Fantasy Football: Week 4 Sits, Starts For Giants-Redskins Battle

If last week proved anything, it’s that all bets are off on Thursday nights.

Week 3’s “Thursday Night Football” matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons devolved into a complete blowout, as pretty much every notable Falcon racked up fantasy points with little regard for human life — or projected stats.

Week 4 features another divisional matchup, as the New York Giants (1-2) take on the Washington Redskins (1-2) at FedEx Field in an NFC East clash. Thursday games aren’t usually fantasy gold mines, so you should probably temper your expectations after last week’s jackpot. Still, the Redskins and Giants both have plenty of skill players capable of making some noise, especially considering that neither defense is worth writing home about.

Here’s what we think you should do with your lineup before Thursday night’s game.

SIT
DeSean Jackson, Wide Receiver, Redskins: Jackson went off last week, but he had that game marked on his calender forever. He’s also dealing with a shoulder injury, and as we saw last week with Roddy White, coaches tend to be extra cautious with banged-up players on Thursday nights. Unless your other options are much worse, it might be best to avoid him here.

Rashad Jennings, Running Back, Giants: Jennings also had a big game last weekend, but it came at the expense of a huge workload (34 carries). Believe it or not, Washington has one of the best run defenses in the NFL so far, so the Giants might turn to rookie Andre Williams to give Jennings a breather. If you’re on the fence between Jennings and someone else, go with the other guy.

START
Kirk Cousins, Quarterback, Redskins: In Kirk we trust. This offense actually looks relatively functional with Cousins behind center, and he has a ton of weapons at his disposal. The Giants’ secondary is pretty mediocre, too, so the matchup doesn’t scare us. This may not be a barn-burner, but until he gives you a reason otherwise, Cousins should be your guy.

Victor Cruz, Wide Receiver, Giants: We’re not saying Cruz consistently will produce for the rest of the season after finally putting up a big game in Week 3. We are saying, however, that the Redskins lost their top corner and backup safety for the season, and their run defense is really good. Eli will air it out Thursday night, and Cruz will be the first guy he looks to.

Photo via Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports Images