Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury isn’t a death sentence for fantasy football rosters, but it’s noteworthy.
Someone in your league picked up the San Francisco signal caller later in 2018 drafts, thinking they got a steal. Instead, it appears they’ll either be streaming or combing the waiver wire for a better option.
So far this season, it’s been a difficult stretch for some of the top fantasy football quarterbacks from this year’s fantasy football draft. Russell Wilson, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, all quarterbacks among the first five selected in fantasy football drafts, are struggling to get much momentum.
Rodgers ranks ninth in fantasy points, while Wilson is 15th and Brady is 21st. That will likely change over the next few weeks, so keep plugging them in lineups. For the other starters with question marks, here’s the week 4 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em guide for quarterbacks.
Start
Philip Rivers vs. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have major problems and it doesn’t just reside with the quarterback position.
San Francisco’s defense is struggling to stop the opposition’s passing attack. The 49ers are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks at 23.61. Quarterbacks are finding the endzone with regularity, with eight passing touchdowns.
The yards per play allowed isn’t much better, with the 49ers ranking 17th, allowing 6.8 yards per pass attempt.
Meanwhile, Rivers has been very efficient. He only has one interception, to go along with eight touchdowns. His yardage total, minus a week 1 outburst, hasn’t been great, but the fact that he’s not turning over the ball is something to be excited about. River deserves another start in week 4 against the 49ers.
Andrew Luck vs. Houston Texans
Luck doesn’t look anywhere near his old self. Maybe it has been the bad conditions in the last two games, but he’s not driving the ball down the field.
He’s becoming a more dink-and-dunk passer, relegating his fantasy total in that low QB1/QB2 mode.
However, despite the negatives, the Colts have zero running game. Therefore, he’s forced to chuck it all over the field, and against Houston, that is a recipe for success.
Luck will be back in the dome, which during his last home game, he notched 319 passing yards. He’ll also get to square off against a defense that is allowing 7.9 yards per pass attempt, the 27th-worst mark in the NFL.
The offensive line is better in Indianapolis, so the pass rush shouldn’t concern you like it has in the past from Houston. Luck will be forced to throw often again in week 4, so he is a nice volume play.
Andy Dalton vs. Atlanta Falcons
The injuries are concerning for the Atlanta defense. And it showed in a week 3 shootout with New Orleans.
Deion Jones and Keanu Neal are probably the best defensive players on that roster, and both are out of action. I know backups are still good in the NFL, but it’s tough to replace that kind of production.
So Dalton should be the best streaming option for those still smarting from the Garoppolo loss. Dalton’s four interceptions in week 3 weren’t entirely his fault, with one of them coming on a tipped pass and another coming at the end of the game on a last-ditch Hail Mary.
For the most part, Dalton has been fairly efficient, going for more than 260 yards in two of three games, with a 6-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the first two games.
He’s going to have volume with Joe Mixon still out with injury, so be confident in streaming Dalton in week 4.
Sit
Kirk Cousins at Los Angeles Rams
This is going to be a popular decision.
Cousins looked terrible in week 3 against a Buffalo defense that we believed was one of the worst in the NFL. However, that offensive line couldn’t keep the Buffalo pass rush off his back, forcing Cousins to look the opposite from what we saw him in week 2.
With that being said, though, this isn’t a slam dunk. Cousins is still a quality fantasy option. And he’ll be better in week 4.
Even though I’m not completely selling Cousins and the Vikings, I don’t like this matchup. It’s a short week against a Rams defense that is one of the best in the NFL. In fact, the Rams defense allows the fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. And they’ve done that in games against Derek Carr and Rivers.
The defensive line should be able to get penetration against the Vikings, so while I’m not completely dismissing the Vikings in fantasy, I’m finding a better signal caller for week 4 than Cousins.
Ryan Tannehill vs. New England Patriots
Tannehill has been impressive this season. His presence is a major upgrade from Jay Cutler in 2017, so there’s some hope this year in Miami.
He’s doing what he does and completing more than 70 percent of his passes, and he even chucked the ball downfield in week 3 against Oakland.
With all the positives, I don’t see this matchup as being on the plus side for Tannehill. The Patriots are 6-3 against Tannehill in his career, and Tannehill has a 60 percent completion percentage when facing the Patriots. He has a quarterback rating of 81.9, with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his career.
So even though the Patriots have looked very mortal this season, this matchup just doesn’t add up for Tannehill.
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Baltimore Ravens
This game feels like one of those low-scoring, defensive battles, even if we haven’t seen that kind of potential just yet from the Steelers.
Even if it’s not one of those low-scoring games, though, Roethlisberger scares me with his ball security.
He doesn’t mind throwing interceptions and staying away from fumbles has long been a difficult task.
His biggest skill is throwing for a lot of yards, but the Ravens just don’t allow that. Baltimore is giving up just 4.7 yards per pass attempt this season, to go along with its natural ability to turn over the opposition.
Roethlisberger’s turnovers are not something to back in this matchup. There are several options that offer better matchups, so I’d investigate those before plugging Roethlisberger in your lineup.
