This week of fantasy football proved to be much lower scoring than last week with only one player with more than 30 points (once again Devonta Freeman, who now seems entrenched in that number 1 running back role in Atlanta).
Despite the small amount of scoring, there were still some surprises and duds. Here were the biggest surprises and setbacks in fantasy football’s week 4.
Surprise
Sam Bradford, Philadelphia, 24.20 points
Welcome to 2015.
Bradford was the hot pick in the offseason as a low draft pick with plenty of potential. However, through three games this season, he’s been a major disappointment.
However, this week was the week of the unheralded quarterback. The top-six quarterbacks this week were Phillip Rivers, Bradford, Josh McCown, Kirk Cousins, Blake Bortles and Nick Foles. Other than Rivers, we can’t imagine that any of those quarterbacks were even starting this week on most fantasy football rosters.
But it’s Bradford that could feature the brightest future. He didn’t exactly wow us with his completion percentage — he completed only 15 passes in 28 attempts — but he completed big pass plays for the first time this season. He totaled four completions of 30 yards or more. That’s been missing this season.
The Eagles have been major disappointments so far this season. But Bradford should continue to get the call, and if he can start stretching defenses vertically, the offense may get rolling.
Dud
Peyton Manning, Denver, 8.32 points
We love Denver’s defense. That’s the calling card of that team and the NFL is figuring that out.
For the first time since Manning has gotten there, the Broncos don’t need super-human efforts by the future Hall-of-Famer. This just continues to prove the fact that Manning was a poor early round fantasy football draft pick this season.
His average draft position hovered around the third to fifth quarterback selected in many fantasy football drafts, making his two of four weeks in single digits disappointing for fantasy football owners.
He’s not the same quarterback he once was, and the Broncos don’t need him to be that person.
Defenses are teeing off on him with an inexperienced offensive line and Manning’s interceptions will likely continue to rise, while his touchdown output will stay near the level he’s shown this season.
Surprise
Ronnie Hillman, Denver, 16.80 points
C.J. Anderson was supposed to be the featured running back for Denver. But Hillman and Anderson finished with the same amount of carries this week, with Hillman rushing for 103 yards, while Anderson netted 43 yards. So far this season, Anderson hasn’t rushed for even 50 yards in a single game.
Most of Hillman’s output came on a 72-yard run, but Anderson owners should feel threatened by Hillman. He has the speed to break open big gains, and the Broncos could use a little life on offense.
Hillman’s fantasy football production has increased incrementally during the past three weeks. If he’s on your league’s waiver wire, he may be worth a look.
Dud
Carlos Hyde, San Francisco, 2.20 points
Remember when Hyde netted 30 points in week 1?
It seems like an eternity ago.
Since that outburst on national television, Hyde has totaled 14.40 points combined in the previous three games, with less yards rushing combined in the last three games than he totaled in week 1.
There’s a major problem with the 49ers of both sides of the ball. This game was only a four-point game at halftime, but Hyde still wasn’t heavily featured in the second half.
Surprise
Tavon Austin, St. Louis, 23.60 points
Austin has been an inconsistent option in St. Louis since being drafted, so we’re not going to get too excited about this performance.
But Austin delivered the best week from a wide receiver, with two touchdown receptions on six catches. He was targeted seven times.
With the Rams offense, they can put up points in spurts. This was a surprise to do that against the Arizona Cardinals defense, and Austin was the main receiver targeted by quarterback Nick Foles.
The biggest issue with Austin is the Rams’ inability to move the ball consistently. St. Louis performed well against Arizona and Seattle (two of the best defenses in the NFL), and struggled with Washington and Pittsburgh.
Dud
Julio Jones, Atlanta, 3.80 points
It wasn’t a great week for the star wide receivers.
Jones and Odell Beckham finished with only 38 yards receiving, while Antonio Brown had 42 yards. But with the amount of scoring Atlanta did, fantasy football owners would have thought Jones would have had a bigger impact.
Atlanta scored 48 points, but Jones hauled in only four catches. That’s a big difference than in the previous three weeks, when he went over the 100-yard receiving mark in all three contests.
We knew Jones’ start couldn’t last, but fantasy football owners would have liked at least one of the touchdowns to go Jones’ way. We assume this was only a speed bump en route to a solid year.
