5 breakout fantasy football stars to pick up for Week 4

2. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 4 – Chicago Bears RB Khalil Herbert

The injury bug claimed a pair of NFC North running backs on Sunday, including solid fantasy starter David Montgomery. The Bears saw Montgomery go down early in their 23-20 win over the Houston Texans with a lower leg injury that they described as an ankle/knee issue and he never returned to action.

The beneficiary was Herbert, who had already established himself as a change-of-pace runner in the Tarik Cohen mold early in the season. Herbert became the primary ball carrier after Montgomery went down and did excellent work, turning 20 carries into 157 yards and two touchdowns while adding two receptions for 12 yards for good measure.

Chicago’s new coaching staff has clear trust issues with Justin Fields, who has attempted just 45 passes combined over the first three weeks of the season. The end result has been a run-heavy attack whose top backs are RB1 candidates on volume alone, which makes Herbert an extremely valuable pickup.

The book has started to get out on Herbert, who is currently rostered in 47 percent of Yahoo leagues, but that number should skyrocket if Montgomery has to miss additional time. Keep an eye on the injury reports out of Chicago but Herbert is a valuable pickup even if Montgomery returns due to the Bears’ throwback style of offense.

1. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 4 – Minnesota Vikings RB Alexander Mattison

Fantasy football owners know the risk they take when they draft Dalvin Cook in the first round of their drafts every year. Cook is one of the NFL’s best running backs when he is healthy and a clear RB1 but history has shown us that he is an injury-prone player who has yet to play more than 14 games in a season.

The injury bug got Cook in Week 3 when he suffered a shoulder injury that knocked him out of Minnesota’s win over the Lions. The Vikings did what they always do when Cook gets hurt, plugging in Mattison and handing him Cook’s entire offensive workload for the remainder of the game.

Mattison did well in relief of Cook, carrying seven times for 28 yards and added a touchdown in the fourth quarter. There isn’t any immediate word on the severity of the injury for Cook, who has dealt with shoulder issues before, and this situation may need to be solved quickly with Minnesota scheduled to fly to London in Week 4 to take on the New Orleans Saints.

Most Cook owners are smart enough to already have Mattison, who is rostered in 54 percent of Yahoo leagues, on their teams. Anyone who doesn’t should make a play for Mattison, who assumes Cook’s role and delivers a reasonable facsimile of his production, as a plug-and-play RB2 if Cook ends up missing time.