Fantasy Football Warning Signals For Week 4: Carson Wentz, Darrell Henderson, Justin Jefferson

September 30, 2022

Fantasy football start/sit picks for players with warning signals going into Week 4 (2022). NFL players who have struggled recently and may be worth benching.

Week 3 was crazy. There was a glimpse of Kyle Pitts, and Tom Brady versus Aaron Rodgers combined for 26 points. Cooper Kupp's only score came from rushing the ball. But don't stress, we got you.

You are counting on your lineup decisions to lead to your fantasy team's success. You want to either keep your success going or turn your team around right now. Monitoring the matchups to make sure there are no warning signals is vital to your success.

Key players can have problems depending on their matchups. We cannot ignore the warning signals of bad matchups. If we keep rostering underperforming players, it will end up with more losses than wins, and nobody wants that. Here is a look at some players you should think twice about putting in your lineup in Week 4.

Quarterback Concerns - Sit 'Em for Week 4?

Carson Wentz, Washington

To call Wentz 'popular' is a slight hedge. However, he scored 27.72 fantasy points in Week 1 and 27.28 fantasy points in Week 2, so there was optimism. And then Week 3 happened.

The narrative could be that he played his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles. They held him to 25 completions on 43 attempts, finishing with 211 passing yards, zero touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He had three carries for 22 yards. And oh yeah, he was sacked nine times, had two fumbles, and finished with a 71.0 QBR. He finished with 18 fantasy points.

What To Do

Ryan Tannehill is available and is rostered in 15.6% of ESPN leagues. Not counting the game against the Buffalo Bills (because he scored only 0.88 fantasy points), Tannehill has scored 19.34 (against the New York Giants) and 18.76 (against the Las Vegas Raiders) fantasy points.

Last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, he threw for 264 yards with one passing touchdown and one interception. He also added one rushing touchdown on four rushing attempts.

This week, the Titans play the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to the quarterback position (28.5).

Running Back Concerns - Sit 'Em for Week 4?

Darrell Henderson, Cam Akers, Los Angeles Rams

I feel like this is a cheat sheet. But this situation is volatile to your fantasy well-being. Henderson played the majority of snaps in the first half in Week 3. He had four rushes for 17 yards. Akers had two rushes for one yard. In the second half, Akers had the majority of reps. He had 10 rushes for 60 yards and a touchdown. He also had the goal-line fumble that let Arizona back into the game.

So, who will be the RB1 in this backfield? Akers looked better in the second half but fumbled the ball in a crucial situation. They both were on the field for 24 offensive snaps. Akers finished with 12 rushes for 61 yards and a touchdown with zero targets, while Henderson finished with four rushes for 17 yards and one target.

The week before, Henderson had 10 rushes for 47 yards and a touchdown but zero targets, while Akers had 15 rushes for 44 yards (2.9 average) and three targets.

In this running back-by-committee, situation warning signs point to unpredictable fantasy production.

What To Do

In Week 3, David Montgomery went out with an ankle/knee injury in the first quarter. Speculation is he will be out for at least four to six weeks. Khalil Herbert is his replacement. Herbert is rostered in 25.2% of ESPN leagues. If he is available in your league, stop reading and go. Get him now.

Herbert has 240 rushing yards and three touchdowns in three games. Last week when he came in to replace Montgomery, he had 157 yards on 20 rushing attempts. He averaged 7.9 yards per carry and had two targets and two receptions for 12 yards.

When Montgomery was out last season, Herbert averaged 23.3 touches per game.

For a little more incentive, the Chicago Bears have the second most rushing attempts per game (34.7) and the most rushing play percentage (65.41%).

Wide Receivers Concerns - Sit 'Em For Week 4?

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Remember when we were all giddy about the 30.4 fantasy football points Jefferson scored for us in Week 1? It seems longer, doesn't it? In Week 2 against Darius Slay, Jefferson scored 4.8 fantasy points. He had 12 targets, six receptions, zero touchdowns, and averaged four yards per target.

Last week against Jeff Okudah, he was targeted six times for three receptions, 14 yards, and zero touchdowns. He averaged 2.3 yards per target and finished with 1.4 fantasy points.

Both Philadelphia and Detroit have seemingly found answers for controlling Jefferson. Detroit did it with shadow coverage and a high Safety playing over the top. Against the Philadelphia Eagles, Darius Slay lined up against Jefferson on 36.2% of his routes. Per Pro Football Focus, Slay had six targets in primary coverage against Jefferson. He allowed one catch for seven yards, two interceptions, and two dropped interceptions.

While this may be good for Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn until Minnesota figures out how to move Jefferson to get open, be warned he will have more bad fantasy days.

In Week 4, the Vikings play the New Orleans Saints (and Marshon Lattimore) in London, England. You can't sit Jefferson with the draft capital you spent on him. Just be warned, his finish could be more like Weeks 2 or 3 than Week 1.

What To Do

Green Bay Packers rookie receiver Romeo Doubs is rostered in 16.1% of ESPN leagues. He leads the team in targets (16), receptions (14), yards (137), and offensive snaps (115). He has 14 receptions, 137 yards, and a touchdown in his first three games.

In Week 3, Allen Lazard was on the field for 90.33% of the offensive snaps, and Doubs for 88.71% of the offensive snaps. Lazard ran 32 routes seeing six targets, while Doubs ran 34 routes with eight targets. Doubs finished the game with a team-leading eight receptions and 73 yards. Both he and Lazard had one touchdown.

Don't be worried about the narrative of Rodgers not trusting his rookie wide receivers, Doubs has an 84.54% catch rate. Rodgers believes in him.

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