Fantasy Football NFL Week 4: Studs Carson Wentz Jersey , Duds, Sleepers, & Busts Welcome to the Week 4 Edition of Studs, Duds, Sleepers, & Busts.Pick of the Week:WR Larry Fitzgerald, ARZ - 1 pt, t-90thFitzgerald had a rough outing catching just two passes for 9 yards. The Cardinals offense is a disaster.Fail of the Week:QB Tom Brady, NE - 9 pts, t-26thI hate him, I hate him, I hate him. This is what I get for putting any sort of trust into this jack-wagon.Year to Date Accuracy:Week 3 Accuracy: 5 of 11 correct (45.4%)Season Accuracy: 14 of 35 correct (40.0%)Stud:A highly favored fantasy player (ranked as a good play) who will finish the week as a good play. (Last week: 1 of 3 correct)WR Michael Thomas, NO (Against: @NYG - 2018 Average: 18.7 points per game)Michael Thomas, in 2018, has risen to the status of the top WR in the game. This makes him one of the top fantasy plays again in week 4.RB Saquon Barkley, NYG (NO - 15.7 ppg)While the Saints have been limiting opposing rushing attacks (253 yards allowed and 2 touchdowns allowed ranks 6th and 9th respectively), they have been VERY leaky against the pass. Barkley Authentic Jalen Mills Jersey , who is no stranger, to the passing game will be a very good standard play and a phenomenal PPR play this week.RB James Conner, PIT (BLT - 17.3 ppg)Amidst the drama filled group of men that we call the Pittsburgh Steelers lies one man with a curious hair cut who has been having a quietly fantastic season. As long as Bell is out, Conner is a must start, but this week in particular features a juicy match up against the Baltimore Ravens who have given up 4.2 yards per carry to opposing backs.Dud:A highly started player who will finish the week as a poor play. (Last week: 2 of 2 correct)WR Quincy Enunwa, NYJ (@JAX - 8.7 ppg)Over the first three weeks, Enunwa has emerged as the favorite target of rookie QB Sam Darnold. Unfortunately, though, even with 29 targets through three games, Enunwa has just 212 yards and 1 touchdown. While his target share may remain high, his chances of finding the endzone are even slimmer than usual this week in Jacksonville.QB Baker Mayfield, CLV (@OAK - 8 ppg)After coming in hot last week, I fear that readers will expect the world out of Baker moving forward. While I am a true believer in the young man’s talent and potential, I think its wise to pump the breaks on deeming him your starting quarterback just yet. If you have room on your bench, stashing him is a great idea, but as of today, don’t start him.TE Tyler Eifert, CIN (@ATL - 4.7 ppg)The once promising Tight End is continuing to let down fantasy owners nationwide. While there are certainly worse plays at the TE spot Youth Ronald Darby Jersey , Eifert is far from one of my favorites.Sleeper:A player who is not started often but will finish the week as a good play. (Last week: 1 of 3 correct)QB Ryan Tannehill, MIA (@NE - 20.3 ppg)Tannehill has thrown a touchdown on 9.5% of his passes in 2018, a mark that trails only Patrick Mahomes (14.0%) and Ryan Fitz-Money (9.9%). His passer rating of 121.8 is 4th behind the same players and Drew Brees. Is Ryan Tannehill a good quarterback? Who knows. Is he a good fantasy option? Yes. Yes he is.TE Dallas Goedert, PHI (@TEN - 4.7 ppg)7 targets. 7 catches. 73 yards. 1 Touchdown. While I wouldn’t expect this production from the rookie TE week in and week out, Carson Wentz clearly feels safe throwing him the ball and Head Coach Doug Pederson clearly has a role for him in this offense. RB Peyton Barber, TB (@CHI - 4.3 ppg)Through 3 weeks, Barber has out touched Jacquizz Rodgers 44 to 15. Because he only has 131 yards from scrimmage and 0 touchdowns, many fantasy managers are now avoiding Barber. As long as he continues to be fed the rock so frequently, he will begin to score points sooner or later. Now that Fitzpatrick and the red hot offense might be cooling off, Barber’s role should only increase against a stout Chicago defense.Bust:A highly ranked player (ranked as a good play) who will finish the week as a poor play. (Last week: 1 of 3 correct)RB Matt Breida, SF (@LAC - 13 ppg)Breida has been a solid play all season long, and one would think with such a mouthwatering match up against a porous Chargers defense means he will have a huge week, right? Well, with the loss of Jimmy G, the SF offense might struggle mightily out of the gate. If the team falls behind early, Breida will quickly become an afterthought as the team relies on the passing game to catch up.D/ST New York Giants (NO - 6.7 ppg)Have you seen the Saints?QB Deshaun Watson (@IND - 21.3 ppg)After seeing Carson Wentz and the Eagles offensive line struggle in week 3, I would rethink starting Watson in Indy this weekend. The Colts have only let in 3 passing touchdowns, tied for 4th lowest in the league http://www.eaglesauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jake-elliott-jersey , and should keep up the trend against an inconsistent Watson.*Note: I am working hard to update this format to make it the most productive article possible. Any and all feedback (including but not limited to: “You’re an idiot”, “Patrick Mahomes is not a sleeper, you ass hat”, and “BLG WHY DOES THIS DUDE WORK FOR YOU?”) is very appreciated and encouraged. *Note 2 (geez this guy likes to talk): Above, the line between a “good play” and “bad play” will be the average of the starters. So for example, The average points scored of the 12 QBs from week 3 was 27.7. The following QBs would have been good plays: Drew Brees (41 pts), Matt Ryan (36 pts) Cam Newton (30 pts), Josh Allen (28 pts) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (28 pts). All other QBs were poor plays.As always, I cannot cover every situation in one article so please get at me on twitter (@LeeSifford) or in the comments below with your specific roster questions and I’d be glad to offer my thoughts on your situation.Eagles’ opener plagued by offensive inefficiency The Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles sputtered out of the gate in their first defense of their title. Before dissecting the film of their sloppy 18-12 win over the Atlanta Falcons, there are stories to be told in the numbers that point to problem areas to be examined further.PERSONNEL QUIRKS...I charted each offensive play, extracted non-plays, accepted penalties and kneels, and came out of the other side with baseline numbers with which to track trends.
While this is a small sample size and some tendencies won’t hold up, there are some interesting similarities and deviations from the 2017 season.First, the expected bonanza of 12 personnel with Alshon Jeffery and Mack Hollins out with injury did not come to fruition. Instead, wide receiver DeAndre Carter out-snapped rookie Dallas Goedert 53 to 17. Overall, their 11 personnel frequency (77%) comes in comfortably above their 65% from last year.This suited the Falcons just fine, who prefer to use their nickel package that boasts two excellent coverage linebackers in Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell. The duo provided tight coverage in the middle of the field all night and made the lack Jeffery on the outside even more pronounced. When the Eagles tried attacking nickel with the run Alshon Jeffery Jersey , they managed a mere 3.86 yards per carry and a 39% success rate. Falcons safeties are no strangers to sniffing around the box and being active in the run game.Doubling down on their philosophy to pass from two tight end sets, the Eagles jumped from a league 2nd 57% pass from 12 personnel to a hyper 91% last night. Did it work? Heavens no. Those passes went for an average of 3.30 yards per play as the duo of Zach Ertz and Goedert struggled to either catch or get open.Obviously not all the blame is on them for the passing game woes; separation was severely lacking across the board and Nick Foles had one his classic scattershot games. The biggest play from 12 personnel came on a Philly Special 2.0 troll job which went for 15 yards.The lone run from 12 personnel came on a 2nd & Goal carry from the 1-yard line that resulted in a touchdown for Jay Ajayi. On that play tight end Josh Perkins came in jet motion before the snap and was used to block up the backside end man on the line of scrimmage to create a numbers advantage.BIG BOY RUNS...What did work consistently for the Eagles from a personnel perspective is their use of six offensive linemen in the run game. They used this heavy set on 4 of their 8 under center plays with a mixture of one and two tight ends. Those plays averaged 6.75 yards on the ground and resulted in the game-winning touchdown scamper from Ajayi.You would expect the Eagles to continue to use these sets, as they have in the past, and show more play-action looks with them to not tip their hand in the future.SITUATIONAL EFFICIENCY...Early down inefficiency was a major reason for the offensive struggles as the offense found themselves behind schedule at an alarming rate.The problem isn’t with the play selection on first down; their 57% pass frequency is nearly identical to last years’ number. They just couldn’t get anything going through the air to take bites out of the chains. That problem got exacerbated when they turned in a truly awful 9% success rate on 2nd & long.Going run heavy there didn’t help, as it’s historically much less efficient than passing in that situation, but again, Foles wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire either. Still, I’d like to see them get back to what was successful for them in the playoffs in that regard.That fact that the Eagles converted on 50% of their third downs is no small miracle considering this early down performance. For the night, the offense didn’t convert a single first down on first down, highlighting the stark difference between bad Foles and good Foles.On the plus side, the Eagles found their new short yardage money down back in.. :squints:.. Ajayi, Nelson Agholor, Corey Clement and Darren Sproles, who converted 4 for 4 collectively. Glad that’s solved.It’s just one game and there were extenuating circumstances that impacted how effective the offense could be. The Falcons also boast a young, fast defense that is on the verge of coming into their own.It’s not time to be concerned yet, but the longer Carson Wentz is inactive, the more Foles will have to improve on his atrocious 3.44 yards per attempt and the more the run game and defense will have to carry the load. It would also be good for the brand if the #GodErtz package stepped up.