This is a weekly article that covers a sneaky player from each of the skill positions in fantasy football for each week of the season. The goal is simple: to give you insight on players that would normally be bench warmers or reluctant starters, who have the potential to be game winners this week. This is meant for standard, non-PPR leagues. Note: these are players with high upside that you should play in a pinch, not preferred every week starts.

I was out of town last weekend without access to a computer and as such missed out on posting an article for week 3. I will still go over the results of my picks from week 2 and cover my new picks for week 4. So enough of the explaining and onward to the content!

QB

Andy Dalton — Sneaky Start of the Week —

The Red Rifle had about as bad of a start to his NFL season as a QB could pull off – throwing for zero touchdowns through the first two weeks with four total interceptions. Many players likely dropped him after the second poor performance, leaving him on the wavier wire. After a near mutiny from the Bengals in week 2, the offensive coordinator Ken Zampese was fired and replaced by Bill Lazor. The change in offensive play was encouraging. In week 3, Dalton finally connected with AJ Green for a TD and threw 2 total TDs throughout the game. Joe Mixon also began to be featured in a more consistent role and finally seemed to find a rhythm, which helped open up options for Dalton. Just two short seasons ago, Dalton looked primed to step into the ranks of the top-tier QBs before missing the end of the season with a hand injury. He is unlikely to reach such heights during this season, but that doesn’t stop him from being a high-value streamer in the right situation, like this week.

Dalton has the pleasure of facing the Browns in week 4. The Brown’s DB group has been lackluster at best. Weeks 1 and 2 they allowed multiple TDs to Ben Roethlisburger in an away game (Ben normally performs sub-par when away from home) and to Joe Flacco, who just got completely shut out by the Jaguars. Week 3, the Browns played against the Colts, who they were actually favored to win against in what projected as a low scoring game. Instead, they gave up a long bomb TD and a rushing TD to Jacoby Brissett in his second week ever starting for his new team. Give Dalton another shot in the right situation and start him this week over other QBs in rough matchup situations like Ben Roethlisburger playing away at Baltimore and Alex Smith at Washington.

Week 2 sneaky start recap: Jared Goff – 224 passing yards, 1 rush yard, 1 passing TD, 1 interception. Goff was fairly average this week. He looked solid overall but faced constant pressure and didn’t make much happen in those situations. However, he played very well week 3 and may turn into a regular 12-team starter by some point this season.

RB

Chris Carson

Similar to how the Bengals offense finally started to find their footing last week, the Seahawks offense also finally showed up with 27 points against the Titans in an away game. In that game, Carson caught a receiving TD from Russel Wilson but rushed for just 39 total yards. The final score was solid enough but the rushing production likely has fantasy players worried. These concerns are merited, as Seattle has arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL and it has been rendering the running game ineffective. While Carson is likely in FLEX consideration in most leagues, I’m here to assert that at least for this week, you should play him as an RB2 with confidence.

In week 3, Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls combined for 0 rushes and just a couple snaps. CJ Prosise had four total rushes for an unimpressive 9 yards, although he was heavily involved in the passing game. Prosise is currently injured (again) and unlikely to play this week. This backfield will belong to Chris Carson in a game the Seahawks are heavily favored to win at home against the Colts. The score is likely to skew quickly towards the Seahawk’s favor and in this case they will want to run out the clock as the defense controls the game. For that, they’ll rely on Carson who should at least match last week’s 13 total touches as the unquestioned workhorse back. He has also been efficient in the passing game, catching 4 out of 5 targets through the first 3 games. Expect him to get even more involved in that aspect of the offense this week with Prosise out. This offense looks stronger with him as the starter. Play Carson with confidence as a high-floor RB2 and with the opportunity and situation he’s in he could easily become a week winner.

Week 2 sneaky start recap: Terrance West – 8 rushes for 22 yards, 2 receptions for 23 yards, 1 rushing TD. I was bailed out on this prediction thanks to the TD but West was injured early in the game which might explain his low number of touches. He was the first man up but the Ravens dominated all game and Javorious Allen took the majority of the snaps. This trend may continue ROS because of Allen’s ability to show up in the passing game.

WR

Kenny Stills

Stills is a player that is likely on most waiver wires this week. While this makes sense, for week 4 he is a sneaky play with some amazing upside. People forget that Stills caught a team-high 10 TDs last season, with the majority of them coming on deep plays. In two weeks worth of games he has already caught a downfield TD from Jay Cutler, who is known for his gunslinger tendencies. This week the Dolphins are playing the Saints. CB Marcus Lattimore has been surprisingly good at locking down opposing top receivers when healthy and he will likely be covering Davante Parker for the majority of this game. The rest of the saints DB group is awful. As a unit, they’ve allowed three total touchdowns and 183+ yards to WRs twice in 3 games. They have only been successful against an injured Cam Newton and his weak group of pass catchers (with Benjamin injured early and no Greg Olsen) which has boosted their stats artificially.

This opens up an opportunity for Stills as a world-class deep threat to make one or more big plays this week and to be more involved than usual. It’s also worth noting that he received ten (ineffective) targets last week. While I wouldn’t play him over more established WR1s and WR2s, I think he is a smart start over players in iffy situations like Jeremy Maclin at Pittsburgh or Martavis Bryant at Baltimore.

Update: Stills has what appears to be a minor hand injury and was limited in practice on Wednesday. If for some reason this keeps him out of game or is projected to severely limit him, then please disregard this entry. As a backup, I’d recommend Nelson Agholor for those in a desperate enough situation to play him. The Chargers have been garbage at defending slot/secondary receivers this year, giving up big games to Bennie Fowler and Landry/Stills. Agholor and Ertz should feast. Once again, this is only if you are looking for a FLEX play in a deep league.

Week 2 sneaky start recap: Cooper Kupp – 3 receptions for 33 yards. I was bullish on Kupp but he was shockingly double teamed or covered by Josh Norman on the majority of plays I saw. He fell over on a redzone target that would likely have been a TD but managed to catch it on the ground. It will be interesting to see if the increased coverage from opposing defense continues in the future and it may open up opportunities for Goff to exploit coverage.

TE

Cameron Brate (again)

So I was very wrong about the Brate call from week 2 (see results below). Still, I’m a glutton for punishment and here I am again, making the same call. In week 3 he was very productive, catching all four of his valuable targets for 33 yards and a TD. This week he plays the Giants, who have a solid run and pass defense. However, they can’t seem to guard against pass catching TEs – allowing 1 TD to the position in each of their first 3 games and allowing an average of 55 total yards. Consider this as a week where the Buccaneers are likely to target Brate heavily in the red zone. With Brate (and most other TEs this season) you are hoping for a TD to elevate his point total and this is a prime opportunity to catch one.

He is a fine streamer for those dealing with what appears to be a TE apocalypse this season. I’d start him over the hot waiver wire TE flavor of the week, Evan Engram, who will be playing in the same game but has a much tougher matchup against the Buccaneers. Brate will eventually be a fade due to OJ Howard’s increasing involvement in the offense but it almost certainly won’t be this week since Howard was only targeted once last game.

Week 2 sneaky start recap: Cameron Brate – 2 receptions for 23 yards. This was rough, as the Buccaneers destroyed the Bears and defaulted to the running game for most of the matchup.

Well with that we’re done with week 4’s sneaky starts! I hope this article will help make some tough decisions easier for you come Sunday. Another article will be up no later than Saturday night next week for fantasy football week 5.

By Alexander Murphy

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