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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Week 4 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1730)
00:41:03
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- [00:00]
Pat Fitzmaurice
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
Fantasy Pros Announcer
Fantasy Pro's fantasy football podcast is brought to you by Grainger. If you work as a maintenance manager, your facility is your home turf and your home field advantage is having a partner like Grainger. They offer trusted professional grade products for every industry from lighting and electrical to safety and everything in between. Plus fast dependable delivery. Which is why they always come through in the clutch. Just like you. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
- [00:36]
Chris Welsh
What's up friends and welcome into Fantasy Pros. This is the Fantasy Football podcast. I'm Chris Welsh and today we've got week four ranks but it's like Highlander. Only one of our amazing rankers could survive. We're down a ranker because I've just got Pat Fitzmaurice. Pat's going to be pretty happy he's here too. When we talk about the accuracy contest. No Andrew Erickson this week. Don't worry, he'll be back next week. Just out. So it's a two man show today. Pat. We are going to be tackling all the ranks for week four and maybe doing a little celebrating of your ranks here in a minute.
- [01:07]
Pat Fitzmaurice
We voted Erickson off the island Welsh in honor of the the start of the new season of Survivor. No, he's going to be back and that's too bad. We, we had some nice arguments that we could have had this week but I'll just, I'll pretend to pose Erickson's side of the argument and then just eviscerate him with my side.
- [01:26]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, we'll be citing some of his ranks in here. We've still got them. It warrants the conversation. So we're going to be going through our top 36 wide receivers picking out and trying to get into your guys minds about some of the biggest questions you're going to have this week as well. Any big discrepancies. There's going to be some guys. I'll probably throw in my 2 cents on some of my ranks this week and you know, a little bit more relevant this week because as we always do at the top of each episode we have our rank accuracy contest. That's what feeds the Fantasy Pros ranks which you can see fantasypros.com rankings if you're looking at the ECR. Our ranks are, you know, internally fed by Pat Fitzmorris, Andrew Erickson, which you're in very good hands when doing so and you were never in better hands this week as we look at the accuracy contest and we celebrate the top three. The top three are all fantasy pros. I'm not sure this has ever happened before. You guys can tell me in the time I've been here for a couple years, Pat a little bit before me, like, I don't know if we've ever seen fantasy pros. Fantasy fantasy pros. Fantasy pros. In top three, Ellis Johnson finished number one. Derrick Brown, the king of bros, number two. And Pat Fitz Morris number three. Congratulations. You got to get your flowers, Fitzy. Make you had one or two, like top five finishes last year. Maybe I'm selling you short here, but an absolute fantasy pro sweep. And just as some extra asides, Andrew Erickson finished almost top 25. He finished 26th. And I know this isn't something to be like, you know, super happy. I finished top 36. So this entire show last week had three rankers inside the top 36. For week three, we're down to two, so I've got to fill some shoes. But Erickson's ranks will still be here. So Fitzy, top three. You got to feel pretty good about that.
- [03:08]
Pat Fitzmaurice
It was a good week, Welsh. It did feel good. And not a bad advertisement for our weekly waiver article, which is co written by Alice Johnson, Derrick Brown and myself.
- [03:20]
Chris Welsh
Not too shabby.
- [03:21]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, not bad at all. It felt good to get off the deck after I think I finished 112th in week two. So that was kind of rough. But it's funny, Welsh. Like, I felt like I was having a pretty decent week with the rankings going into that Monday night game. And then we got two touchdowns in the big game from Mark Andrews, who I was pretty well above consensus on last week. And we talked last week about it was in the context of Juwan Johnson. And I said I would start Mark Andrews over Juwan Johnson. And ECR was very much against that. And I think there were a few YouTube commenters who weren't keen on that decision. But the thing is, man, like, Mark Andrews has been a top five fantasy tight end for more than a half decade and Juwan Johnson has just like his track record, not that great. And so I know we have to balance. Like, we can't underreact to some of the things that happen early. But after two weeks to. And I know Mark Andrews did nothing for the first two weeks and Juwan Johnson was putting up some really nice numbers. But like, it's like two job candidates, Welsh, you know, one has the superior resume and, you know, the, the hire decides to go with the Other candidate because he had a firm handshake, a better handshake, you know, like, I want the guy with the good resume. I don't care about the firm handshake, man. Give me, you know, sorry, Juwan, nice handshake, but I'm going with Mark Andrews there every time.
- [04:53]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, it's. It's also sample size. I try to give it context when we're doing these shows. Hopefully people understand it. You know, there's definitely, definitely people that will not that don't have reasoning skills, but, like, it's small sample sizes of what we're dealing with. So when we're reacting, we're reacting to one or two games. It's tough. Like, we can feel that the trend is going in this direction, but you need like three or four to have, like a good idea. And this is a, you know, Anders is a prime example of that. Where finally broke in week three. So we try. So we are in like, sample size zone right now. We've got maybe just enough sample size to make some pretty concerted efforts towards all of our ranks. Fun fact, too, on the rankings. Ericsson and I are both top 11, I believe, in the world, in tight end ranks, me and him. You are like top 10, I think, in quarterback and running back or it's wide receiver and quarterback, something like that. So we've got a lot of like top tens in there. It's been the thing that I've kind of strived with, as is Erickson. So we'll try to do it again this week. We've got running back and tight end coming up, which you can check out, but this is all wide receivers. And speaking of all wide receivers, this is your chance to win a signed Ja' Marr Chase signed Bengals jersey for free, courtesy of our friends over@pristine auction.com. all you've got to do is head over to fantasypros.com contest, complete the form, then you can download the Fantasy Pros app, leave a review for the podcast, follow us on x Instagram or TikTok. Guess what? All those things that you do, those get you more entries. Boom. We'll be announcing a winner on the podcast here near the beginning of next month. So if you are watching on YouTube, make sure to subscribe. Put on notifications so you can be alerted when new episodes are up. And to claim your prize, if you're not watching on YouTube, go to YouTube.com fantasy pros. Get set today and win yourself a Jamar Chase signed Bengals jersey. You know, we didn't actually have him marked here but might be kind of warranted to give a brief little conversation about with Jamar Chase, who was the kind of unanimous number one. And things looked really squirrely in in week three. So we'll see what week six or week four has. Let's look at our big board. Just get right into it. You guys want to follow along? You guys can go to fantasyprose.com rankings, do that, check out the ECR. Give you a little reminder. Things change every time a ranker drops a rank it changes the ecr. So some of the things we're talking about relative to when you check out this page might be a little bit different. So just remember that. So fantasypros.com rankings let's start with our top 12 on the big board. Coming in at number one at wide receiver this week so far is Puka Nakua. Going up against the Colts, Jackson Smith in Jigba. At number two, Amanra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Malik Neighbors still no Jamar Chase because he comes in at number six. Nico Collins, Garrett Wilson, Devonte Adams, Drake, London, Roma Dunze and AJ Brown Fitzy. We did not have this on the sheet. Let's just do this for half a second though, because Ja' Marr Chase, you're still starting him, but I think people feel very squirrely about it. He is not ranked in the top five. Browning looked bad. More so looked bad because their offensive line looks horrible, horrible and he had no time to react. So you saw a ton of like quick first read throws to Noah Fant and Drew Sample. They were attempting to get the ball in Jamar Chase's hands. It just doesn't look good for Bengals wide receivers. So as an aside here, like I said, because we had not planned to talk about him on the sheet and we really hadn't planned to talk about T. Higgins. Like what's the, what's the vibe? Check on Jamar Chase for you this week. You still got him top 10. He's still starting. Should we start to be concerned and worried about him? And feel free to throw T. Higgins just into this because we don't have him later.
- [08:40]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, the vibes aren't great, Welsh and part of the reason I think we felt confident with Jamar Chase as the wide receiver one and T. Higgins as this rock solid wide receiver two were just that Jake Browning when he was forced in action a couple of years ago was fantastic. Not fantastic but like good enough to sustain the value of Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. But now, man, I mean the Bengals offensive line looks like A train wreck this year and maybe the carriage turns into a pumpkin for Jake Browning after his good showing in 2023. So there are concerns like you're still starting Jamar Chase every week, but I don't think we can. We have to abandon the hopes of the 110 catch, 1500 yard, 12 touchdown season that we were hoping for. If you took him with a top three pick in your draft and, and Higgins now is like he's going to be on the start sit borderline like every week. Welsh every week.
- [09:48]
Chris Welsh
Yeah. And I had cited one of the things that was interesting on the prop show this past week on betting pros. I like Jamar Chase's receptions because Jake Browning is a big first read guy. That didn't really change. But again, coming back to it, their offensive line is so bad he had one Mississippi to make a decision every single time. Every team is going to repeat that. Its success might be, you know, it might vary, but if they're going to be able to cross the line, he's going to have no time to think. And it really does have a big impact on how, you know, they're going to be able to take the ball deep, put in scoring position. So it just makes Jamar Chase is still just so talented. They didn't end around with him. So I think you can still feel that level of comfort if someone's going to thrive. But T. Higgins is a big major question and that's a big shakeup at the top of wide receiver. And one of the, one of the end results out of that is not only like pushing some other players up. I think, you know, Puka kind of stands out. But JSN jumping into number two in the ranks this week, that's a big standout. He's ecr wide receiver two. You have him at two. Erickson ended having him at eight. So you guys had a pretty big discrepancy. I think I've got him at 3 this week. So you and I are much more lockstep. He has been an absolute demon for targets. He's going up against a not great, you know, the 49ers or the Cardinals just got burned by the 49ers for over 100 yards for from Ricky Pierasol. So I think that kind of plays into it, played into it for me. But tell me about JSN at number two this week.
- [11:12]
Pat Fitzmaurice
He's a star. This is not an overreaction to a three game sample size. This is not a firm handshake at a job interview. This has been building like JSN did not have a good rookie year. Then he got off to kind of a sluggish start in 2024. But then he caught fire at mid season. From week eight on he averaged 6.3 catches and 81.1 yards per game. That's almost a 1400 yard pace. And so far this year Smith and Jigba ranks fifth in catches with 22. He he's second in receiving yardage with 323, just 10 yards behind league leader Puka Nakua. And here's the crazy thing Welsh the Seahawks have been the third run heaviest team in the league, only behind the Eagles and the Colts. Sam Darnold is averaging 24.7 pass attempts per game, but JSN has a 40.3% target share and he's been really efficient with those targets, averaging 11.1 yards per target and get this 4.61 yards per route run. That yards per route run number unsustainable. It's basically double the career yards per route run for Justin Jefferson. But it just shows you how well JSN is playing. I was kind of worried that Cooper Cup's arrival in Seattle might push Smith and Jigba outside where he might not be as effective. Well, he has been pushed outside. He's only lined up in the slot on 23.2% of his snaps this season according to Player Profiler. But I think he's doing just fine, thank you very much. And oh by the way, the matchup Welsh, the Cardinals, they're going to be without their best cornerback, Garrett Williams and rookie cornerback Will Johnson. Missed Week 3 with a groin injury. Hasn't been practicing this week. Looks like he's going to be out to JSN could absolutely smash on Thursday night.
- [12:58]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, like Charlotte's Web. That'll do pig. That'll do. We'll take that for sure for jsn. Four Star Matchup by the way, we have the star matchups on the ECR if you want to check it out. Ratings on start and sit projected fantasy points and an interesting one, average differential based on projections. If a player usually scores higher or lower than projections and he's right there as the third highest third of the top 12. But JSN typically is beating his projections by about two and a half points and he has the second highest wide receiver projection this week. So JSN, he's in there. Number two makes a bunch of sense as we look through the rest of the wide receiver ones. Again, as we always say, these are dudes, you're just starting. There's not many questions. Most likely when you guys start your start and sit questions whether it's on the Thursday Discord with usually me and Erickson. I think it might be you and me this week again pat over on or I've just signed you up for the show. The extra point on Discord or any of the live streams we do. These are typically guys you probably don't need to put into your questions. You know like hey should I da da da 1 I think that will this week on this list is the standout Roma Dunes. Roma Dunes ECR 11. You and Erickson both had him at 13. I think I have him slightly higher. He is the guy here now. They spread the ball out quite a bit more which I think is something to continue to watch. Luther Burden getting more involved. But Roman Dunes is kind of one of those big first look. He's got a pretty aggressive rank this week coming in at 11 up against the Raiders. The matchup grade is, you know, it's fine. It's like three star A plus like start and sit or a start and sit. What do you think about Roma Dunes in general? You've got him just outside wide receiver one territory is that I mean it could be due to a multitude of things at all. Is it due being lower than ECR because of some of the other weapons getting involved or is it matchup based? You tell us roma dunes a ECR 13 for you 11 on actual ECR.
- [14:57]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, some people are mad I haven't been ranking Odunze higher and sure maybe I have been a little slow to come around after Roam's lackluster rookie year. But yeah, it's pretty clear now that Odunze is Caleb Williams lead receiver with DJ Moore as more of a complimentary guy. Rome is wide receiver three in fantasy scoring right now behind only Puka and Amonra. But the touchdowns are largely driving that like it's pretty wild that it only took Rome three games to beat his touchdown total from his entire rookie year. Like he had three touchdowns last year. He already has four with at least one in every game so far. But like that's largely driving the wide receiver three showing right now. Odunze is outside the top 10 in targets, catches and receiving yardage, not far outside the top 10 in all of those categories. But that's basically why I've got him outside just outside of wide receiver one range Welsh. But what's nice is that O'Dunze does go from one pretty soft matchup right into another. Last week it was the Cowboys. This week it's the raiders who ranked 26th in DVOA against the pass and have given up the fourth most fantasy points to receivers.
- [16:10]
Chris Welsh
Nine targets per game on average. Roma Dunes A. Scott right now that's not too shabby. He dropped a little bit because of course I bet on him this past week so we had to downtick the production but Otherwise he has 27 targets so far on the year. So I mean he is the dude. It's a pretty good matchup. Roma, Dunes A. He is going to play let's move to our wide receiver two territory. So these are gonna be wide receivers 13 through 24. We are going to kick it off with Zay Flowers coming in at 13. Tetaroa McMillan, Emeka Igbuka, George Pickens, Tyreek Hill, Lad McConkey, Ricky Piersol, Courtland Sutton. There's your top 20. Jacoby Myers at 21, Brian Thomas at 22, Keenan Allen and Debo Samuel. Lots of conversation to be had. Let's start with George Pickens. ECR 16. You and Erickson both have him lower. He's going to be the number, number one wide receiver now. Ceedee Lamb is going to miss a couple weeks here. They did get Tolbert more involved. Turpin is obviously going to get involved. Pickens did not have the big huge day that from multiple. Even with CD Lamb there, we kind of thought like he could have a big day. That just did not happen. So talk to us about the little bit lower ranking because this is a better position that he's in the lower rankings only relative to ecr. We still have him in the teens. What do you think about George Pickens this week?
- [17:27]
Pat Fitzmaurice
And I'm going to start him in the league where I have him Welsh But I think the inclination is to believe that CD Lamb's absence due to an ankle injury is going to spike the target count for George Pickens. Maybe. Like one of the reasons a lot of people were enthusiastic about Pickens being traded to the Cowboys was that he might have been miscast as a lead receiver in Pittsburgh and that he wouldn't have to play that sort of role in Dallas with CD Lamb. There's and there have been times this season where it looks like Dak Prescott was maybe expecting George Pickens to be in a certain spot and he wasn't there. Like, Pickens is not a timing guy. He doesn't run the full route tree the way CD Lamb does. Like George Pickens is really great at making tough catches on the sideline he is yet to prove that he can excel in really any other facet. So plus we're getting a really tough matchup this week. Welsh. The packers are giving up 4.8 yards per pass attempt this season, which is just insane. So yeah, maybe we get a little bit of a target spike for George Pickens this week. But can he do a lot with it? Is the question. Like you need that he's still going to be big play dependent I think. I just don't see him having like an 11 catch 130 yard game. He's just not a possession guy. So I think it could still be pretty boomer bust even without CD Lam. And by the way, I think Jalen Tolbert might actually be kind of a sneaky start because maybe he is the timing guy that Dak needs this week.
- [19:02]
Chris Welsh
He likes him on. Well a prime example to that was like right when CD got out. They tries to tried to use Pickens in one of those like whatever, you know, six, seven yard, just outruns for a first down. Just banked right off of his hands. Tolbert then slowly after was used in one of those first down. And then where did Pickens thrive later when Joe Milton came in and threw one of those 20 yard, you know, like big slant routes. So like that's where he thrives. But there is volume. Volume is in his favor and that's why he ranks up. Another player that for you is ranking up higher this week is Ricky Pierasol. My boy Ricky Pierasol comes in at ECR. Wide receiver 19, you've got him at 12. Erickson's on the other side of the planet at 25. Now there are some questions. Brock Purdy going to play this week? Looks like it. Mac Jones is a little bit banged up. This would be his revenge game. But he's. He looks like he's banged up. Purdy looks like he's gonna play regardless. Juwan Jennings, there's another question. He did not end up playing. We kind of just don't know the status where he's at. But we do know is Ricky Pierasol ate last week and he has a connection with whoever the quarterback is on this team. Going over 100, stretching the ball deep. This looks like a solid matchup. It is. Given a four star rating here up against the Jaguars, you've got him way up. I'm obviously going to be with you. A little bit of a homerism in me, but also this is just a really, really good position against this bad defense. And Pearsall has been the passing part of the offense, so you've got him at wide receiver 1. You're the high guy on Pearsall. Let's hear it.
- [20:33]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, Welsh, maybe. I the spread between my ranking for Pearsall and Ericsson's might have to do with the assumptions we're making. And I'm maybe assuming more things than Erickson is about Brock Purdy and Juwan Jennings. I. As you mentioned, it seems like Brock Purdy is trending toward playing, so I'm kind of assuming he does play. And I'm kind of making the assumption that Juwan Jennings remains out with his ankle injury after missing week three. Like, I don't know. Well, sure. The 49ers guy, they said whether it's a high ankle yet.
- [21:08]
Chris Welsh
No, they. They didn't. They didn't confer. They're kind of. I mean, as Niners are or at least I didn't see it. It's all a little coy. Like it looked was positioned to play this coming week and then he just inactive. Like. Like. So they're kind of throwing this at us. I wonder if this is a setup for him to get healthy for this game. But even regardless of that, they do have DeMarcus Robinson back. I know that doesn't sound like super exciting, but that is a guy that can stretch the field. He's been with the team through the off season. You have Robinson even if Juwan Jennings is. But that, like, that's a reason why Juwan Jennings might not play. But I also think Robinson can play the Juwan Jennings. Right Role.
- [21:44]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Right. And the thing is, guys with low ankle sprains typically don't miss any time. So for Jennings to miss last week, like, if he misses this week too, we probably know it's a high ankle. So, you know. And then I would have to. If Jennings played, I'd have to move Pearsall down a little bit. With no Jennings last week and with George Kittle still out and with DeMarcus Robinson still suspended, Pearsall at 11 targets against the Cardinals finished with eight catches for 117 yards. He could be pretty busy again this week in a home matchup against the Jaguars. If there's no Juwan Jennings, what would.
- [22:18]
Chris Welsh
If Jennings was there, what would you think? Just offhandedly would your rank appear solve.
- [22:23]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Still in wide receiver 2 range, but maybe mid to lower. Like probably down to wide receiver 19 or something.
- [22:30]
Chris Welsh
So that's his actual ECR. So that. So maybe his ECR is more relative to the unknowns For a lot of people. Let's go. I actually should have put this guy higher. Actually. You know what? I'm going to jump to this. Let's stay in the same game and then we'll jump. I'm kind of jumping around here on wide receivers a little bit, but in the same game. I think the biggest thing that is going to catch people's eyes on this list is Brian Thomas and the absolute crater falling he's having down a 22. I mean, this is borderline, not starting in some spots and I think there's going to be a lot of people that are going to just be like, we're not going to do this this week. Not that. The 49ers defense is super great. They got some young corners. They are without Nick Bosa now, so they're pass rushes out there. But regardless of all this, Jags have just stunk and Brian Thomas has not gotten involved. Parker Washington got a ton of the volume and actually those slot receivers end up killing the 49ers. So he's down at. Brian Thomas is down at 22. You have got Brian Thomas at 22. Erickson has got him at 12. So you guys are just Ricky Pearson. Brian Thomas flipped. Let's talk about your concerns with Thomas this week and starting him.
- [23:37]
Pat Fitzmaurice
If you would have told me a month ago that going into week four, I'd be ranking Brian Thomas Jr. Wide receiver 22 and wondering if that was still too high, like, that would have just seemed insane to me. And he is still being ranked like a guy you should probably be starting for fantasy teams. Like, I'm going to keep starting him in the one league where I have him, but I don't think it's crazy to sit BTJ this week if you have other good options. Things are just really off with Brian Thomas Jr. Right now. Like, the chemistry between BTJ and Trevor Lawrence just has not been there. He's been targeted 25 times and has seven catches.
- [24:14]
Chris Welsh
It's crazy.
- [24:15]
Pat Fitzmaurice
28% catch rate. Like Brian Thomas Jr. Is averaging 4.6 yards per target and seems like maybe BTJ's wrist is giving him problems. Like people pointed out that he's kind of shied away from contact on more than one occasion this season. Not that we should be questioning this guy's toughness because Brian Thomas Jr. Played through a chest injury last year that probably would have kept a lot of other guys out and he was terrific in those games where he was playing hurts. But man, things are bad this year and I wonder if it's Related to.
- [24:49]
Chris Welsh
The rest, it kind of looks like it is. They kind of downplayed it over on pff. Just to let you know, they. They have like, great, good. And then when you get into fair and down, it kind of works its way down a little bit. Brian Thomas is not being given a favorable matchup, so 49ers 24th of 32 against wide receivers. Upton Stout has absolutely been demolished this year. He ranks 89 of 102. But he'll play like, he'll play on the outside, he'll play some slot and that could be an effect for Parker Washington, which is a plus. But Lenore is 43 out of 1 of 102. So it's just an unfavorable matchup for a guy that is having some quarterback problems. I don't love Brian Thomas this week. I would not have him as a wide receiver one. And I think based on some drafting on how you've done, you know, Ricky Pearsall or Brian Thomas, I think it's clearly Pearsall in this matchup and I think there are some scenarios where you might start sitting him. Don't. Don't go into any crazy panic mode. We are in our sample size zone. I still think slightly there's a kind of buy thing that's floating out there, but I am starting to worry about maybe this wrist is part of the problem. Like that catch rate is insane and Trevor Lawrence is bad. But like, is he that bad? Final wide receiver in this range to talk about. I told you, we're jumping up and down. Wide receiver 18. Tyree kill Fitz. You got him at 17. Erickson's got him down at 24. So you guys are kind of on different spectrums of it. You're closer to ecr. Looks like he's just a lot more set in this lineup. He's healthy out there. They've got quarterback problems. Talk to us about Tyree Kill. You got him over Brian Thomas and.
- [26:24]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I've actually got him up at wide receiver 14. Welsh, not wide receiver. 17.
- [26:29]
Chris Welsh
Oh, okay. It just said 17. But even better, keep rolling.
- [26:32]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Oh, yeah. So, like, things look pretty good for Tyreek so far. Like he's earning targets. A 24% target share so far. He had 100 yard game against the Patriots in week two. He scored a touchdown against the Bills in week three. And generally the Miami passing game has looked pretty decent this year, aside from Tua throwing some horrible interceptions. Like, can't explain some of these interceptions, but otherwise, like, this is a functional passing game again. And I'm not terrified by the matchup with Sauce Gardner and the jets. Like Tyreek has gone over 100 yards in two of his last three games against the Jets. The one miss was last season's regular season finale, and maybe Tyreek's heart wasn't completely in that one. So yeah, decent recent history against the jets, and I think things have looked pretty good with Tyreek so far in the Miami passing game.
- [27:25]
Chris Welsh
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- [31:21]
Chris Welsh
Wide Receiver Threes let's kick it off at number 25 with Marvin Harrison Jr. DK Metcalf, Jameson Williams, Devonte Smith, Quinton Johnston, Chris olave, Michael Pittman, D.J. moore, T. Higgins all the way down at 33 Jalen Waddle, Khalil Shakir and Calvin Ridley. I couldn't even find T. Higgins before when we were talking about I'm like, where is he? Here we got a couple names to throw out and let's start with Marvin Harrison. He is not a free fall yet, but it feels like it is super close to doing that. He really, really bombed out in this last game. ECR 25. Erickson has actually got him at 21. You are lower than ECR this week. Bachmann on out of bounds this week. Fitzy was, he was breaking up with some people and one of his breakups was with Marvin Harrison moving forward. So what say you? You're lower than consensus. Are you close to breaking up with Marvin Harrison Jr. Yeah, we are.
- [32:12]
Pat Fitzmaurice
We're at least staying in different bedrooms right now. It's just like Marvin Harrison Jr. Has not seen more than six targets in any of his first three games and his target share is sitting at 19%. Not ideal for the fourth overall pick in last year's draft. And it's not exactly like the Cardinals are burgeoning with other good wide receivers. Like, it's, it's Michael Wilson and Zay Jones, for goodness sakes. And like, I don't know, the chemistry has been off with Kyler Murray. But like, it certainly wasn't Kyler's fault that Marvin Harrison Jr. Had an atrocious drop last week on a play that should have gone for at least a 40 yard gain. I mean, that, that drop was one of the worst I've seen. Like, and he did a little jump before trying to catch the ball. I just didn't understand that. And now he gets a tough matchup against Seattle. The Seahawks defense is so underrated. They have allowed the second fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. And this is just, it's another instance where I'm not going to talk anyone out of trying to, out of playing someone else over Marvin Harrison Jr. Just like I wouldn't try to talk anyone out of sitting Brian Thomas Jr. If they felt like it. Like, things have been really off for both guys and I just, man, I had hope of a second year bounce back for Marvin Harrison Jr. And it is just not happening.
- [33:36]
Chris Welsh
Just real quick on what I said at the top of the show that, you know, we're in that sample, like, maybe we're just starting to leave sample size territory where we can't like necessarily cite that. I think it's probably fair to say that if I were to be like, hey, Brian Thomas or Marvin Harrison, who you more worried about in their sample size, you'd probably say Marvin Harrison. Maybe the impact of Brian Thomas, like, you would give him more the benefit of the doubt. Do you think like for any of these guys, we should be giving a tiny bit more grace and that the sample size isn't quite enough for Marvin Harrison. Or is that where this is coming from? Like hey listen, we've had three games. None of it looks good. The volume doesn't look good. Even if they bounce back a couple couple, it just doesn't matter. I'm just curious that like this how you're approaching what we've seen. How much of the season is out there before you're ready to completely like cater this, like can it bounce back I guess is what I'm looking for.
- [34:24]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Well, the thing is now it's been like 20 games for Marvin Harrison.
- [34:27]
Chris Welsh
Oh yeah. If you're counting next to last year.
- [34:29]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah. Because last year was not that splendid either. So like I'm more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to Brian Thomas Jr. And I do think it's could be largely injury related to no such excuse for Marvin Harrison Jr. Unless he's dealing with something we have no clue about. But it does not seem that way. It just seems like he's out there. He's not drawing a lot of targets. He's not making big plays when he's handed them on a silver platter. It's just kind of alarming.
- [35:01]
Chris Welsh
Coming in at number. Well, the second guy we're going to talk about here, not number two, but number 29, Quinton Johnston. He is ECR wide receiver 29. You and Erickson both have him at 30. I'm higher than you guys at 25. This isn't necessarily like a. Hey, we're all different rank area and more that like we should talk about him. He is a wide receiver three right now, lad. There's a big question about just like lads production in that offense. Keenan Allen as well, do they all eat into each other? More constants have been Keenan Allen and really Quinton Johnston. I like Quentin Johnson in this matchup. Going up against the Giants, I think he's going to continue to see tons of targets. I think he is proving through, you know, this small sample size that he kind of deserves to be in this range. I wanted to get your take on it and I thought we should talk about it because mid wide receiver three this week, guys, he is ahead of an ECR are D.J. moore, T. Higgins, Jalen Waddle, Calvin Ridley and I think probably for the most part all of those guys are below between the three of us. Maybe there's one caveat, but they're probably all below Quinton Johnston.
- [36:04]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah. So it's getting really tricky to rank the three Chargers wide receivers. Welsh, and I'll ask you in a second where you've got them ranked this week. Right now for me, it's LAD at wide receiver 19, Keenan Allen, wide receiver 21 and QJ is at wide receiver 30. And I think we can justify ranking three chargers in the top 30 since such a large percentage of the targets are going to those three guys. There's like no fourth wide receiver in this offense really. Trey Harris runs a few routes every week. They don't throw to their tight ends. Last week was the first time we saw Omarion Hampton get involved as a pass catcher. So there are a lot of targets to go around for this group. But yeah, I like, I still think we all believe that lad McConkey is the best of the three.
- [36:53]
Chris Welsh
Yeah.
- [36:53]
Pat Fitzmaurice
But 33 year old Keenan Allen is playing like 25 year old Keenan Allen. And Quentin Johnston is playing like the guy the Chargers thought he was going to be when they spent a first round draft pick on him.
- [37:05]
Chris Welsh
Like a dude with hands.
- [37:07]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Like a dude with hands. And he is wide receiver 5 in fantasy scoring right now. Keenan Allen is wide receiver 7. Lad McConkey is wide receiver 49.
- [37:17]
Chris Welsh
So I actually have them a little bit more aggressively ranked this week, all of them because of the matchup. So I've got lad lower than you. I've got lad at 21, but I've got Keenan at 23 and Quinton Johnson at 25. And I know that's a little like they all kind of eat into each other a tiny bit. It's really about the matchup. But we talk about roles sometimes and sometimes we'll do it in like narrative speaking. But literally it's like Lad on third downs, Quinton Johnston, big play, red zone, Keenan Allen. That's like literally how they roll this offense. And they're super efficient. Herbert is as efficient as he's been. So I think they all can kind of live in that space. Lad is the most worrisome. I wouldn't you wanted to like try to like, you know, win the ranks contest. I could see people putting Lad below all these guys because he is awesome. He's just not getting the target share. I think the separation score on fantasy points data, he's still like eighth or seventh in the NFL. And his actual separation score, he gets it, but they just don't get him the ball in the targets because there's other mouths to feed. So it's an interesting situation. But more than anything, what I think it does speak to is it speaks to Quinton Johnston being a starter, a guy that you want to put out there because he is going to make some big plays. One more. Oh, yeah, go ahead.
- [38:30]
Pat Fitzmaurice
I was just going to say Your wide receiver 25 ranking is not hot take at all when you consider that Quentin Johnston has had at least seven targets in every game. He's had at least 71 yards in every game. I think he was one of those guys that fell into like that cliche of like, oh, like good best ball pick. Not so much in a managed league.
- [38:49]
Chris Welsh
Totally.
- [38:49]
Pat Fitzmaurice
He's been very fine in managed leagues and very easy to manage all of a sudden.
- [38:54]
Chris Welsh
Michael Pittman, wide receiver 31. You and Erickson are both higher on him this week. Michael Pittman's going up against the Rams. You've got him at 28. Ericsson's got him at 26. What do you think about. Also Pierce is banged up a tiny bit. That might be a benefit or something. But what do you think about Michael Pittman?
- [39:09]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, really unlikely that Alex Pierce, Alec Pierce, excuse me, plays with a concussion. I think he's had some concussions in the past, so he's most likely out this week. Not a bad matchup this week against the Rams. Like this could be a high scoring affair and you can definitely do some business against the Rams cornerbacks. Pittman is having a nice season. He's quietly wide receiver 13 in half point PPR fantasy scoring. It seems like he's his old self after trying to play through a back injury last year.
- [39:40]
Chris Welsh
There are a couple wide receivers that did not make the top 36 that I just wanted to hit. Usually we'll do like, hey, you know, like one or two guys or a guy that we each like. Since Ericsson's not here, I want to do it a tiny bit different. I want to get your take real quick on a couple wide receivers that I think are going to garner a lot of questions that did not make the top 36. Starting with number 37, Jordan Addison. You and Erickson bury him in the ranks. I kind of think it's going to be full steam ahead. But you know, Kirsten Wentz is at quarterback and that's a question. He did target his tight ends. They didn't go crazy deep. But Addison is a guy that is going to find some good separation or maybe it's just rusty from the games. Not out there. You talk to us though. You've got him at 45 versus 37 on ECR. People are going to want to start him this week. You do not seem to want to, though.
- [40:23]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, I want to wait. Well, like, Addison's a terrific player, but maybe he doesn't play full snaps right away. Maybe they need him to get his wind back, his football endurance. And plus Justin Jefferson is there, you know, one of the best receivers in the game and TJ Hawkinson, and we know that Carson Wentz kind of likes throwing the tight end. So with Wentz playing like he and Addison just don't have a lot of experience working together. I just, I have Addison myself in a couple of leagues. I'm just not starting him yet. Like, I'm. I'm nothing against the player. I just want to give him one game.
- [41:02]
Chris Welsh
All right. Xavier Worthy, there's another one. I think he was 48. Now I need to find him. I'm not seeing him on there update. He's actually gotten gone lower and I think this is because of the concern. People just don't know if he's going to play. I think the assumption is he's going to play here. He was 48. He's down at 60. You have him at 35. So fair to say 35 is your rank of him being active or are you still playing? Caveats with 35. If he is listed as active, let's say, you know, tomorrow, will you go higher?
- [41:33]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Caveats for sure. Walsh, especially with the initial reports that he is going to play, but the snaps might be limited and he's going to play with some sort of shoulder harness. So I might have to drop him a little bit. Like ECR might be. Maybe that's the conservative approach I should be taking with Worthy because, yeah, he's going to be. It would be hard to trust him in your lineups in his first week back.
- [41:56]
Chris Welsh
I agree. I. I don't have him inside the top 40 right now in my ranks. Last one is Keon Coleman and Keon Coleman's relative here because he is ECR 42, but you've got him at 36, so he would have made your screenshot on the top 36. So what do you think about Keon Coleman this week?
- [42:13]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Yeah, like, I know it was a quiet game last week and I know some people are worried with the bills 16 and a half point favorites over the Saints that they're not going to have to throw a lot, but they are going to build a lead in some fashion and I would imagine that Keon Coleman will be part of it. Like, I'm still excited about him even though it hasn't been like a dream start for him.
- [42:36]
Chris Welsh
There you go. Those are the wide receivers that we're pointing out for you. You guys want more? Go to fantasypros.com rankings and maybe we didn't hit on the wide receiver that you got a big question for. Well, guess what? We got the weekly Start and Sit live stream right here on YouTube where you guys can come and ask any of your specific Start and Sit questions about any of these wide receivers. Who would you rather? We'll be here every Thursday at 3pm Eastern, so those on the podcast go to YouTube.com fantasypros subscribe click on the bell to get notified of all of our weekly live streams. That's it. Those are our wide receiver ranks for week four. Thank you to Pat Fitzmaurice. Shout out to Erickson wherever he is out there in the land. I'm Chris Welsh. Thank you guys for hanging out with us and we'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.
- [43:16]
Fantasy Pros Announcer
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- [45:35]
Pat Fitzmaurice
Ever go to McNachos on game day.
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- [45:39]
Chris Welsh
Or the chips?
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- [46:07]
Pat Fitzmaurice
This is an iHeart podcast.