FanDuel NFL 2018: Week 4 lineup

There are plenty of great matchups in Week 4, but the key is finding value in daily fantasy. Here is my Week 4 FanDuel lineup.

Before we get into this week’s lineup , we can not ignore how much last week’s lineup underachieved. On paper, the lineup looked extremely promising, but the production on the field proved otherwise.

The decision to pay big money at the wide receiver position backfired. Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill and T.Y. Hilton combined for only 17.8 FanDuel points. For the first time this season, all three wideouts finished in single digits. Allen Robinson, who played in the FLEX position, also played poorly and finished with 6.5 points.

At running back, Matt Bredia led the way with 13.2 points. It appeared that Bredia’s day was over in the second quarter, when he went down with non-contact injury. But, he returned to the game and finished with 117 all purpose yards on only 13 touches. Meanwhile, Lamar Miller struggled to run the ball against the New York Giants. He compiled 10 yards on 10 carries. He was much more effective as a receiver, catching five passes for 41 yards and a touchdown. Miller would have been in single digit fantasy points, if it wasn’t for his production in the pass game.

San Francisco dodged a bullet with Bredia’s injury, but that isn’t the case with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. With just over five minutes left in the game, Garoppolo scrambled for about 13 yards before going down with a knee injury. An MRI confirmed, Garoppolo suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season. Fantasy wise, he scored 22.3 points, ninth best at the position.

Will Dissly was a huge disappointment at tight end and scored 0.9 points. He was held to one catch for four yards. In his last two games, he has a combined four receptions for 46 yards and one score.

Expectations were higher for the Bears defense against the lousy Arizona Cardinals, but they still managed to be the third best defensive unit in Week 3, scoring 13 fantasy points. The Bears would have been the highest scoring defense, if Eddie Jackson’s interception return for a touchdown wasn’t called back. This lineup combined for 85.3 points.

For first time visitors, my Week 4 lineup will only include players that are playing Sunday, minus the Sunday Night football matchup.

Here were Week 3’s top performers at each position:

QB: Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints — 40.54

RB: Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints — 26.5 & Adrian Peterson, Washington Redskins — 24

WR: Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons — 37; Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams — 28.7 & Jordy Nelson, Oakland Raiders — 26.3

TE: Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers — 19.2 (Monday Night) 

FLEX: Carlos Hyde, Cleveland Browns — 23.2 (Thursday Night) & Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals — 22.7

DEF: Buffalo Bills & Pittsburgh Steelers — 17

Quarterback: Eli Manning, New York Giants- $7,100

It took three weeks for the New York Giants to earn their first victory, but Manning played a big role in the win. He completed 25 of 29 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns against the Houston Texans.

Manning posted a quarterback rating of 132.3, his highest since Week 17 of the 2012 season. The veteran quarterback scored 19.8 fantasy points, a season high. This week, the Giants return to MetLife Stadium to take on the the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks through three weeks. On average, quarterbacks have scored 32.6 fantasy points per game. They have given up 1,037 yards (30th in the NFL) and 10 touchdowns (T-32nd in the NFL).

Manning finally found a groove in Week 3 and will bring that momentum into this week’s matchup.