NFL DFS DraftKings Week 4 Lineup Advice

NFL DFS DraftKings Week 4 Lineup Advice

Another week of NFL DFS is in the books! Week 4 roster construction is proving to be difficult to navigate, because with Kansas City playing Monday night, you can’t get just get by with squeezing as many Chiefs as possible into your lineup! My biggest piece of advice this week? Do your research, but trust your gut! The purpose of this article is to equip you with information that will help you formulate your NFL DFS lineups for Sunday. I share some of my favorite plays, along with some thoughts concerning a few other popular players as well. Be sure to follow me on Twitter  @BenMcD_Sports as I’ll be sharing updates to my top plays as more information is released closer to kickoff! Thanks for reading, NFL DFS DraftKings Week 4 Lineup Advice!

NFL DFS DraftKings: Quarterbacks

Drew Brees NO @ NYG $6,600

Amidst the Patrick Mahomes hysteria, did you know Brees has actually outscored the Kansas City gunslinger in 2 out of 3 games so far this season? Brees has also outpaced Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady in each of week of 2018, and yet, is still priced below them. NFL DFS players should be licking their chops to see what Brees will do against a Giants defense that just allowed DeShaun Watson to throw for 385 yards. Brees is unique in that he has one of the highest floors for his position while also possessing one of the highest ceilings. As such, he is my top QB play in both cash games and tournaments in week 4.

DeShaun Watson HOU @ IND $6,300

Watson was my favorite QB play in week 3, and he came through for me by scoring 29 points. It wasn’t the 40+ we saw from Brees and Ryan, but I’ll never complain about a player returning 4.7x value. I wrote an entire piece last week that highlighted just how much more effective Watson has been with Will Fuller on the field, and that proved to be the case once again last Sunday. After a 13 point game without Fuller in week 1, Watson has scored 26.8 and 29 in each of the last two weeks with Fuller in the lineup. The Indianapolis Colts defense has been better than expected, but I’ll still be shocked if they’re able to slow down one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the game.

Ryan Tannehill MIA @ NE $5,500

Fresh off an ACL tear that forced him to miss all of last season, the only people who expected Tannehill to play this well were unreasonably optimistic Dolphins fans and his own mother. Here we are though. Tannehill and the 3-0 Dolphins are one of the bigger surprises of the season, and they should be able to keep things rolling in week 4 against a reeling Patriots defense. After holding DeShaun Watson to 13 points in week 1, Bortles and Stafford each took their turn dissecting the Patriots secondary over the last two weeks. According to Westgate, this game has a healthy expected point total of 47.5 and with the Dolphins 6 point underdogs on the road, Tannehill may find himself in catchup mode late in this game. While that’s not good news for Dolphins fans, its great news for NFL DFS players who want to fire up the Miami QB in their lineups this Sunday.

Derek Carr CLE @ OAK $5,100

Carr has not been good this year. In fact, he’s thrown multiple interceptions in 2 out of 3 games. But despite his struggle with turnovers, he’s still scored at least 15.5 points in each of the last two weeks. If he’s able to hit that mark again, he’ll hit 3x value due to a deflated salary of only $5,100. Week 4 doesn’t provide many value plays at the RB position, and if you want to spend up on a few of the top priced guys, you have to find value plays somewhere.

Carr also provides a great opportunity to zig while others zag. Tons of NFL DFS players will flock to Baker Mayfield this week, and for good reason. In a large GPP though, Carr is the type of guy I target to help me differentiate my lineup. I also believe the improvement made by the Cleveland Browns defense has been a bit overstated. I’ve seen the stats that show they are consistently holding teams below their scoring average, but couldn’t some of that be attributed to poor weather and a rookie quarterback having to play his 3rd game in 11 days? The way I see it, either the Raiders will play well on Sunday which means Carr scores points, or the Raiders struggle and Carr is forced to throw to keep them in the game. Either way, he shouldn’t have any problem paying off his cheap salary.

NFL DFS DraftKings: Running Backs

Alvin Kamara NO @ NYG $9,600

If you’re reading this, I assume you know enough about fantasy football that you don’t need me to convince you that Alvin Kamara is one of the best options at running back this week. He’s one of the best options every week. Heck, I might even fire him up when the Saints are on their bye.

Ezekiel Elliott DET @ DAL $7,700

Not all is gloom and doom in Big D. In doing research for Fantasy Football Week 4: Fact or Fiction?, I discovered that Ezekiel Elliott is actually off to the hottest start of his young career. This, despite having yet to receive more than 17 carries in a single game. Surely someone in Dallas is smart enough to figure out that a workhorse running back who is averaging 5.7 yards per carry should be getting more than 16 carries per game. Falling to 1-3 would be devastating to this Cowboys team, and I expect them to finally feed Zeke with his biggest workload of the year. That could mean big things considering their week 4 matchup. The Detroit Lions just so happen to have the worst ranked rushing defense in the NFL, allowing opponents to rush for an average of 149.3 yards per game. Eat, Zeke, Eat!

Giovani Bernard CIN @ ATL $6,300

I’ll be honest. I don’t think Bernard is much more than an average NFL running back. However, even an average RB can be a great play when they have an exceptionally attractive matchup. That’s exactly what the Atlanta Falcons defense provides. Odds are you already know the numbers, but just in case you haven’t heard or you have a spotty memory – the last two weeks, this Falcons defense has surrendered 15 catches to Alvin Kamara and 14 catches to Christian McCaffrey. Those are WR1 numbers! Bernard is a lock for cash games and has the type of ceiling you want in GPP lineups as well. The only drawback is that he’s going to be insanely popular.

Kerryon Johnson DET @ DAL $4,400

Detroit finally gave Johnson the “Lion’s” share of the carries last Sunday, and he responded by becoming the first Lions rusher to go over the century mark in over 70 games! Despite his big day, his salary actually dropped $200 this week, and he is one of the few value RBs I like on this slate. Don’t let the fact that Dallas has the 11th ranked rush defense fool you. That was with a healthy Sean Lee leading the defensive attack. Evan Silva said it best:

One of the more surprising stats I found, is that even with Theo Riddick being the featured pass catching back for Detroit, Kerryon Johnson is on pace to haul in 53 catches this season. If Johnson can just get around 15 total touches, he could pay huge dividends at his price.

NFL DFS DraftKings: Wide Receivers

Michael Thomas NO @ NYG $9,100

Similar to Kamara, I don’t think I need to waste much time convincing you that Thomas is an elite play. The man has 38 receptions on 40 targets. That’s mind-boggling. Janoris Jenkins will be shadowing Thomas all game long, but I don’t care. He’s the best wide receiver in football.

Odell Beckham Jr. NO @ NYG $8,700 and Sterling Shepard $4,900

OBJ has a dream matchup in week 4. The New Orleans Saints are getting scored on so often, I had to google to make sure Rob Ryan wasn’t rehired as their defensive coordinator. A week after allowing Falcons #2 WR Calvin Ridley to torch them for 3 touchdowns, the argument could be made that Sterling Shepard ($4,900) is actually the better play of the Giants receivers in week 4. Here’s my question – who says you have to play one or the other? With Evan Engram out, each of the Giants WRs have a chance to see increased volume in what is expected to be one of the highest scoring games of the week. OBJ has the most catches (24) of any player who has yet to record a touchdown, and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t find his way into the end zone at least once in week 4.

Allen Robinson TB @ CHI $5,900

This Sunday, Robinson gets the benefit of playing against one of the only teams that could challenge the Saints for having the worst secondary in the NFL. The Bucs are hemorrhaging 362.7 passing yards per game to opposing offenses! Having just played on Monday Night Football, they now have a short week to prepare for the Chicago Bears in week 4. The only thing that could throw a wrench into this tasty matchup is the overall inability of Mitch Trubisky to perform like a starting caliber quarterback. However, his inability to work his way through reads means that he often locks onto his #1 target even when there are other guys open. Luckily for NFL DFS players, that #1 target carries an affordable $5,900 salary this week. I will admit though, thinking about depending on Trubisky gives me an ulcer.

Randall Cobb BUF @ GB $5,100

Last week, the Buffalo Bills proved to everyone that they might actually be bad this year, instead of incredibly bad. One Bills player who isn’t bad, is second year cornerback, TreDavious White. A week after putting Keenan Allen on lockdown, he all but erased Stefon Diggs from the game. So what did Kirk Cousins do with Diggs essentially irrelevant? He peppered Adam Thielen with 19 targets. So looking ahead at week 4, what can we expect from this Bills defense? We can expect White to live in Davante Adam’s back pocket, while Rodgers leans on the Packers complimentary receivers. Cobb has had double-digit targets in 2 out of 3 games, and that should be the case again this Sunday. Geronimo Allison at $4,700 is also a candidate to see increased targets and should be a fine play in week 4.

DeVante Parker MIA @ NE $3,500

Is there a rule against quoting your own tweet in an article you’re writing? Who cares, I’m doing it anyways.

It isn’t lost on me how often Parker has disappointed owners in the past. I’m one of those owners. If I took the time, I legitimately could find a text message from 2-3 years ago that I sent to my cousin in which I swore I would never under any circumstance trust DeVante Parker again. Well, technically I didn’t lie, because I still don’t trust him. But you can’t deny that if there was ever a week in which the stars were aligned for a big performance, this is the week. What has me especially intrigued is that as road underdogs, the Dolphins could end up playing catch up against a beatable secondary. If you’re looking to fit in as many studs as possible, you could do worse than a Tannehill/Parker stack for only $9,000.

NFL DFS DraftKings: Tight Ends

Rob Gronkowski MIA @ NE $7,000

Want to grab Gronk with slightly decreased ownership? This is your chance. Two poor performances in a row have left a lot of NFL DFS players feeling jaded, and looking to spend down at the position. I do think it’s fair to question if many of the Patriots struggles on Monday night could be attributed to Lions coach, Matt Patricia knowing the entire Patriots playbook. Belichick and Brady have to realize that getting Gronk more involved is the key to getting the offense turned around. After receiving only 5 targets on Monday night, look for a spike in volume for the big man this week.

Jared Cook CLE @ OAK $4,100

Many of the factors that cause me to like Derek Carr this week, lead me to like Jared Cook as well. I’m also one of the last remaining people who hasn’t completely jumped on the Browns bandwagon. I will admit, one area that Cleveland has greatly improved upon though, is their pass rush. Led by Myles Garrett, the Browns can get to the quarterback in a hurry. You know who else has a dominant defensive line who can really pressure the QB? The LA Rams. What did Carr do in week 1 to avoid taking sacks? He got the ball out quick by targeting his tight end 12 times. Just a reminder, Jared Cook turned those 12 targets into 9 catches for 180 yards. I’m not expecting the same high yardage, but the volume could be similar in a matchup in which Carr will need to make quick passes.

O.J. Howard TB @ CHI $3,500

Coming into this year, Howard’s value seemed capped due to the presence of Cameron Brate. Through 3 weeks, Brate hasn’t been a problem, and Howard has actually seen an increase in both targets and receptions in each game. Howard is coming off a productive Monday night in which he secured 6 catches for 72 yards.  Pretty soon, Howard’s price is going to reflect his emergence as one of the better tight ends in the league. Get him while he’s cheap.

NFL DFS DraftKings: Defense/Special Teams

Los Angeles Chargers DST $3,900

This really isn’t about the Chargers. This is about the San Francisco 49ers. In the wake of Jimmy Garoppolo‘s devastating knee injury, the 49ers are forced to turn to C.J. Beathard at quarterback. Why San Francisco feels confident in Bethard is beyond me. In 6 games last season, Beathard completed only 55% of his passes while tossing only 4 touchdowns compared to 6 interceptions. He was also sacked 4 or more times in half of his starts. Throw in the fact that the NFL’s leading rusher, Matt Breida is dealing with a hyperextended knee, and there just isn’t much to be afraid of when it comes to this 49ers offense. If you’re spending up on defense, the Chargers seem to be the way to go.

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Seattle Seahawks DST $3,200

How you feel about the Seahawks defense in week 4, greatly depends on how you feel about Josh Rosen. The coaches finally benched the ineffective Sam Bradford in favor of their first round pick, but it remains to be seen if Bradford or the play calling was more at fault. Considering all of the evidence, I lean towards it being the fault of the coaches. I mean, these are the same guys who just elected to remove David Johnson from action on 3rd and 2 with the game on the line, choosing rather to give the carry to Chase Edmonds. Even if Rosen is able to provide a spark to the offense, there are going to be some growing pains. Look for Seattle to have an opportunity to return one of those growing pains for six.

Chicago Bears DST $2,600

I wouldn’t care if this game was against Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf. $2,600 for a defense led by Khalil Mack is too cheap. I know Fitzmagic has led the Bucs offense to score a ton of points, but let’s not forget that for one half on Monday night, the magic was gone. Despite the Bucs scoring 27 points, the Steelers defense was still able to generate 17 fantasy points. The Bears are a nice value play in week 4.

Thanks for reading, NFL DFS DraftKings Week 4 Lineup Advice! Be on the lookout for my next article which will cover NFL DFS DraftKings Top Stacks for Week 4!