Week 4 of the fantasy football season featured plenty of notable performances around the NFL, from huge days by Saquon Barkley and Tyreek Hill, to outings by others like Sam Darnold, Cordarrelle Patterson and Darnell Mooney that opened eyes as well. What should we make of them? Matt Bowen and Tristan H. Cockcroft offer their analysis.
Another big day by Saquon Barkley
While his Sunday got off to a bit of a sluggish start, Barkley picked up the pace in a big way in the fourth quarter and in overtime, finishing his day with an impressive-considering-the-matchup 29.6 PPR fantasy points. He managed a 54-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown reception in which he was clocked at more than 19 mph, his fastest individual play of the day, then clinched the overtime victory with a 6-yard rushing score. What stood out most to me, though, was his second straight solid receiving day; in Weeks 3-4 he managed 11 catches on 13 targets for 117 yards and one touchdown receiving. Predictably, Barkley has stepped up his game the further he gets from his surgery, and while the next key step to his comeback would be greater speed numbers -- he has only one run of 15-plus mph, for example -- the eye test says that he's taking incremental steps back to being the fantasy star he was before surgery. He'll get the Dallas Cowboys next, and be a locked-in RB1. -- Cockcroft
You could see this coming based on Barkley's Week 3 tape, Tristan. I saw more juice there, more lateral speed. He is simply playing faster. And I agree on the pass game usage, especially when he is isolated to get a one-on-one. As we said at the start of this season, fantasy managers needed to remain patient with Barkley. He's an RB1 for me next week, too. -- Bowen
Tyreek Hill responds after two quiet games
Now that was the first-round version of Hill we've come to know and love in fantasy, as his 47.6 PPR points topped all players from the 1 p.m. ET games, not to mention more than tripled his total in Weeks 2-3 combined (15.6). It was the second-highest-scoring game in Hill's career, trailing only the 57.9 he scored in Week 12 of 2020, and it gave him a pair of games with at least 35 already this season. Hill does now face perhaps the toughest matchup on his entire 2021 schedule in the Buffalo Bills in Week 5, but he's still one of -- if not the -- best at his position, capable of overcoming even the toughest matchups. -- Cockcroft
Tristan, I fully anticipate a zone-heavy approach from the Bills' defense in Week 5, which means more split-safety coverage to limit the deep ball. However, I'm with you that Hill can still produce in that matchup. Look for the Chiefs to deploy Hill as an inside target in this one to create space and open windows on deep crossers. Plus, as we saw on Sunday in the win over the Eagles, Hill can produce instant fantasy production on intermediate throws. Catch and go. -- Bowen
Deebo Samuel shines in loss
After the Samuel-Brandon Aiyuk production gap seemed to close in Week 3, it suddenly widened again on Sunday, as Samuel was the team's receiving star, scoring a second-best-among-wide receivers 35.7 PPR fantasy points. Granted, his 76-yard, third-quarter touchdown came on blown coverage, but it still bears mentioning that he played 88.9% of the offensive snaps, ran 40 routes and saw 12 targets, all tops on the team and each by a noticeable margin over Aiyuk specifically (68.1%, 29 and 3). What's more, Samuel's big play came after Trey Lance came on at quarterback following the calf injury to Jimmy Garoppolo, so it'll be interesting to see whether their chemistry continues should Lance earn a start, whether in Week 5 or following the team's Week 6 bye.
To Lance's play, bear in mind that it came in a half-game's action, presumably without much in the way of practice time; big finishes by quarterbacks off the bench aren't terribly unusual. But he brings a dual-threat element to the offense that should carry forward, thwarting opposing defenses' game plans, even if he's a little rusty as a passer in the early stages of his career. We'll see whether Lance starts next week, but Samuel's production has locked him into near-WR2 status -- the matchup has a say in that with the depth at the position -- as he's clearly the top target in this offense. -- Cockcroft
Cordarrelle Patterson continues to impress
Few could've guessed that Patterson would emerge as the Falcons' No. 2 running back, but beyond simply nailing down the sleeper-potential role behind Mike Davis, the ninth-year player has been an offensive force for his team through four weeks. Patterson's 34.6 PPR fantasy points topped his position and trailed only Hill's score among all players from the 1 p.m. ET games, plus shattered his previous personal best of 25.7, set all the way back in Week 14 of his rookie year of 2013. The Falcons haven't been giving Patterson a large amount of field time, as he played only 30% of the offensive snaps after registering 33%, 35% and 42% rates the first three weeks, but they're making him an effective focal point of the offense when they do, as he had 11 touches on his 21 snaps played. Now he and his Falcons will face a weak New York Jets defense, meaning that even in limited action, he'd be a viable flex play in leagues deeper than the ESPN standard. He'll also get his bye out of the way early -- Week 6 -- meaning that he'll be available as a handy plug-in for managers while their other running backs rest. Incidentally, with Patterson's 34.6 points on Sunday, he now has 83.4 through four games. That's more than he scored in the entirety of his 2020 (69.4), 2019 (35.6) or 2015 (14.5) seasons, all of which were 16-gamers, and it's within range of his 2017 (86.0), 2014 (93.1) and 2018 (96.5) full-season totals, too. -- Cockcroft
Tristan, it's the offensive deployment with Patterson here. He'll get carries in the run game, flex to multiple-wide receiver alignments and more. That does create some conflict for opposing defenses in terms of the type of personnel they want on the field, and how they want to match up to Patterson. With 10 to 12 touches a game, I agree that Patterson can give you Flex value in Week 5 versus the Jets. -- Bowen
Quick Hitters
Darnell Mooney, WR, Chicago Bears
In a Bears offensive script that set up rookie quarterback Justin Fields with both defined reads and scripted verticals, Mooney posted a season-high 18.5 PPR points. The wide receiver caught 5 of 7 targets for 125 yards in the Week 4 win over the Lions, and we saw the added element he brings to this offense when you can get him loose on deeper crossers, fade balls and the schemed throws down the field. And that caters to both the deep-ball arm talent and accuracy of Fields. With a Week 5 matchup versus the zone-heavy Raiders defense, Mooney will check in as a WR3 -- with more upside in Non-PPR formats. -- Bowen
DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers
With 31.9 PPR points, and two touchdown grabs, in the Week 4 loss to the Cowboys, Moore has now scored 20 or more fantasy points -- with at least 11 targets -- in his past three games. So, the volume is there in a heavily schemed Carolina passing offense that creates both open coverage voids and run-after-the-catch opportunities for the wide receiver. And we know Moore can win one-on-one matchups, too. Given the consistent usage here, along with offensive coordinator Joe Brady's ability to move the wide receiver to various alignments, Moore will have top 10-12 WR value in the Week 5 game versus the Eagles' defense. -- Bowen
Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams
A late touchdown grab in the lopsided loss to the Cardinals pushed Woods up to 14.8 PPR points for the day. However, the wide receiver has yet to catch more than five passes in a game this season, and he sits on 15 catches on 25 targets through the first four weeks of the year. With Cooper Kupp seeing high-level volume on a weekly basis, and second-year wideout Van Jefferson getting more snaps (and targets), Woods will once again be viewed as a Flex option only in the Week 5 Thursday night game versus Seattle. -- Bowen
Maxx Williams, TE, Arizona Cardinals
Williams finished Week 4 with 17.6 PPR points, his second game this season with 16 or more fantasy points. While Williams has to compete for target volume in Arizona, the high-level play from quarterback Kyler Murray has me intrigued. Murray is throwing with ball location from the pocket, and we know he is electric on second-reaction throws when he gets to the edge. Let's keep an eye on Williams here as a possible streaming option at tight end depending on the matchup. - Bowen
David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears
He had a plenty productive game, scoring a season-best 22.6 PPR fantasy points entirely on 23 rushing attempts, but the bad news was his fourth-quarter exit due to a knee injury, one deemed serious enough to immediately end his day. We'll see whether it costs him additional games -- that is certainly a possibility considering the severity -- and also to be monitored is who will fill in if Montgomery misses Week 5, as Damien Williams later exited with a quadriceps injury of his own after rushing five times for 37 yards while adding a 7-yard reception in relief. Remember, this was an extremely favorable Detroit Lions matchup, so don't get overzealous with your Week 5 expectations from this backfield, but Williams would be the add and a flex-play consideration if available to face the Las Vegas Raiders. -- Cockcroft
Sam Darnold, QB, Carolina Panthers
His 31.54 fantasy points on Sunday set a new personal best, and to put into perspective how productive he has been thus far since joining the Panthers, he had scored at least 18.90 points in each of four games with those scores representing four of his best 12 single-game totals in his NFL career. Darnold has been a goal-line machine, scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns to bring his season total to five, which is more than any quarterback has had through his team's first four games of any season since at least 1950. Darnold is certainly making the most of a much stronger supporting cast in Carolina, and he's aligned for an easy top-15 performance at his position in each of the next two weeks, when he faces the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings. In fact, if you scroll forward on his schedule, his prospective start/sit pattern looks pretty obvious, with future games against the Atlanta Falcons (Weeks 10 and 14) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Weeks 16 and 18) the most obvious positives. -- Cockcroft
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Gainwell's 20.9 PPR points in the Week 4 loss to the Chiefs were a career high. The rookie is seeing a bump in pass game usage (nine receptions in his past two games), and he did score a touchdown on a red zone carry, too. Given his receiving traits, which stood out on his college tape at Memphis, we see Gainwell as a must-add for now (rostered in only 24.7% of ESPN leagues). -- Bowen