Studs & Duds Week 4
My weekly Studs & Duds article is here! Its week 4 and there are tons of great matchups this week. I will pick some of my favorite players this week, who I believe could outperform where I have them ranked. As always I will also pick some Duds, who will be some players who could potentially disappoint. I did fairly well for my week 3 picks going 7 for 12 in my choices. Starting this week I'm going to go more in depth with my picks. I'll try to find those breakout guys, or the guys who we wouldn't have thought will disappoint. This could lead to more misses, but only time will tell.
STUDS:
QB: Andy Dalton- I like Dalton here a lot this week. Bad news for me is that I will be playing against him in about 5 leagues. He has a great matchup this week going up against the Atlanta Falcons. This Falcons defense has allowed 422 yards and 2.5 touchdowns on average, through the first 3 weeks. Andy Dalton averages about 287 yards and 2.5 touchdowns through the first 3 games and he could perform above his average this week. All of his weapons, other than Joe Mixon are healthy and have looked good. Dalton is going to need to pass a ton to keep up with this Falcons offense.
RB: Giovani Bernard- Along with being one of the worst pass defenses, the Falcons also aren't playing so hot against runningbacks. Last week they allowed Alvin Kamara to catch 15 passes on 20 targets...while allowing him to run 66 yards on the ground. The threat that Bernard has in the passing game should put him in the top 10 RB this week. He did fairly well against the Panthers last week, rushing for 61 yards and a touchdown. He also added 5 catches on 9 targets. He should have a monster game this Sunday.
RB: Carlos Hyde- He scored 2 TD's last week, and I think he scores one this week. I am buying into the Mayfield hype. He is going to electrify this offense, which will work wonders for Carlos Hyde. He got a huge workload last week getting 25 touches for 103 total yards. He had some really nice runs. His low yards per carry shouldn't be taken to critically, as a few of these rushes were in the redzone. Which we like a lot for fantasy. For some reason the Raiders are worse against the run on the road, than at home. They are the 6th worse against the run at home giving up 140 yards per game. This game is in Oakland and Hyde should be given every opportunity to shine.
WR: Sterling Shepard- When either OBJ or Even Engram are not playing, Shepard shines. Once Engram went down last week, Shepard gained about 50 yards and a TD. He could be pushing double digit targets while Engram is out. If Shepard sees a ton of Ken Crawley, he may score another TD this week. Crawley has been bad through three weeks. He has given up on average about 114 yards a game. He has also given up double digit fantasy points in all three games to the opposing WR. They may move Shepard around the formation but this would be a matchup to exploit all day long. The Saints are coming off a game where they allowed Matt Ryan to throw for 6 TD's. Not saying Manning can do that, but they will get their opportunities to score points.
WR: Allen Robinson- He hasn't shown his full potential in this offense so far this season, but I think that is more because of the QB play, rather than Robinson himself. He has had at least 7 targets in every game this season, with getting 14 in week 2. He has a 27% target share on this team and will continue to command the ball. He gets a great matchup this week going up against the Buccaneers, who are dead last in passing yards allowed per game. He may see a lot of Brent Grimes this week, who did not play so well in his first game. He got burned for 101 yards on 6 targets. This would be the matchup the Bears should exploit. I expect Robinson to make some noise this week.
TE-Austin Hooper: He is probably one of the better streaming options available in most leagues. The Bengals have been bad against the TE. They are they 4th worst giving up 75 yards a game to the TE position. He has real potential to get inside the top 10 this week. He is a big redzone threat and Ryan should be looking his way, as he has 3 endzone targets this year. He needs to run more routes but getting at least 4 targets a game could be promising. I'm expecting a higher volume game for Hooper.
DUDS:
QB: Dak Prescott- Don't start him. I wouldn't start him all year long, but this is one of the tougher matchups. The Lions are coming off a game where they completely shut down Tom Brady. They held him to only 133 yards passing yards and have a lot of energy coming into this game. They are the best team in the league against the pass, allowing only 152 yards per game. He has no weapons other than Zeke Elliot. He should finish outside the top 25 this week. You surely have better options.
RB: Dalvin Cook- It hurts me to write this because I am currently deciding whether or not I am starting him. Coming off a hamstring injury that sidelined him last week, I am nervous about his play. I have seen multiple reports about a snap count, but I hope it's not true. I hope I'm wrong in this pick, but he is a big risk play tonight. The Rams are a great defense, but they have a better pass defense than a run defense. If he isn't fully healthy in this game he won't be much of a factor. I am still looking for more updates on him.
RB: Kareem Hunt- I am worried about his outlook for PPR leagues. He gets an upgrade in standard but I don't see him getting much room against this defense. The Broncos are quietly the 4th best team in rushing yards per game. Now, like most of my misses a TD will change everything. I can see the Broncos actually staying somewhat in this game, so Mahomes could sling the ball all night long. He is getting the work, with at least 16 carries in each game, but he has only topped 50 yards rushing once this year. The way this offense works hurts Hunt's value.
WR: Chris Hogan- It's been a rough start of the season for Hogan. Something I completely missed on honestly. This weeks game won't be any easier for him. Hogan has 7 total catches and has not topped 50 yards in any game this season. It is very possible that Dolphins corner, Xavien Howard will be covering Hogan most of this game. He has been a surprising play for the Dolphins this season and has looked legit. He had two picks and only allowed 1 catch last week. Hogan will be in for a long day once again.
WR: Quincy Enunwa- He gets to go up against the stout Jaguars defense. He should see a lot of A.J. Bouye and even some Jalen Ramsey. I don't think the Jets will be able to do really anything against this defense. He is the main target in the offense and the Jags defense will play to that. He should get the targets to make this pick a miss but I just don't like his matchup against these Jaguars DBs.
TE: Jared Cook- This matchup against the Browns will be harder than most expect. Quietly, the Browns have allowed a total of 19.7 points to the TE position all year long. They have allowed 32 yards per game to TEs as well. They might have to attack the Browns differently this week. Cook has slowed down after his huge week one performance. He has had under 50 yards receiving the past two games. I don't expect Cook to be a big factor in this game.