A month of real football in the books means we're closing in on a month of fantasy football results, and the last two weeks have provided cruel reminders of the fickle nature of the fantasy game. A lot of key fantasy players have been lost to injury, including Malik Nabers for potentially the season, while Lamar Jackson owners are holding their breath that his hamstring injury isn't too severe.
As we've done every week in this space, we will cover the non-injury related fantasy starters who should be headed to your bench after a tough Week 4. Let's start in London, where Jaylen Warren's fantasy owners had a rough morning.
NFL Fantasy starters who should be benched after Week 4
Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
The situation that Warren's fantasy owners are facing is far from ideal. While the Steelers' starting running back was notably questionable all week with a knee injury, reports on Saturday appeared to indicate he would be good to go for Sunday's game with the Minnesota Vikings, which led most fantasy owners with Warren on their squads that he would be good to go for the Sunday morning kick off.
Those owners were given a rude awakening when Warren was a surprise scratch, leading him to deliver a donut for anyone who failed to check their notifications before the game kicked at 9:30 a.m. ET. To make matters worse, fill-in Kenneth Gainwell had a huge day for the Steelers, racking up 134 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns against the Vikings' incredibly stout defense.
Pittsburgh's Week 5 bye should give Warren time to heal but he now has a problem in the form of Gainwell, whose excellent work overseas should earn him a portion of Warren's workload going forward. With rookie Kaleb Johnson lurking as well, managers with options should steer clear of Warren until they see how the workload will shake out with everyone healthy again.
Nick Chubb, RB, Houston Texans
The injury to Joe Mixon opened the door for a Nick Chubb renaissance as he quickly became the man in Houston's backfield. A slow start for the Texans' offense has led their coaching staff to consider changes, with the most notable being the integration of rookie Woody Marks into their backfield.
After getting thoroughly out-snapped by Chubb early on, Marks' workload has steadily increased over the past two weeks, with Houston giving him more carries than Chubb today. Marks did well with his increased responsibility, turning 17 carries into 69 yards and a touchdown.
While this backfield should remain a committee for now, Marks' youth should allow him to pull away from the fading Chubb as the season progresses. Mixon doesn't appear to be a factor yet, but if Houston goes pass-heavy at some point it would play against Chubb, making him a logical sit candidate.
Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans
The notion that somebody has to catch the football for a bad team usually leads to the top target on low-wattage offenses getting fantasy relevance. The guy filling that role in Tennessee is Calvin Ridley, a veteran with a respected track record that simply cannot get on the same page as Cam Ward.
Despite having plenty of passing opportunities with Tennessee trailing all day, Ridley was never a serious threat, catching just two passes for 30 yards on a season-low three targets. Ward and Ridley haven't been able to get in sync as Ridley entered the day with only eight catches on 21 targets, a really low success rate for a player of Ridley's caliber.
Expect Tennessee to try and simplify things for the struggling Ward for now, which could lead to games like Sunday's to become more of a norm for Ridley. Tennessee takes on Arizona in Week 5 but there is little reason to expect a breakthrough effort from Ridley anytime soon, leaving him as a pure bye-week fill-in on your roster.
Jordan Mason, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Aaron Jones' trip to IR meant a potential boom spot for Mason, who was poised to feast in the backfield for a team trying to support either rookie J.J. McCarthy or veteran backup Carson Wentz. In what should have been a smash spot against a Steelers' defense that has been gashed all year, Mason delivered a relative clunker, turning 16 carries into just 57 yards in the Vikings' 24-21 loss in London.
The volume was there for Mason, but his failure to convert made his grip on a significant role once Jones returns from IR tenuous. The Vikings made the IR move with Jones prior to Week 3, and with a bye after Minnesota returns stateside in Week 6 there could be just two more opportunities for Mason to make his mark.
Week 5 brings with it a date with Cleveland's nasty defense, which has flummoxed everyone who has played it this side of Baltimore to date. Even though the game could turn into a defensive battle, Mason could hit a brick wall and be prone to disappointing his fantasy owners once again.