RADIO
Justin's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 4 of 2025. He looks at surprising performances from Jordan Mason, DeVonta Smith, Travis Etienne Jr., Jaylen Warren, Hunter Henry.
Making sense of big performances from players who, for a variety of reasons, weren't expected to have huge games in Week 3 is an important task for fantasy managers who want to decide how to move forward regarding certain players.
We can see what seems like millions of examples of players having big games that didn't end up being breakouts. We just saw one. Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tory Horton, a rookie, scored 18.2 PPR fantasy points in Week 3 and followed that up with 2.0 in Week 4.
It's an extreme example, and of a first-year player, but this also happens to veteran players, so it's worth diving into if you're making tough start and sit decisions in Week 4, of if you're just curious if you should trade for a player and expect continued good production. So let's dive in!
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) rankings
- Quarterback (QB) rankings
- Tight end (TE) rankings
- Defense (D/ST) rankings
- Kicker (K) rankings
- FLEX rankings
- Dynasty rankings
Jordan Mason, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Week 3 stats: 16 carries, 116 yards, two touchdowns, 23.6 PPR fantasy points
Mason's role as the clear lead back and workhorse for the Vikings paid off in a big way in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mason averaged nearly 7.3 yards per carry, Minnesota's offensive line blocked very well, and the former 49er showed great power and ability to break tackles.
It appears that he'll end up being a true gem of the middle rounds of the draft -- at least while fellow Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. (hamstring) remains out with his hamstring injury. Jones is on Injured Reserve, meaning he'll have to miss at least three more contests.
Jordan Mason's vision is superb pic.twitter.com/i2gNNRFnED
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 25, 2025
Mason is a good running back. Last year, with the San Francisco 49ers, he was a good running back stuck behind another good running back (Christian McCaffrey, when he was healthy) that dealt with injury issues. This year, he's healthy, the team's RB1 and primary rusher, and still very good.
While he's not a PPR machine, he is on a good offense with a good offensive line and good coaching. He's the real deal.
Verdict: Champ - Always Has Been
DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 3 stats: nine targets, eight catches, 60 yards, one touchdown, 20.0 PPR fantasy points
In the first game that a team actually managed to put pressure on the Eagles by building a lead, quarterback Jalen Hurts finally threw the ball often, and down the field, and propelled both Smith and WR A.J. Brown to excellent fantasy performances.
Smith is very talented, and though he's his team's WR2, he can easily put up similar numbers as Brown. Everything, and I mean everything, depends on the game script Philadelphia faces. When they can build and maintain a lead, they hardly pass the ball, instead opting to control it and prevent turnovers while grinding down the game clock.
DEVONTA SMITH#Eaglespic.twitter.com/uJxCr9cHIf
— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) September 21, 2025
In games where Hurts has to actually pass, it seems that both Smith and Brown will be heavily involved, and the presence of Brown doesn't preclude Smith from getting plenty of work. Hopefully this continues moving forward. It doesn't make sense to heavily feed Dallas Goedert.
But in games with positive schematic matchups for Goedert against bad offenses, things could be pretty ugly. I imagine against the New York Giants, in Week 6, Philly could get away with barely passing the ball and still win. Smith is good, but he's limited in some games by awful, awful pass volume.
Verdict: Heavily Matchup-Dependent Champ
Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 3 stats: 16 carries, 56 yards, one touchdown, 3.5 yards per carry, 11.6 PPR fantasy points
While it was commonly thought that Etienne would be heavily used as a receiver this season with Jacksonville, we haven't seen a major pass-catching role materialize. And though the team traded away his former backup, Tank Bigsby, rookie back Bhayshul Tuten has still been getting some high-value touches.
Tuten rushed for a touchdown, though he did carry the ball only six times and also didn't log a catch. As the season goes on, we should expect Tuten to get more involved, and within a few weeks, he could force a pretty even committee split in this backfield.
RBs in 2025 by Missed Tackles Forced per touch:
1. Kendre Miller (0.45) (!)
2. Rachaad White (0.43)
3. Jaylen Warren (0.33)
5. Bhayshul Tuten (0.32)
6. Kyle Monangai (0.31) (?)
...
26. Travis Etienne (0.18)
32. Josh Jacobs (0.16)
...
45. TreVeyon Henderson (0.10)— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 22, 2025
Etienne's ability to elude tacklers has been significantly worse than Tuten's. The film shows Tuten being clearly more elusive, and playing with great power. Add in the rookie's elite athleticism and it makes sense that he's likely carving out a bigger role for himself.
It doesn't help that fellow rookie LeQuint Allen Jr. is taking a lot of third-down work, mainly serving as a pass-protector. That limits Etienne's snaps even further. While it does help that the Jaguars have, in general, been a much better rushing team under new head coach Liam Coen, it's hard to imagine Etienne repeating his Week 1 performance.
Jacksonville Jaguars Rush Yards per Game:
2024 - 101.7 (25th in the NFL)
2025 - 141.7 (5th in NFL)
Bhayshul Tuten is in a very nice environment to absolutely explode at some point this season. Should be rostered in 100% of leagues
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 23, 2025
I'd be selling Etienne. I definitely do not see a ton of upside in the second half of the season, and though he might have a few more good games, it's better to get out too early rather than too late. A Tuten injury might be the only thing that could change this.
Verdict: More Champ than Chump now (more Chump than Champ around midseason)
Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 3 stats: 18 rushes 47 yards, 2.6 yards per carry, six targets, five catches, 34 yards
For starters, Warren (knee) is dealing with a knee issue, but he's at least expected to play in Week 4 anyway. Regardless, he's been his team's primary rusher through three games, as the rookie RB Kaleb Johnson experiment has gotten off to a catastrophic start.
Warren's snaps and touches have increased each week, and he totaled 24 opportunities in Week 3. It appears that Pittsburgh knows he's their best back. Not like he has much competition. That said, they likely didn't plan for Johnson to have zero impact this year.
Is Jaylen Warren a legit Top 3 RB after this?
He is going NUCLEAR 👀🔥
— MetcalfBurgh 🫡 (@PickensBurgh) September 14, 2025
I don't think Warren is going nuclear. The underlying efficiency stats are impressive, though. For multiple seasons now, Warren has been very elusive and shows nice burst. But Pittsburgh has very poor run-blocking, and often he doesn't have much space to even get past the line of scrimmage.
He's a fine player to start for now, but the Steelers have a bad offense and a poor defense and it's been tough sledding for him. He's held back by his situation.
Verdict: More Champ than Chump
Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots
Week 3 stats: 11 targets, eight catches, 90 yards, two touchdowns, 29.0 PPR fantasy points
It's likely that Henry will be started in the vast majority of leagues in Week 4, considering how tough it is to find good production at the TE position. Henry had a monster game in Week 3, topping all tight ends in PPR points scored.
Henry is the Patriots No. 1 TE, and has already clearly built chemistry with quarterback Drake Maye. But just a week ago, he had only one catch for nine yards on three targets. If Henry truly is the team's best receiving threat and a great TE, games like that shouldn't happen, right?
tidy ball placement from Drake Maye on the Seam to Hunter Henry pic.twitter.com/T1hhiKecZj
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 7, 2025
I think that quarterback Drake Maye, the Patriots first-round draft selection in 2024, has been playing fantastic football. But he tends to spread the ball around heavily to his pass-catchers, and it's been difficult for any of them to have consistent upside.
When it comes to tight ends, though, you're really scrabbling for whatever food you can in a gigantic wasteland of a desert, to speak metaphorically. Henry will likely continue to have volatility, but he seems to have a nice ceiling and the potential for multiple more double-digit PPR point scoring games, so he should be started.
Verdict: More Champ than Chump
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 4 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Jordan Mason, DeVonta Smith, Travis Etienne Jr., Jaylen Warren, Hunter Henry. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 4. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 4 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Jordan Mason, DeVonta Smith, Travis Etienne Jr., Jaylen Warren, Hunter Henry. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 4.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 4 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 4 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 4 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 4 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Jordan Mason, DeVonta Smith, Travis Etienne Jr., Jaylen Warren, Hunter Henry to others:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
