Week 4 Fantasy Football position previews
BOSTON -- The first quarter(ish) of the NFL season is coming to a close, and fantasy football games are starting to take on some pretty heavy meaning. Sure, it's early, but you want to be stacking up wins and points right now.
For this week's fantasy football position preview/rankings, we turn to CBS Sports fantasy expert Chris Towers, who breaks it all down for fantasy owners as they head into an important week.
Quarterbacks
Buffalo's Josh Allen (@ Baltimore), Baltimore's Lamar Jackson (vs. Buffalo), Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts (vs. Jacksonville), Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes (@ Tampa Bay), and Arizona's Kyler Murray (@ Carolina) make up Towers' top quarterback plays this weekend.
Jackson is going up against a tough -- but beat up -- Bills defense this weekend. But it's impossible not to play the QB after he tore up the Patriots and Dolphins in back-to-back weeks.
"There are shades of 2019 in how Jackson is playing to open this season, and we've seen him sustain elite efficiency for a full season before, so I'm not so quick to write off his strong start," writes Towers. "He won't sustain 8.5 yards per attempt or an 11.4% touchdown rate, but he could absolutely be among the league leaders in both regards. This is a tough matchup, but there's obviously no way you consider sitting him."
Just outside the Top 5 sit Cincinnati's Joe Burrow (vs. Miami) and Tampa's Tom Brady (vs. Kanas City). Neither have been very good fantasy quarterbacks to start the year, but Towers says they could be good buy-low options at this point in the season.
A little closer to home in Sunday's Patriots-Packers matchup, Aaron Rodgers ranks No. 14 while Brian Hoyer -- who will likely start in place of the injured Mac Jones -- is the last QB ranked on the list.
Click here to read Towers' full quarterback preview for Week 4.
Running Backs
Indianapolis' Jonathan Taylor (vs. Tennessee), New York Giants Saquon Barkley (vs. Chicago), Carolina's Christian McCaffrey (vs. Arizona), L.A. Chargers Austin Ekeler (@ Houston), and Cleveland's Nick Chubb (@ Atlanta) are Towers' Top 5 plays at running back. It seems like all that talk of a lighter workload for Taylor has gone out the window in Indy.
"The Colts talked a big game about not wanting to run Taylor into the ground this offseason, but he's played at least 74% of the snaps in each of the first three games and has been used a decent amount in the passing game," writes Towers. "Those are all good things, and reason to be optimistic that his weirdly ineffective start won't continue."
If you were hoping to add a Patriots running back this weekend, Towers would advisee against it, ranking Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson at Nos. 32 and 33, respectively.
"With Rhamondre Stevenson basically playing Harris to a draw as a runner and taking on the bulk of the passing work, Harris is back to being a touchdown-or-bust running back. And he's on an offense led by Brian Hoyer for at least the next few weeks, with an implied total in Caesars Sportsbook's line of just 14.75 for the week. So, yeah, Harris isn't really a recommended play, even against a matchup that isn't terrible," he wrote.
Click here to read Towers' full running back preview for Week 4.
Wide Receiver
Topping the wide receiver list this week is L.A. Rams Cooper Kupp (@ San Francisco) -- because he always tops the wide receiver list -- followed by Buffalo's Stefon Diggs (@ Baltimore), Minnesota's Justin Jefferson (@ New Orleans), Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase (vs. Miami), and Las Vegas' Davante Adams (vs. Denver).
Towers also likes Miami's top two pass-catchers -- Tyreek Hill at No. 8 and Jaylen Waddle at No. 13 -- to have big games in a likely shootout against the Bengals.
With Mac Jones likely out, you have to go to the bottom of the list to find a Patriots receiver, with DeVante Parker sitting at No. 58 for Week 4.
Click here to read Towers' full wide receiver preview for Week 4.
Tight End
Kanas City's Travis Kelce (@ Tampa Bay), Baltimore's Mark Andrews (@ Buffalo), Atlanta's Kyle Pitts (vs. Cleveland), Las Vegas' Darren Waller (vs. Denver) and San Francisco's George Kittle (vs. L.A. Rams) are Towers' Top 5 tight end plays this week. He says not to worry about Kittle's low production in his Week 3 return from a groin injury.
"It's worth noting that, at least for me, the primary concern for Kittle is gone. Trey Lance's season-ending injury brings some certainty to the 49ers offense – Jimmy Garoppolo may not be great, but we know he's good enough to get the most out of Kittle," writes Towers. "Kittle averaged 76.4 yards per game from 2018 through 2021, primarily with Garoppolo as his QB. As bad as Garoppolo looked Monday, I'm not really worried about that part of things."
Click here to read Towers' full tight end preview for Week 4.