Running Back Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Picks for Fantasy Football Week 4 (2026)

October 3, 2026

Bruno's Week 4 fantasy football RB start/sit picks for 2026. Get lineup advice for Braelon Allen, Alvin Kamara, RJ Harvey, and more.

Week 4 is where I start trusting September usage a little more than whatever we thought the backfields would look like in August. Three games is not a huge sample, but it is enough to spot a few jobs that are changing quickly.

That matters most in the RB2 and flex range. Some managers are deciding between a healthy back with an ugly matchup and a backup who suddenly has 15 touches sitting in front of him. That is usually a more useful question than telling anybody to start the obvious stars.

This week has a little of both. Breece Hall's injury created one of the clearest workload changes on the board, while a couple of other backs are getting harder to trust even though their names still look comfortable in a lineup.

Week 4 Starts - Potential Fantasy Football Booms

Braelon Allen - New York Jets at Chicago Bears

Braelon Allen did not need a great first three weeks to become interesting on Friday.

He needed Breece Hall to be ruled out.

That happened. Hall will miss Sunday's game with a quad injury, and Allen has taken the majority of the practice reps this week.

Isaiah Davis will get work too, but there is no reason to overthink which Jets back has the better shot at leading the rushing attack.

Allen has 19 carries for 61 yards through three games. Ten of those attempts came in the opener, when he ran for 40 yards. Since then, the rushing production has been pretty forgettable.

The situation is different now.

At 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, Allen is built for the early-down and short-yardage work New York suddenly needs somebody else to handle.

Chicago has also given up consecutive productive rushing games to individual backs. Aaron Jones Sr. ran for 105 yards against the Bears in Week 2, and Saquon Barkley followed with 82 last week.

first score of the season for Braelon Allen 💪
📺: #GBvsNYJ on FOX

— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 20, 2026

Allen sits at RB22 in RotoBaller's Week 4 rankings. I do not need him to replace everything Hall does.

Give him the first crack at the carries and goal-line work, and that is enough for me to use him as an RB2 or flex.

Alvin Kamara - New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons

I hate the matchup.

I still want Alvin Kamara in the flex.

Travis Etienne Jr. went on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, and Ian Rapoport reported Friday that Kamara is expected to "carry the load" while Etienne is out.

Kellen Moore has already pushed back on the idea that one back will do everything, so Kendre Miller is not disappearing.

That is fine. Kamara does not need 25 carries.

He has had nine rushing attempts in each of his two games since returning from the MCL sprain, totaling 51 yards.

The more useful number for fantasy has been six catches on seven targets during that stretch.

Atlanta is about as bad a rushing matchup as Kamara could draw.

The Falcons have allowed only 143 rushing yards through three games, the fewest in the league, while opponents are averaging 2.8 yards per carry against them.

So I am not betting on a rushing breakout Monday night.

I am betting on Etienne's missing touches finding their way mostly to Kamara and Miller, with Kamara having the better receiving path. He is RB27 in RotoBaller's Week 4 rankings.

In PPR, that is enough for me.

RJ Harvey - Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers

RJ Harvey has five carries all season.

That should make him an easy sit. It does not.

Harvey has played two games and already has 10 catches on 11 targets.

He caught four balls for 23 yards in the opener, missed Week 2 with a hamstring injury, then came back with six catches for 41 yards against the Rams.

Denver clearly has a use for him that has nothing to do with replacing J.K. Dobbins as the early-down runner.

Dobbins has 35 carries for 121 yards. Harvey has five carries for 24. Normally that gap would end the conversation, but Harvey's receiving role keeps dragging him back into it.

It also is not some brand-new trick. Harvey caught 47 passes for 356 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie.

RotoBaller has Harvey at RB28.

The site's broader Week 4 matchup analysis also identifies him as the better Denver back for PPR formats after San Francisco allowed nine catches to running backs last week.

I would not use Harvey in standard scoring unless the alternatives are rough. In PPR, though, I would rather bet on the catches than hope a touchdown saves another low-end flex.

Week 4 Concerns - Potential Fantasy Football Busts

Omarion Hampton - Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks

Fifteen carries sounds fine until you look at the rest of Omarion Hampton's Week 3 usage.

He played 42% of the snaps against Buffalo. Keaton Mitchell was at 38%, and Kimani Vidal was at 25%.

Hampton had 15 carries for 56 yards, but he ran only six routes and saw one target.

That passing-game part bothers me more than the rushing total.

Mitchell gave the Chargers more juice on his touches and finished with 52 rushing yards on eight carries, plus the team's only touchdown.

He was limited earlier in the week by an ankle issue, but practiced fully Friday and carries no game designation. That keeps the Week 3 committee concern very much alive.

keaton in the end zone 🔥

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) September 27, 2026

RotoBaller still has Hampton at RB25, so this is not a bench-him-for-anybody call.

Seattle has allowed only 13.9 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs, the sixth-fewest in the league.

The Seahawks held Jacory Croskey-Merritt to 36 yards on 19 carries last week and have yet to allow a rushing touchdown through three games.

If I have another legitimate flex, I am using it. The matchup is ugly, and Hampton's passing role disappeared at exactly the wrong time.

Javonte Williams - Dallas Cowboys at Houston Texans

Javonte Williams is the uncomfortable sit.

His role is good. Really good, actually.

Williams had 19 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown against Baltimore last week, added two catches, and has played about three-quarters of Dallas' offensive snaps this season.

That is usually the kind of profile I want nowhere near this section.

He is also RB18 in RotoBaller's Week 4 rankings, easily the highest-ranked sit in this article.

Houston is why I am willing to go there.

Opposing running backs have managed only 231 rushing yards against the Texans through three games and have not scored a rushing touchdown.

Houston is allowing just 0.47 fantasy points per opportunity to the position, the lowest mark in the league.

I am not calling Williams an automatic bench. With this workload, he is going to start for plenty of teams.

But if my roster actually gives me a choice between Williams and another solid RB2 or flex, I am willing to take the other side this week.

I would rather not make him beat one of the league's stingiest defenses against running backs just because last Sunday finally gave us the rushing line we wanted.

J.K. Dobbins - Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers

J.K. Dobbins has not had a fantasy touchdown all season.

That becomes a bigger problem when almost nothing is coming through the passing game.

Dobbins has 35 carries for 121 yards through three games. He caught his first pass of the season last week, a four-yard gain, so 35 of his 36 touches have been carries.

The volume climbed against the Rams. Denver gave him 17 attempts.

He turned them into 49 yards.

Harvey, meanwhile, was back in the passing-down role and caught six balls. Dobbins still owns the better rushing workload, but he has not played more than half of Denver's offensive snaps in any game.

That leaves him needing either better rushing efficiency or the touchdown that has not shown up yet.

RotoBaller has Dobbins at RB30, and another current RotoBaller review called him a matchup-based RB3 who can be benched against San Francisco.

I agree with that. The carries keep him rosterable and useful in deeper leagues. In a normal 12-team lineup, I would rather leave him on the bench until those carries start producing something more.

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 4 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players -- Braelon Allen, Alvin Kamara, Omarion Hampton, Javonte Williams.

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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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 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, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare, with 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 select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons, 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 (2026)?

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 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 4 for Braelon Allen, Alvin Kamara, Omarion Hampton, Javonte Williams: