Fantasy Football Reaction: Winners, Losers And Surprises From Week 4

The first quarter of the fantasy football season now is in the books, and while Week 4 was business as usual for some darlings like Patrick Mahomes, it was not for others like Davante Adams.

Here is our latest rundown of winners, losers and surprises from Week 4 of the fantasy football season. Of note, all data and statistics included are based on full-point PPR scoring and according to SportRadar.

Winners
Cordarrelle Patterson, RB/WR, Atlanta Falcons
Patterson entered Week 4 ranked 35th among running backs according to Yahoo! and finished with the most points of any player at the position. The dual-threat Patterson, who was owned in just 66% of Yahoo! fantasy football leagues last week, averaged 3.15 points per touch on 11 touches from scrimmage — five of which went for first downs. He did, however, make the majority of his presence felt in the air with 5.20 points per target, which was the direct benefit of his three receiving touchdowns.

Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
We hate to state the obvious, but Hill’s day was just too insane to overlook. The speedy wideout recorded 4.33 points per touch (!!) on 11 touches from scrimmage. His 12 targets from Mahomes went for a league-best 143 air yards as just 43 of his 186 total yards came after the catch. Hill averaged 13 yards and 3.97 points per target with three touchdowns as he torched the Philadelphia Eagles’ secondary.

Losers
D’Andre Swift, RB, Detroit Lions
Swift certainly did not look like a top-10 running back as he and the Lions went up against the Bears. The second-year back averaged just two yards per carry on eight carries, as he ranked 40th among running backs in points per touch. Just two of Swift’s 16 touches against Chicago went for first downs as he was bottled, and a whopping 94% of his rushing yards came before he was touched.

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Lamb ranked seventh among receivers entering a Week 4 contest with the Panthers, but the Dallas run game coupled with the production of wideouts Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson made him a non-factor in what was still a high-scoring affair. Lamb saw just five targets (two touches) and failed to record even 20% of his projected point total. The second-year wideout finished 85th among receivers in total scoring while his 0.66 points per target caused him to finish outside the top 100 players at the position. He had 12 of his 13 total yards — yes, you read that correctly — come through the air.

Surprises
Taylor Heinicke, QB, Washington Football Team
OK, it really may be time to put in a waiver wire claim for Washington’s signal-caller (owned in 10% of Yahoo! leagues). Heinicke entered Week 4 as the 15th-ranked quarterback and finished fifth in scoring. He completed the second-most “explosive passes” behind only Daniel Jones and his 50% completion rate of passes 20 or more yards ranked him ahead of Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray, just to name a few. Additionally, Heinicke’s 8.8 yards per attempt ranked sixth and his 8.53 yards per drop back ranked him seventh.

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
The rookie fifth-rounder was viewed as the 52nd-best running back entering Week 4 after playing just 31% of offensive snaps the week prior. Gainwell far exceeded those expectations as he more than doubled his projected point total and finished as the sixth-highest scoring running back. His 2.32 points per touch were second among running backs behind only Patterson while his four red-zone looks tied him for seventh. More than half of Gainwell’s touches (nine) went for first downs (five).

Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers
There is a very, very good chance Cobb is available on the waiver wire (he’s owned in just 7% of Yahoo! leagues), which is why his massive day was all the more noteworthy. Cobb, who was the 90th ranked wideout entering the slate, finished seventh among players at the position in points per target (3.98) and 10th in points per touch (4.78). He registered 52 of his 69 receiving yards at the point of catch including two touchdown receptions totaling 24 air yards.