Everything just got a whole lot harder in New York. For Brian Daboll. For Jaxson Dart. For fantasy players. And things weren’t exactly easy to begin with. Malik Nabers’ torn ACL is a dark moment for a franchise that has grown all too accustomed to them. This one is particularly bleak because it came in the midst of a rare bright moment: The G-Men’s shocking, wire-to-wire upset of the Chargers in Dart’s first start.
The plan was easy to see. Harass the opposing quarterback, ride the running game including Dart himself, and limit the rookie’s opportunities to make mistakes through the air. This is always a low-ceiling approach, but it’s more palatable when you have a superstar target like Nabers. You’re “picking your spots,” but it’s always the same spot: The alpha.
Now Dart will be choosing between Wan’Dale Robinson and undead zombie deep threat Darius Slayton. That’s not the worst receiver duo anyone has ever cooked up. It’s also probably the 30th or 31st best in the NFL right now. There is now that much more pressure on a young passer who wasn’t meant to have to do it all his rookie campaign.
With bye weeks beginning and injuries mounting, Robinson will remain a low-floor fixture in the WR4 ranks, but if anything this could negatively impact his ceiling. With the overall ceiling gone from the Giants’ offense, it will be more difficult for Robinson to get there. The injury does put Slayton on the WR5 map, but with a zero-point floor and underwhelming ceiling. The Giants can’t replace Nabers. As a fantasy manager, you have to, but it won’t be via New York.
As for Nabers, we have a tendency to overrate how easy it is to return from torn ACLs. The injury is not as common as you might think, and the return track record is far spottier than assumed. The good news in Nabers’ case is he has extreme youth (23 next July) on his side and enough time to be ready for the 2026 season. He should be a success story, and remains an elite Dynasty league asset despite this rather sizable speed bump.
Five Week 4 Storylines
Lamar Jackson has a quiet start, suffers hamstring injury. The Ravens have not been the Ravens so far this season. At least since last Monday night, that includes Jackson, who has been getting hammered for sacks and chased down from behind as a runner. Yesterday, it resulted in an apparent hamstring injury, though the emphasis here is on apparent. The Ravens were getting blown out and Jackson didn’t even visit the injury tent. His absence might have had as much to do with frustration as injury. We’ll find out more Monday. What we already know is that Jackson is 65 percent of the way to his entire 2024 sack total through only four starts. That is one of the first things that has to change for Baltimore to climb out of its 1-3 hole. That will be easier said than done vs. the Texans’ ferocious pass rush in Week 5. Things could get worse vs. Houston and the Rams before they get much, much better against Chicago and Miami.
Omarion Hampton has the game fantasy managers had been hoping for. Well, we were hoping for more than 17 handles, but no other Chargers running back touched the football. 165 yards from scrimmage? That exceeded our wildest expectations. It frankly should have been more. The Bolts’ passing attack wasn’t working, and Hampton was cooking. But that’s a small-fry complaint after Hampton piled up those yards, scored, and caught at least five passes for the second consecutive contest. It can be scary for coaches to put the entire backfield on a rookie’s shoulders, but the Chargers have had no choice, and Hampton has aced the test. The Bolts’ No. 1 running back is now an RB1 in fantasy.
Cam Skattebo absorbs 27 touches vs. Chargers. If Hampton needed the ball more, Skattebo got all he could handle. Also unlike Hampton, efficiency was not Skattebo’s Sunday calling card. His voluminous touch count resulted in just 90 yards from scrimmage. Although it’s true Skattebo did not look explosive side to side, he had an alibi for his relative struggles: Obvious running situations. With Malik Nabers out early and Jaxson Dart being babied through his first start, the G-Men were extremely predictable. As such, Skattebo was brick-walling. This, again, was partly the rookie’s fault, but the game situation was not his ally. Not that we are even complaining. Even the most plodding of runners will typically churn up more than 90 yards on 27 touches. If — most likely when — Skattebo gets a do-over against the Saints this Sunday, we can expect better results.
Woody Marks makes a bid to put Nick Chubb in rear-view mirror. Marks out-snapped Chubb 40-30 with that advantage growing as the game wore on. His snap percentage has increased every outing since Week 1, as has his production. With an offense searching for a spark anywhere they can get it, they have found one in Marks and aren’t looking their gift horse in the mouth. There is every reason to believe the fourth-round rookie’s ascension is for real, and that even if he’s not going to clear 20 touches every week like he did against the Titans, 10-12 is probably his new floor. 20, obviously, is within reach. With a limping and beleaguered Ravens defense on tap for Week 5, Marks has earned FLEX status, especially with four teams on bye.
Xavier Worthy operates as clear WR1 in 2025 debut. The Chiefs and fantasy managers needed that. Worthy played “just” 58.9 percent of the snaps but was running a route every time he took the field. He led the team with eight targets and 83 receiving yards, and he had the longest reception at 37 yards. His return also coincided with Patrick Mahomes’ first four-touchdown effort since October 2023. Again, the Chiefs needed that. Worthy’s fantasy managers don’t need what’s happening next quite as much — the return of Rashee Rice — but Worthy still has the receiver corps all to himself for two more contests. They are potential blowup spots in the Jaguars and Lions. It was later than expected, but your WR2/3 has arrived in finished form.
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Five More Week 4 Storylines
Ladd McConkey’s quiet start grows more concerning. This one is getting harder to sugar coat. With a quarter of the season that fantasy players care about in the books, McConkey has been the decisive third option in an improved Chargers offense. He has eight fewer catches than Keenan Allen and 163 fewer yards than Quentin Johnston, who is almost doubling McConkey’s production. Target share? Unimpressive. Air yards? Not there. He’s yet to see a single look in the end zone. Where there was no competition last season, McConkey is now drowning in it, and he is losing. All that being said, the odds remain high this is something of a low. McConkey will spike a week sooner rather than later. But this wasn’t a situation where we were supposed to be counting on spiked weeks. McConkey was ticketed to be a weekly anchor. He has been, just to the bottom of the fantasy sea. With four teams on bye, McConkey gets low-end WR2 benefit of the doubt for Week 5, but only just.
Alvin Kamara remains invisible in Buffalo. Kamara is averaging just 3.9 yards per carry, but that’s nothing new. Kamara’s between-the-tackles efficiency has long since evaporated. The problem this year is the disappearance of his passing production. Kamara’s 13 receptions are tied for ninth amongst running backs. His 49 yards? Alone in 30th place. 12 runners have commanded more looks, including Trey Benson and Chuba Hubbard. That is not what anyone was signing up for with 30-year-old AK, and there isn’t a ton of reason to expect things to get better. The Saints are rebuilding. Why would one of their adjustments be quadrupling down on Kamara receiving usage? With his high-value handles lacking in the league’s worst offense, Kamara could be tumbling out of the RB2 ranks.
Drake Maye continues to heat up vs. Panthers. Maye attempted only 17 passes against the Panthers. He finished as the QB6. That was the thesis of the play, and is not easy to do when Stefon Diggs and Hunter Henry are your top-two weapons. Since getting shut down in what is looking like a fluke opening-week performance, Maye has been the QB4 and QB7 in addition to yesterday’s QB6. He’s been efficient and explosive as a passer, and picked his spots well as a runner. With the Pats still wanting to limit their aerial volume, Maye will inevitably have a few face-plants, but it’s hard to see that happening as a road underdog for Week 5 against the Bills’ thus-far pedestrian defense.
Michael Penix Jr. finally spikes a week. Penix entered Week 4 without a 300-yard or multi-score start. Check and check. The 300 and two efforts were just the second of his short career. To say they were well-timed on the heels Atlanta’s humiliating 30-0 shutout loss to the Panthers would be putting it mildly. And Penix got there the way fantasy managers were hoping, by locking onto Drake London and finding Kyle Pitts for multiple shot plays. One game is one game. The same was true of Week 3. Penix and this offense are far from a finished product. But it feels so good to have this confirmed as in the range of outcomes. Now headed on bye to study what’s gone right and wrong this season, Penix will find himself back in the streamer mix for Week 6 against the Bills.
Geno Smith is just flat bad … again. Smith has thrown three interceptions twice in his past three starts. Always a sack taker, he is getting obliterated behind Vegas’ nonexistent offensive line. He is failing to strike up meaningful connections with Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers and is currently between Spencer Rattler and Russell Wilson in EPA per play. Other than that, he’s been fine. 34 years old with a fixed idea of how to play football, Smith is battling other fixed ideas from coach Pete Carroll and OC Chip Kelly. We like to give players the benefit of the doubt, but Smith had already been in recession in Seattle. This ship appears headed straight for the bottom.
Questions
1. Can Matt LaFleur, for the love of God, please play a little Madden?
2. Have the Ravens considered winning a single big game?
3. Remember Brandon Staley?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Matthew Stafford (vs. SF), Trevor Lawrence (vs. KC), Sam Darnold (vs. TB), Jaxson Dart (@NO), Jake Browning (vs. DET)
RB: Woody Marks, Kendre Miller, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Kareem Hunt, Kenneth Gainwell, Ollie Gordon II, Tyler Allgeier, Blake Corum, Brashard Smith
WR: Wan’Dale Robinson, Romeo Doubs, Isaiah Bond, Elic Ayomanor, Troy Franklin, Darius Slayton
TE: Brenton Strange, Isaiah Likely, Theo Johnson, Darren Waller
DEF: Colts (vs. LV), Cardinals (vs. TEN), Giants (@NO), Browns (vs. MIN), Rams (vs. SF), Dolphins (@CAR), Cowboys (@NYJ)
Stats of the Week
The Titans’ futility, via Nick Suss: “Today was the third time in four games the Titans’ offense was held below 4.0 yards per play. Last year, when the team was *the worst in the National Football League* the Titans only played one such game.”
Bijan Robinson’s all-purpose dominance, via Tony Holzman-Escareno: “Players with with 270-plus rush yards and 270-plus receiving yards in the first four games of a season since 1970: Bijan Robinson (2025), Alvin Kamara (2018), Matt Forte (2011), Marshall Faulk (2001).”
15. That’s how many snaps TreVeyon Henderson managed after Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson’s Week 3 fumbling fiascos. There’s a long, long way to go here.
Jordan Addison ran 52 routes on 54 Carson Wentz dropbacks. He was not babied along in his 2025 debut. He immediately returns to the WR3 ranks, especially with bye weeks beginning.
No. 2. That’s rookie Isaiah Bond’s new place on the Browns’ receiver depth chart, though perhaps Cedric Tillman’s hamstring injury will have something to say about that.
Infinity. The 49ers’ number of visits to the blue injury tent, including Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings. I’m frankly losing interest in even projecting this situation.
Awards Section
Week 4 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Dak Prescott, RB Ashton Jeanty, RB Josh Jacobs, WR Puka Nacua, WR George Pickens, WR Romeo Doubs, TE Tyler Warren
Week 4 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Lamar Jackson, RB Derrick Henry, RB Jaylen Warren, WR A.J. Brown, Ladd McConkey, WR DeVonta Smith, TE Brock Bowers
The Alright Relax You’re Liam Coen Award: Liam Coen telling 49ers DC Robert Saleh to “keep my name out of your mouth.”
The Well I’ll Never See A More Devastating Play At The NFL Level Award: Adonai Mitchell. Speechless.
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