearly changed, you are making the right call — even if your draft board and your buddy’s bad tweet disagree. Trust the volume, ignore the vibes, and remember that the standings after Week 4 are still very much a work in progress. Nobody is out; nobody has locked up a playoff spot either.
Once your lineups are locked, lock in your Week 4 pick’em card next. Same discipline — role, matchup, motivation — different game, and if you like calling upsets, that is literally what the pool is for.