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John's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 4 of 2025. His fantasy football outlooks for Tony Pollard, Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Rhamondre Stevenson, Nick Chubb.
Not every starting running back in the NFL is an absolute must-start in fantasy leagues, unfortunately. Sometimes it's due to a lack of talent. It can also be the fault of the team surrounding a specific player.
Football is a team sport, and though many running backs might be highly talented, they could languish for much of their careers on teams with poor offensive rosters and plenty of coaching turnover.
Sometimes, players simply aren't who we think they are. They might have one or two solid seasons before seeing big fall-offs in their production. So let's dive into five RBs in the RB2/RB3 conversation and make start or sit decisions for them all!
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Tony Pollard, RB, Tennessee Titans
Pollard fits into the class of players who have proven that they have significant talent, but unfortunately, simply play on bad teams. Gone are the days when running backs can be given massive volume on bad teams and still put up amazing fantasy numbers, seemingly. We all wish Pollard could be like Steven Jackson, I guess.
Instead, we've seen very poor rushing efficiency from the former Dallas Cowboy. Pollard has the unfortunate displeasure of playing behind a bad offensive line on a poor offense with terrible quarterback play. Teams are simply not scared of Tennessee's passing game.
really nice cut by Tony Pollard pic.twitter.com/1YIkwqViKc
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 23, 2025
Pollard clearly still has plenty of juice, can be elusive when given opportunities to do so, and is, overall, a good running back. But the stalled drives, turnovers, punts due to quarterback sacks, and overall poor scheming make it hard for him to get consistent opportunities.
The Titans are one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the NFL. They've scored just 17 points per game, fifth-worst in the NFL, and quarterback Cam Ward's struggles are evident. To make matters worse, Pollard simply doesn't have a big receiving role right now, as Ward has thus far been reluctant to throw short passes to his RBs.
Tony Pollard reception numbers the last few seasons...
2024, Weeks 1-12 (before injury):
3.86 targets/game, 2.79 receptions/game, 16.79 rec yards/game2025:
2 tgts/gm, 1 rec/gm, 14.3 yds/game4.47 PPR PPG/game from catches in 2024 -> 2.43 in 2025
Not fun
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 27, 2025
Pollard thus has lower efficiency, less likelihood to get touchdowns, and fewer points from receptions in all league scoring formats than he did last season. It's not very fun. But it's hard to bench him considering his role. He gets a middling matchup with the Houston Texans next.
He needs to get more work in the receiving game at least, though, for him to be viable as more than a low-upside flex, for now.
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs' running back situation is absolutely miserable for fans, fantasy managers, and the team alike. Kansas City is one of the NFL's worst teams at running the ball. They struggle to force missed tackles and are highly inefficient.
Pacheco has been forced into an ugly committee backfield with a fellow RB, who will be mentioned later. Through three games, that role has netted him a total of 14.5 PPR fantasy points. He's the RB51 overall in PPR fantasy leagues right now. Safe to say that's absolutely awful.
Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt one of the worst running back duos in the NFL. They rank:
-RB24 and RB27 in YPC
-Both tied for last with 0 explosive rushes
-RB26 and RB36 in Missed Tackles/AttCan't create big plays, can't score TDs, aren't elusive, and aren't efficient.
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 23, 2025
Pacheco is averaging under 3.7 yards per carry, has yet to score a touchdown, and has caught just four passes so far this season. Nothing about his role indicates that he'll be a good fantasy asset down the road. While the excuse for him last season was that he was recovering from his broken leg, that's no longer the case.
There doesn't seem to be much hope for him. It doesn't seem that he'll take a commanding lead in the backfield touches, as his role seems pretty well-defined now. Even against the New York Giants, a soft rushing defense, he managed just 5.8 PPR fantasy points.
Andy Reid: Let me scheme up a great play to isolate Josh Simmons on the left side as a lead blocker to get a touchdown
Isiah Pacheco: Nah I'm good pic.twitter.com/YIKgptv58c
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 6, 2025
Pacheco's vision is not good. He usually charges into the open hole in front of him and runs with little patience, even when Reid schemes up good plays for him to potentially score. I don't see much reason to start Pacheco anymore.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Hunt was signed off the street last season after Pacheco's injury. Since then, he's been one of the least efficient RBs in the league. His elusiveness is sorely lacking, and he's in a nasty committee split of the backfield work that prevents him from at least being a solid play due to ridiculous volume.
Chiefs RB situation 🧵 (data via @FantasyPtsData)
You might think Kareem Hunt is the clear RB2 in KC. Yet in 2024, Hunt logged:-3.64 YPC (RB43 of 46 with 100+ rushes)
-1.5% of rushes > 15+ yds (2nd-last)
-0.08 MTF/Att (dead last)
-1.99 YACon/Att (2nd-last)(cont. below)
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) May 25, 2025
Hunt, like Pacheco, can be parked on benches. It would probably take an injury to one to make the other fantasy viable. Even then, you'd have to hope that Reid didn't start giving more touches to explosive rookie Brashard Smith, who I think would be a nice PPR player to have on fantasy rosters when he starts getting more touches.
I don't recommend starting Hunt.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots
Stevenson is a solid running back. The big issue with him is that he struggles to hang on to the ball. Fumbling issues caused him to lose work to backup RB Antonio Gibson last season, and they reared their ugly heads yet again in Week 3. Stevenson lost two fumbles in Week 3.
#Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson on HC Mike Vrabel sticking with him:
“I’m glad he still trusts me in a way. My teammates trust me in a way. But it’s up to me to have 100% ball security from here on out.”
Stevenson says he feels confident heading into Week 4.
(✍️ @kguregian) pic.twitter.com/WlzKNoFZ9r
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) September 26, 2025
After seasons of two, four, and one fumble to start his career, Stevenson fumbled seven times in 2024 and is on pace to put the ball on the ground 11 times this year. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel indicated that Stevenson wouldn't lose work due to those issues, but it wouldn't be surprising if he took a back seat to someone else.
Rookie back TreVeyon Henderson seems to be in line to get more touches, which could render Stevenson not useful in fantasy. I'm fine starting him in deep leagues as a flex -- otherwise, I'd look elsewhere.
Nick Chubb, RB, Houston Texans
Through three weeks, Chubb has logged between 50 and 55 percent of his team's offensive snaps each week. While he had a solid game in Week 2, logging 15.2 PPR fantasy points, he's been held to single digits in the other two. Last week, he had just nine carries for 38 yards and no touchdowns.
He's been used sparingly as a receiver -- last week, he had three catches for just two yards, so it makes sense. His backup, rookie Woody Marks, saw seven touches, displaying similar rushing efficiency. Marks also had a 37-yard catch in Week 2 after very little volume in Week 1.
Nick Chubb bouncing off defenders 😤
HOUvsLAR on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/sqfevq8VBQ
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
You're pretty much out of luck if Chubb doesn't score a touchdown, it seems. While RB Joe Mixon (foot/ankle) remains unable to play, the committee split between Chubb and Marks isn't one that will make either of them useful in fantasy unless the RBs start getting a ton of targets.
It seems that it would be Marks who would get the receiving work before Chubb.
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 Tony Pollard, Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Rhamondre Stevenson, Nick Chubb. 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 - Tony Pollard, Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Rhamondre Stevenson, Nick Chubb. 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 Tony Pollard, Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Rhamondre Stevenson, Nick Chubb to others:
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