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Bruno's Week 4 college fantasy football sleepers and streamers for 2026. Find lineup options including Michael Hawkins Jr., CJ Baxter, and Chris Durr Jr.
By Week 4, the easy sleepers are getting harder to find. Three full Saturdays have pushed several early breakouts out of this column entirely, either because their Yahoo roster rates climbed too high or because the role underneath the production did not hold up.
The players still available now need more than one interesting box score. That makes this week a little different from the first three. We have enough actual football to care less about what August depth charts promised and more about who is getting carries, targets, and quarterback work when games stay competitive.
Conference play is also taking over more of the schedule, which gives us better information than another afternoon of a Power Four favorite emptying the bench. The goal has not changed. These are players who can reasonably go into a Week 4 lineup, not deep stashes or names to revisit later.
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Week 4 College Fantasy Football Quarterback Sleepers
Michael Hawkins Jr., West Virginia (15% rostered)
Hawkins was an upside play when he appeared here in Week 1. There is much less guesswork now.
He accounted for all five West Virginia touchdowns in the 38-27 upset of Virginia, throwing for 190 yards and two scores while running 18 times for 123 yards and three more touchdowns.
Through three games, Hawkins has only 38 pass attempts, but he has already rushed 44 times for 322 yards and six scores. That is the part of his game carrying the fantasy value.
Oklahoma State comes to Morgantown in Week 4. Hawkins has played his way from streamer territory into a quarterback you can start without needing a big passing day.
AIRBORNE TOUCHDOWN @mikehawkinsj ✈️
📺 ACC Network
WVU 7, UVA 7 || 1st Q, 4:09
— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) September 19, 2026
Keelon Russell, Alabama (41% rostered)
Russell finally got the kind of game that asked Alabama to keep leaning on its quarterback, and he delivered. The sophomore completed 23 of 30 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns against Florida State, then added 56 rushing yards and another score.
Alabama trailed early, kept throwing, and Russell responded with the best performance of his young season. South Carolina is next after giving up 41 points to Mississippi State in its SEC opener. The Gamecocks also allowed Kamario Taylor to throw four touchdown passes.
Russell still has some week-to-week volatility, but that matters less in a home matchup where we have already seen both the passing ceiling and enough rushing ability to add another scoring path.
Noah Fifita, Arizona (6% rostered)
Fifita was nearly perfect against Northern Illinois. He completed 31 of 34 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns, then added a 30-yard rushing score as Arizona pulled away for a 42-17 win.
Official Arizona statistics have him at 834 passing yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception through three games while completing better than 81% of his attempts. He has also attempted at least 30 passes in every game.
Arizona heads to Washington State on Saturday, and Fifita does not need a rushing-heavy profile to make sense here.
The Wildcats are consistently putting the offense on his arm, and Week 3 showed how quickly that volume can turn into a huge fantasy line when the touchdowns arrive.
Week 4 College Fantasy Football Running Back Sleepers
CJ Baxter, Kentucky (20% rostered)
Baxter's first two games did not give us a workload worth chasing. Texas A&M did. Kentucky handed him 19 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-21 road upset, and he added a 28-yard reception for 115 total yards on 20 touches.
That performance came against the best opponent Kentucky has faced, which makes it more useful than a huge line in a September mismatch. South Alabama visits Lexington in Week 4. The Wildcats still have other backs they can use, so calling Baxter a workhorse would be premature.
We do not need to. Nineteen carries in a competitive SEC game are enough to put him into RB2 and FLEX consideration against a much softer opponent.
HOW ABOUT @c4era_ 😼
📺- ESPN
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 19, 2026
Matt Fuller, South Carolina (9% rostered)
Fuller's first two games came against Kent State and Towson, so the Mississippi State matchup was the important one. He passed that test even in a loss. Fuller carried 17 times for 73 yards and a touchdown, then caught all seven of his targets for 85 yards and another score.
He now has 38 carries for 272 yards and three rushing touchdowns through three games, along with eight receptions for 93 yards and a receiving score. Alabama is a difficult road assignment, and this is not a matchup recommendation. It is a workload recommendation.
Fuller had 24 offensive touches in South Carolina's first SEC game and can remain involved through the passing game if the Gamecocks spend Saturday chasing points.
Nolan James Jr., Notre Dame (10% rostered)
James did more than flash against Michigan State. Notre Dame officially credited him with 25 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown, easily his largest rushing workload of the season.
That still does not make this his backfield alone. Aneyas Williams remains involved, and Notre Dame's Week 4 depth chart lists Williams or James rather than naming one clear starter. The committee language matters, but so do 25 carries.
Notre Dame travels to Purdue in Week 4, and James has moved past speculative bench territory. Even without an uncontested RB1 job, he has enough recent usage to be started as a FLEX.
Week 4 College Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Sleepers
Chris Durr Jr., Maryland (34% rostered)
Durr is getting close to graduating from sleeper status, and the last two games explain why. He followed 10 catches for 103 yards against UConn with 12 receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia Tech.
Maryland noted that he became the program's first receiver this century with consecutive 10-catch games. Through three weeks, Durr has 28 receptions for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
UCLA visits College Park next. The touchdown total can swing from week to week, but 22 catches in two games are much harder to dismiss. Durr is earning enough volume to use as a WR3 without needing another multi-score afternoon to justify the start.
Justin Bowick, Oklahoma State (13% rostered)
Bowick's 178-yard eruption against Murray State will get most of the attention, but the Oregon game is what keeps this from being a one-week chase.
He caught five passes for 81 yards against the Ducks, then posted nine receptions for 178 yards and two touchdowns against Murray State.
Oklahoma State says all nine catches came in the first half before the Cowboys emptied the bench. Bowick now leads the team with 16 receptions, 281 receiving yards, and three scores.
The Cowboys travel to West Virginia for their Big 12 opener. We have already seen Bowick produce when Oklahoma State was overmatched and when it was dominating, which gives the role more credibility than the Week 3 box score alone.
.@DrewMestemaker ➡️ @justinbowickjr ➡️ 6⃣
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) September 19, 2026
Keenan Jackson, NC State (1% rostered)
Jackson is still available almost everywhere after doing something that is usually enough to erase a 1 percent roster rate. He followed four catches for 123 yards against Richmond with a career-high nine receptions for 102 yards and three touchdowns at Vanderbilt.
The three scores are not the part to project. Thirteen catches and 225 yards over the last two games are. NC State has also described Jackson as one of CJ Bailey's primary targets, and he has now gone over 100 receiving yards in consecutive games.
Appalachian State comes to Raleigh in Week 4. Jackson is exactly what this column is supposed to find: a genuinely available receiver with a role that can move directly into a WR3 or FLEX spot.
Week 4 College Fantasy Football Tight End Sleeper
Mark Bowman, USC (28% rostered)
Bowman did not repeat his Week 2 touchdown explosion at Rutgers, but the follow-up was useful because the role did not disappear.
The true freshman caught three passes for 32 yards after putting up six receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana.
USC's Week 4 notes highlighted Bowman's involvement again after the Rutgers game, and his nine catches over the past two games are meaningful at a position where widely available volume dries up quickly.
Oregon visits the Coliseum on Saturday. Bowman is not being recommended because we expect another two-touchdown game. He is being recommended because the receiving involvement survived the breakout, and 28% rostered still leaves him available in most Yahoo leagues.
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