5 Moves You Need to Make Week Ahead Of Week 4 (Ep. 1727)

Summary

FantasyPros: 5 Moves You Need to Make Ahead of Week 4 (Ep. 1727)

Date: September 23, 2025
Hosts: Ryan Wormley & Tara Roberts

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Episode Overview

This episode is focused on actionable fantasy football moves to make prior to Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. The hosts, Ryan Wormley and Tara Roberts, zero in on five key buy and sell recommendations, especially highlighting three high-profile wide receivers. Their debate centers on player value, trade strategy, and market psychology, helping fantasy managers capitalize on hot or cold streaks, upcoming matchups, and fluctuating team dynamics.

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Key Discussion Points & Recommendations

1. Buy: Drake London

• Timestamps: [01:59]–[03:36]
• Rationale:
  • London's situation appears dire due to quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s struggles, but Tara argues it's largely a product of difficult matchups, not a drop-off in talent or opportunity.
  • London received 15 targets in Week 1 and remains a focal point; low production is due to game context, not his ability.
  • Quote:

    “These were bad matchups. London's talent is for real and the perception of how bad this situation is makes London really an excellent buy low candidate.”
    — Tara Roberts [03:29]

2. Buy: Jamar Chase

• Timestamps: [03:36]–[05:24]
• Rationale:
  • Panic price on Chase after the Bengals' struggles (with Jake Browning starting), but his single big game (150+ yards and a TD) confirms he retains elite upside.
  • Tara clarifies that she is not advocating for buying the entire Bengals offense, just Chase, due to proven WR1 status and impending matchup improvements.
  • Quote:

    “It's a good buy low situation…You can get Jamar Chase at literally pennies here.”
    — Tara Roberts [05:19]

3. Comparing London and Chase: Trade Strategy

• Timestamps: [05:24]–[07:35]
• Recommendations:
  • Both are valued as top-10 rest-of-season receivers but are currently buy-lows given team performance.
  • Suggested trade packages: Leverage RB2-types with ascending value (e.g., Javonte Williams, D’Andre Swift) plus an extra WR to tempt panicked managers.
  • Quote:

    “RB2s are really the sweet spot right here...there's a little sweet spot here I think for people that invested in those later dead zone running backs…”
    — Tara Roberts [06:32]

4. London vs. Nico Collins

• Timestamps: [07:35]–[08:16]
• Recommendation:
  • Prefer London over Collins ROS, citing Atlanta’s improvable offense vs. a Houston O-line unlikely to get better anytime soon.

5. Sell: A.J. Brown

• Timestamps: [08:58]–[11:10]
• Rationale:
  • Brown had a big week (6 catches, 10 targets, 100+ yards, TD), largely because the Eagles were forced to pass. However, the team's clear run-first philosophy won’t support weekly consistency.
  • Managers may want to capitalize on the blowup week to sell high and avoid week-to-week volatility.
  • Quote:

    “If you want to take this as an opportunity to bail out and not have to deal with the week-to-week volatility… now is the perfect time to try and sell high on him.”
    — Tara Roberts [10:39]

• Drake London vs. A.J. Brown, ROS:
  • Tara slightly prefers London due to A.J. Brown’s higher volatility [11:10].

6. Sell: Jacorey “Crosby” Merritt

• Timestamps: [11:30]–[13:29]
• Rationale:
  • Scored a goal-line TD, which managers might use to hype him as an emerging RB1.
  • Snap and carry counts suggest a full-fledged committee in Washington; volume and opportunity will be too unreliable.
  • Quote:

    “To rely on the touchdown every single week when volume is going to be not as high as we need it to be… I don't think you want to be a part of that.”
    — Tara Roberts [12:54]

• Related comparison: Prefer Harvey (backup with upside due to Dobbins injury risk) over Crosby Merritt, not interested in Pacheco [13:29].

7. Buy: Michael Pittman (Buy-Mid)

• Timestamps: [14:20]–[15:56]
• Rationale:
  • Pittman’s trades remain reasonable due to underappreciated status despite consistent performance.
  • Colts (with Daniel Jones at QB and Shane Steichen as play-caller) have become a surprisingly efficient and evolving offense; Pittman is top target.
  • Quote:

    “Michael Pittman is a very cheap way to get in there and get you a wide receiver one that you don't have to pay remotely the pricing for that…”
    — Tara Roberts [15:23]

8. Colts Offense / Daniel Jones Confidence

• Timestamps: [15:56]–[16:45]
• Score: 7.5/10 for rest of season.
• Reason: More a product of coaching/player synergy (Steichen/Jones) than just Jones’ talent.

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Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• On the Drake London buy:

  • “London’s talent is for real and the perception...makes London really an excellent buy low candidate.” — Tara, [03:29]

• On market panic around Jamar Chase:

  • “You can get Jamar Chase at literally pennies here.” — Tara, [05:19]

• Trade approach with panicky managers:

  • “RB2s are really the sweet spot right here...” — Tara, [06:32]

• On preferring Drake London over Nico Collins:

  • “Atlanta’s offense has looked bad, but man, so has Houston’s...Houston’s problem is more about their offensive line and that is not going to be changing anytime soon.” — Tara, [07:45]

• A.J. Brown’s ceiling and volatility:

  • “If you want to take this as an opportunity to bail out and not have to deal with the week-to-week volatility… now is the perfect time to try and sell high on him.” — Tara, [10:39]

• On Washington’s RB committee & Jacorey Merritt sell:

  • “To rely on the touchdown every single week when volume is going to be not as high as we need it to be… I don't think you want to be a part of that.” — Tara, [12:54]

• Colts offense and Pittman's value:

  • “It’s feeling high...it’s more about the coaching finally ascending because we know what this was back in Philadelphia.” — Tara, [16:13]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Drake London Buy Case: [01:59]–[03:36]
• Jamar Chase Buy Case: [03:36]–[05:24]
• Trade Package Strategies: [05:24]–[07:35]
• London vs. Nico Collins: [07:35]–[08:16]
• A.J. Brown Sell Case: [08:58]–[11:03]
• Brown vs. London Rank: [11:03]–[11:26]
• Jacorey Merritt Sell Case and RB Value Comparison: [11:30]–[13:57]
• Michael Pittman Buy-Mid Reasoning: [14:20]–[15:56]
• Colts Offense Confidence, ROS: [15:56]–[16:45]

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Conclusion: Week 4 Moves in Brief

• Buy Low: Drake London, Jamar Chase
• Sell High: A.J. Brown
• Sell: Jacorey Merritt (Washington RB)
• Buy (Mid): Michael Pittman
• General Strategy: Capitalize on panic and recency bias; leverage undervalued RB2s in trades for elite WRs whose value could soon rebound.

Hosts:

• Tara Roberts (@tara_rcroberts)
• Ryan Wormley (@RyanWormley)

For rankings, trade calculators, and more weekly advice, visit fantasypros.com.

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This summary delivers a tactical overview for listeners seeking a competitive edge ahead of Week 4 and distills the episode’s most practical insights, quotes, and strategies.

Transcript

[Tara Roberts]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Ryan Wormley]

Hello everybody. Welcome into Fantasy Pros. I'm Ryan, warmly joined as I am every Monday by Tara Roberts. Tara, we are talking five moves to make before week four. Now we are three weeks into the season. My team has not played yet this week. You have not had the greatest weekend for your team. So we're hoping maybe I get a little better luck tonight here on Monday Night Football. But before that happens, we are already looking ahead to next week and some moves to make. Now sometimes we have, you know, buys and sells are obviously always included. We've sometimes got some drops here. This is more of a trade focused episode here. We've got five real just buys and sells are kind of where we're focusing on this one and there are some big names in this one. There are three very big name receivers so I hope everybody is excited to tune into this one. Quick reminder for everybody that all of our weekly consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasyprose.com/rest Rankings. Tara, let's start off with name number one.

[Tara Roberts]

Yeah, we're going big or go home here. We're going to buy. We're going to buy. On Drake London. I know that it that might be panic inducing to even think about it. Michael Pinnicks did get off to a promising start in week one. Nearly 300 yards. Got the passing touchdown one on the ground. London didn't have a ton of volume in terms of yardage, but he did have 15 targets. So we looked at that game and we said okay, all right, good. Gonna be amazing. We're getting hyper targeted. This is going to be a high volume pass off and Then it went from like promising to like disturbingly bad. Penix has not thrown another touchdown. London is suffering. It's not him at all. It's just this offense is not going in. Pennix looks we bit confused out there. Now to be fair, these have been bad matchups. We had a matchup with Minnesota and this matchup with Carolina, it was a bad look. But we have to remember that Carolina secondary is 100% serious so we can do like a little bit of understanding about why it has turned in such a negative direction here for Dr. London at the hands of Michael Pinnick Jr. But we are buying him here because Pinnicks absolutely has more development that he needs to make and we cannot ignore again the promise that he showed last season here. We just need better matchups here for them to go into when we look Drake London in terms of long term I'm not concerned that there's any major issue. This is going to be a high volume offense. Still probably playing from behind but passing going to have that yardage there. These were bad matchups. London's talent is for real and the perception of how bad this situation is makes London really an excellent buy low candidate.

[Ryan Wormley]

I want to save my follow up for London and kind of loop him in with the next name because it's another big name wide receiver and I want to kind of maybe compare the two together in terms of what you'd like to, you know, be interested in giving up for for either of these names. So let's go to your second buy here and then I'll loop the two.

[Tara Roberts]

Of them together for my second buy here. Again, I'm harping on the Minnesota defense here. It's just cause it's wreaking havoc there on a lot of these quarterbacks that don't maybe have the level of experience that you have from veteran quarterbacks. Like a Matt Stafford might be able to take this on and be okay, but when we're looking at Jake Browning and trying to figure out if he can pick apart this Minnesota defense, I didn't expect it to be this bad, but I didn't really expect it to be amazing. Here we are in panic territory. We were in panic territory with the with the Bengals as soon as Joe Burrow went down and now we have essentially reached rock bottom pricing on all of them that quick. That is reality of how bad that game was. But again it's easy to forget that Browning played the majority of last week's game and Jamar Chase had a wonderful over 150 yards and a Touchdown against Jacksonville again. So it's a matchup thing. There are better days to come when we get to some better matchups here. And again the reality is that this is going to be back by a matchup dependent situation and it's a good buy low situation. It's by low specifically on Chase Brow. I didn't put buy low on the entire Bing or by on Jamar Chase. I didn't put buy low on the entire Bengals offense. That was like a Freudian slip there because I am terrified for Chase Brown there and we are not buying low on him unfortunately. He's like a panic sell if you can get out while you still can. But when it comes to Jamar Chase, he is the wide receiver one. We've got bottom pricing here. We have promise of better yardage games coming up here. So it's not the worst situation in the world. You can get Demar Chase at literally pennies here.

[Ryan Wormley]

So when you look at London and Chase together, what sorts of packages are you looking to put together for these guys? Are you looking to say I'm willing to trade another big name receiver and try and almost a challenge trade one for one? Are you saying I'm willing to trade a high end running back or like a high end RB2 maybe if you're trying to kind of buy at a discount. Are you looking to pair some depth for these guys? What sort of? Cause cause they're both, you know, currently ranked rest of season as top 10 receivers. But obviously there that's a lot of preseason stuff baked into those rest of season rankings. You know, Jamar Chase is currently wide receiver two in our rest of season rankings. That was just updated after yesterday behind only Puka Nukua. CD Lamb was ahead of him. You know obviously he's got his own injury stuff now and then Drake, London, you know who was kind of in that back half of the first round early second range, he's wide receiver nine. So still there. But like obviously the managers who have these two names are not feeling good right now. So for either of them. And also I want to ask if you see a gap between the two of them or if you would rank them close to each other, what sort of package are you looking to give up to acquire these guys?

[Tara Roberts]

So I think RB2s are really the sweet spot right here because for what what I'm seeing in terms of trade questions that people are bringing, a lot of people are seeking to buy those kind of mid tier producing RB2s that are actually legitimate RB1 on their team because we've got a lot of guys that drafted these RJ Harveys and you're, you're panicking here. Even like a Caleb Johnson, you're panicking here because you were depending on these guys to be your RB2 and they're just not producing any kind of numbers that you can actually put into your fantasy lineup here. So there's a little sweet spot here I think for people that invested in those later dead zone running backs, your Devonte Williams, your DeAndre Swifts, you've got Cam Scaboo that is going to have increasing value selling here. So maybe you package up one of those, those RB2s that are ascending in these high volume roles or at least these clear appear to be lead back roles, package it up with another wide receiver to kind of compensate there maybe. And I think you can easily get one of these guys because there's a lot of panic going on right here around these wide receivers.

[Ryan Wormley]

One more question on these two that I want to ask this guy that already had, you know, his big game here in week three, would you rather have Drake London or Nico Collins rest of season?

[Tara Roberts]

I would rather have Drake London. Again. Atlanta's offense has looked bad, but man, so has Houston's. And the problem is is that Houston's problem is more about their offensive line and that is not going to be changing anytime soon. So Pinic's developing and getting comfortable as a, you know, the full time starter and this is this. You just have to supply this volume to your receivers. Yeah, that, that can come around here. But the Texans have an issue that is not going away as is, you know, shown by their record. Unfortunately.

[Ryan Wormley]

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[Tara Roberts]

You know, this one is positive. I should, I should have started off the positive. Why did I what I hit us with Drake London and Jamar Chase first. I should have started off with AJ Brown. Since we finally got this big AJ Brown game out of him. Six receptions on 10 targets, over a hundred yards and a touchdown. The Eagles realized that, hey, you know, we, we have elite wide receivers and like, I don't know, they can actually catch the ball. So maybe if we throw them passes, offense will still succeed from a pass perspective. And they had to do it. They were forced into it. The Rams literally sat there and focused on shutting down Saquon Barkley. And once the Eagles came to terms with the fact that they had to increase that pass volume there in the second half in order really the fourth quarter to sit there and actually win the game, they actually committed to it. This is why it's the opportunity to sell. Because we know that A.J. brown is an incredibly talented receiver and if you get targets to him, if you supply him with volume, he will thrive. That's not the question there. And Jalen hurts is not really the question here too. He, he can throw. It's not really an issue. I think it's kind of funny. We like to laugh about it here with the low yardage pass volume that he has, but we've got plenty of proof that the connection between him and AJ Brown is an elite combination. But unfortunately we've got a clear game plan here from the Eagles that they want to be run heavy. That is what worked and what carried them to a Super bowl here. So why change the game plan? There's not a coincidence there that we saw that massive uptick in volume for devonte Smith. It was just a game where the past volume increase, we can't count on that on a week to week basis here. Now the good reminder that A.J. brown does have that ceiling. So if you want to stick around on him, I don't blame you on that one at all. But if you want to take this as an opportunity to bail out and not have to deal with the week to week volatility, it will be predictable because you can look and try and figure out those games where they're going to be forced to pass the ball a little bit. But even in those situations like against Kansas City, we thought there would be more pass. That didn't happen. It'll be a little bit of volatility there, inconsistent and maybe tough to predict. So if you want to get out, now is the perfect time to try and sell high on him.

[Ryan Wormley]

Drake London is wide receiver 9 rest of season AJ Brown is wide receiver 10 rest of the season. Would you trade Brown for London?

[Tara Roberts]

Oh man, I think I would. It's extremely close between the two but again the problem there is is that we know that there is locked in volatility there for a Brown for the remainder of the season and the fact that that's not going to change.

[Ryan Wormley]

Yeah, give me another name that you're selling here before week four.

[Tara Roberts]

I'm selling Jacore, Bill Crosby, Merritt here, he got the goal line touchdown here. You can take that and try and shill it around and say hey, I got your future lead back and he's going to develop into the role because there are a lot of, you know, there are a lot of Bill truthers out there in thinking that he is just going to ascend to the RB1 role. And it makes sense, right? Because we've never thought of Chris Rodriguez or Jerry Mid McNichols is competition for anyone any way, shape or form here. But I think we underestimate the willingness of Washington to force this to be a committee. It's not a committee and it hasn't been a committee because of the fact that they just didn't have the personnel to have a lead back. It is because they just wanted it to be a committee by design here. That's why it was Brian Robinson and Austin Eckler. We've just got a change in personnel here. When we look at the snaps, that is what really tells the story here. The highest snap count that we had for a running back in this backfield was Decori crossing Merritt with 23. That's not good. Chris Rodriguez was at 22 and then we had Jeremy McNichols at 15. The one with the most carries was actually Chris Rodriguez. He was just the least productive from a fantasy perspective because he did not get the touchdown between the three again despite all these carries tilting there. Ultimately I do think that JCM is the guy that you want to think is going to have the most fantasy relevance on a weekly basis here. The only one that you can cross your fingers and try to trust here. But to rely on the touchdown every single week when volume is going to be not as high as we need it to be. I don't think you want to be a part of that. This is the situation where you can trade and try and upgrade at another position.

[Ryan Wormley]

Couple of interesting names that Bill is ranked between in the consensus rest of season rankings. One spot ahead of him is RJ Harvey. One spot behind him is Isaiah Pacheco. Would you rather have Crosby Merit or either of those two names. Thinking long term, right? Because obviously Harvey hasn't done anything yet, but you know, trying to think, you know, the long term upside there. Pacheco, we've seen what he can be in the past. Would you rather cross merit or either of those two?

[Tara Roberts]

Harvey? I think I would just because I don't feel comfortable with cross merit in my starting lineup right now. That's the same concept with Harvey. Harvey does have a clear backup role there to J.K. dobbins, but Dobbins does have an extreme injury history. So the reality of Harvey owning that backfield is a lot higher than the reality of Washington decommitting from this committee. Kansas City with Isaiah Pacheco, that's another story there. I don't know if I want to buy into that piece.

[Ryan Wormley]

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[Tara Roberts]

I got one more buy. We did. You know, we're doing buy highs and sell lows, but why not like a buy mid there? Let's, let's do a buy mid on Michael Pittman. You don't always have to buy high here because the perception on Michael Pittman just over the years has been kind of low. So it's kind of baked in there. Daniel Jones, a quiet, nice, solid day again. Looks like a changed man. This is a competent Indianapolis team as a whole. The surrounding cast is awesome. So why not invest into his top target there who is absolutely thriving with the exception of that one matchup in Denver. When we're looking at people to invest in this offense for Indianapolis, it's difficult to buy into J or into a Jonathan Taylor because the pricing is so astronomical. Tyler Warren has a lot of hype. He can't buy into it. But if you want to get into this offense because it does, it's trending in a extremely high way. Michael Pittman is a very cheap way to get in there and get you a wide receiver. One that you don't get, have to pay nearly remotely. The pricing for that, you've got that bacon and discount because the fantasy manager that drafted Pittman didn't do it because they're a truther. They exist out there. I might low key be one though, but they exist. There's just the fact that he's just not really had that massive upside in the past. So the perception on him, again it's already been low. People don't see him as a true wide receiver one but the stats thus far in this short little sample size show that he is the wide receiver one of that offense and and if Daniel Jones continues down this path and we're looking at this extremely high upside, we could legitimately get our Michael Pittman elusive wide receiver one season here.

[Ryan Wormley]

If I force you to put a number to it, scale of 1 to 10 the Colts offense as a whole, which I which is largely on the shoulders of Daniel Jones. So this can be a Daniel Jones answer or it can be an offense as a whole answer. But you know, Colts offense slash Daniel Jones Scale of 1 to 10 what's your confidence level rest of season in terms of how they will maintain what they've done?

[Tara Roberts]

So far it's a 7.5. And it's, you know, not the massive confidence in Daniel Jones. I think that Shane Steichen found his groove here, has the personnel that has finally molded into exactly what he wants it to be and everything is just pulling together very well. So it's feeling high and Daniel Jones love him, but it's more about the coaching finally ascending because we know what this was back in Philadelphia. It's taken a while to get here, but I think that Steichen has finally been able to mold this into a successful offense.

[Ryan Wormley]

She's Tara Roberts. I'm Ryan Wormley. Thanks everybody for tuning in this week. Make these moves before week four. We'll see you again next time. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple [e-mail] review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasy fantasy pros.

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[Ryan Wormley]

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[Tara Roberts]

This is an iHeart podcast.