Week 4 bold fantasy predictions: Daniel Jones, Wayne Gallman set to pile up points
Every week, our Yahoo fantasy crew will unveil their boldest predictions for the action ahead. Feel free to keep score of who can tell the future most often or mock us as we go. Now, on to Week 4!
Rookie Daniel Jones has another top-five finish
For weeks, the Spider-Man twins meme circulated on Twitter representing how Jones was Eli Manning's doppelganger. At face value, there are resemblances, but as displayed last week in Tampa, the rookie is hardly a lookalike. He's accurate, strong-armed, mobile and flat-out better than the borderline HOFer. His 9.3 YPA, 336 pass yards and four total touchdowns against the Bucs point to future top-five performances, especially this week. Matched against Washington corners Josh Norman (121.9 passer rating allowed) and Jimmy Moreland (131.5), the former Duke standout will again bedevil the competition. Another 300 yards with multiple scores are on the horizon. -Brad Evans
Wayne Gallman a top-15 RB in Week 4
He’s obviously a big downgrade in talent, but Gallman took all of the snaps after Saquon Barkley left last week’s game. He also enters Week 4 as New York’s clear lead back with Elijhaa Penny the only other RB on the roster. Gallman reportedly struggled with drops during summer but saw 48 targets in limited work as a rookie in 2017, so there’s PPR appeal, and the Giants have an improved offensive line that’s only getting better.
Most importantly, New York’s offense is now interesting with Daniel Jones looking like a major upgrade at QB. Gallman gets a favorable matchup right away, as both teams are top-five in pace, and Washington comes in with the No. 25 ranked run defense DVOA, as this game features one of the highest totals of the week. Gallman was the starting RB for Clemson’s national championship team in 2016, and he’s now suddenly a feature back on a team led by Danny Dimes up against one of the league’s worst defenses, yet he’s the minimum $10 in Yahoo DFS. -Dalton Del Don
Jacoby Brissett quietly a top-five QB
OK, so this one is probably going to require a healthy, ambulatory T.Y. Hilton, and he’s dealing with a quad malfunction at the moment. It’s a concern. But if Hilton is good to go on Sunday, you have to love Brissett’s setup in Week 4. He’s at home against the Oakland Raiders defense, a unit that’s allowed 9.2 yards per pass attempt and 286.3 passing yards per game so far. Oakland’s D hasn’t yet intercepted a pass and it isn’t pressuring quarterbacks (5 sacks). Brissett has been sneaky-good so far, with seven TD passes and just one pick on the season for the 2-1 Colts. He has a clear shot at a top-5 positional finish this week. -Andy Behrens
John Brown falls off the map
Brown has given us the full mix thus far; a great game, a solid game, a passable game. This week against New England, look for the bottom to drop out. New England finally has a formidable defense (this unit wasn’t better than 16th in defensive DVOA the three prior years), and when Bill Belichick examines the Buffalo offense, he’ll recognize Brown as the guy to eliminate. I’m calling for Brown to finish with 25 yards or fewer, and please keep him out of your seasonal lineups. -Scott Pianowski
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Chris Conley out-produces D.J. Chark
While I wouldn’t blame anyone for having trust issues with the Jacksonville Jaguars, plenty of fantasy folks have been swept away by #MinshewMania. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been enamored by the team’s desire to force a rebrand since hiring John DeFilippo. While the offense is far from high-flying, the passing game has become much more efficient with Flip and Gardner at the helm.
For example, in 2018 the Jags averaged 194.3 passing yards per game. Over the first three games of this season, they’ve put up an average of 243 passing yards per contest. Even more telling is the fact that the Jags have already managed the 12th most passing plays over 20 yards, whereas a year ago they posted the sixth fewest plays beyond 20 yards. While Jacksonville’s OC and QB deserve plenty of credit… much of this jump could (and should) be attributed to D.J. Chark’s big-play ability.
The speedster out of LSU has found the end zone for three consecutive weeks. As a result, his ownership has skyrocketed to 62 percent, up 21 percent from just a week ago. Heading into a Week 4 matchup against the sack-less Broncos feels like a solid opportunity for Chark. But I’d pump the brakes on Charknado for a minute. He’s likely to be covered by stud CB Chris Harris, who held Davante Adams to just 56 yards in Week 3.
Instead, give Chris Conley a look. Running the same number of routes and earning the same snap share as Chark, Conley is also a highly athletic receiver with an impressive catch radius. With Harris likely to shadow Chark, Conley becomes the team’s secondary deep threat. (Don’t @ me about Westbrook, who’s a slot guy dropping balls in the end zone.) He’s likely to be covered by former AAF standout De’Vante Bausby, who has moved ahead of Isaac Yiadom on Denver’s depth chart. While “Baus” may have dukes, my bet is that Minshew will try to exploit the easier matchup… and that Conley will deliver. Fearless Forecast: 5-76-1 - Liz Loza
D.K. Metcalf finishes as a Top-15 WR
The Arizona Cardinals are hilariously bad on defense. Virtual unknown Kyle Allen trounced the unit at home last week and pass-catchers have cut through them all season. Here in Week 4, they draw a matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. Russell Wilson is white-hot to start the season, completing over 70 percent of his passes with a 7-0 touchdown to interception ratio. He reminded us last week that when the coaching staff allows or the opponent demands, he can dominate a stat line. The Cardinals will at least push the pace giving ample opportunities for drives on the Seattle side.
That brings us to Metcalf. Despite a preseason surgery, the rookie has been the clear No. 2 receiver in Seattle. He’s played on 84 percent of the team’s snaps and run the second-most routes (109) on the team. He’s been getting vertical looks and has 338 air yards on the season, ranking ninth in the NFL and two spots ahead of Tyler Lockett. His breakout game comes this week and he has a good chance to push for a Top-15 finish if he hits big plays. -Matt Harmon
