Fantasy football 2024: One player I’m fading/starting in Week 4 for each position

I’m frustrated by Kyren Williams. See, last week I mentioned him being a fade, and he scored three touchdowns. What’s really frustrating wasn’t that I was wrong about Williams though — it’s that I shouldn’t have been wrong, as he wasn’t particularly impressive outside of his touchdowns. He’s still averaging just 3.0 yards per carry this year, but the Rams just keep giving him the ball in high-value situations.

Oh well. You win some and you lose some, right? And while I’m still concerned about Williams, I’m not going to fade him this week because the Rams will probably keep feeding him the ball. Touches are still touches. I mean, it’d be cool if we had some stat called, like, “approximate touch value” that said “a Kyren Williams touch is worth 0.8 touches,” but I don’t think a thing like that exists. Please don’t think that’s a real stat.

Anyway, let’s look at one player to fade and one player to start in fantasy football for Week 4 of the 2024 NFL season.

Week 4 quarterbacks to fade and start

Fade: Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

Sam Darnold has looked really good so far this year as he’s off to the best start of his NFL career. After throwing four touchdown passes against the Texans in Week 3, Darnold now leads the league with eight touchdown passes. An absurd 10.3 percent of his passes have gone for six.

But this feels like the week that the good times come to a close. The Packers defense has done a great job forcing turnovers this year, picking opponents off seven times already. And Darnold … well, in every season that he’s started double-digit games, he’s thrown double-digit interceptions.

This run can’t go on forever. Darnold’s a better QB than his reputation suggests, but he’s not elite. It takes a special kind of quarterback to go out for 17 weeks and play incredible football every single week. Most players falter at some point, and this feels like a week where Darnold falters.

Start: Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

The Jayden Daniels hype is real. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass in his first two starts, but in Week 3 against the Bengals, he was 21-for-23 for 254 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 12 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Daniels has double-digit carries in each game this season, giving him a consistently high floor and ceiling regardless of what he does with his arm. But now that he’s throwing touchdown passes too? Whew.

This week, Daniels faces a Cardinals defense that’s done better than expected against opposing passers, but that allowed Josh Allen to score two rushing touchdowns back in Week 1 the last time the team faced this kind of dual-threat QB. Allen also threw two touchdowns in that game.

Week 4 running backs to fade and start

Fade: Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers

I hate this matchup for Jacobs against the Minnesota defense. Opposing backs have just 171 rushing yards against this team in 2024, the third-fewest in the league. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has dialed up such a multi-faceted defense this season and it’s constantly confounding its opponents.

Jacobs got off to a strong start to the year, but he struggled in Week 3 against the Titans, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry and seeing a lot of his production on the ground to QB Malik Willis.

Having Jordan Love back under center — if that happens this week — will help Jacobs, but this matchup against the Vikings is just too scary.

Start: Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers

I think Nahee Harris is going way too under the radar this week. He’s currently the RB22 in the consensus expert rankings over at FantasyPros.

Harris hasn’t finished better than RB20 in any week so far, so I mean … I get it. He’s getting the touches to be a top-15 play, but he’s not producing the yardage and touchdown plays needed to actually deliver top-15 results.

But now Harris plays the Colts, which is basically the perfect matchup for a running back who is looking to get things going in the right direction. No team has allowed more rushing yards to running backs this season, with the team giving up 409 of them through three games. 

Week 4 wide receivers to fade and start

Fade: Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers

Quentin Johnston has established himself as a great red zone threat for the Chargers, catching three touchdowns so far this year. He isn’t getting a ton of targets, but he’s been making the most of his limited opportunities.

But it looks like the Chargers won’t have Justin Herbert at quarterback this weekend, so I’m likely out on Johnston for this matchup with the Chiefs on Sunday. Taylor Heinicke will probably be under center for L.A. and I’m not expecting Johnston to do much without Herbert.

It also doesn’t help that the Chargers face a Chiefs team that has allowed the sixth-fewest receiving yards to wide receivers so far this season. K.C.’s pass defense has the ability to really limit what an offense led by a backup QB can do.

Start: Malik Nabers, New York Giants

The targets keep on a-comin’ for Malik Nabers, as he now has 37 of them this season. This many targets for any player through three weeks is wild, but the fact that a rookie has this many is really a shock.

But the Giants don’t have much else. The team clearly only trusts two of its wide receivers, which is why in addition to Nabers leading the league in targets, Wan’Dale Robinson sits in a tie for 15th.

This week, Nabers takes on a Cowboys team that has struggled defensively, though much of those struggles have come from issues defending the run. Still, the Saints really exploited this pass defense in Week 2. I’m confident Nabers can have a strong showing.

Week 4 tight ends to fade and start

Fade: Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

It’s officially time to be concerned about Mark Andrews.

After he was held to two catches for 14 yards in Week 1, there were definitely some grumbles about how poor his game was compared to how Isaiah Likely dominated. Andrews bounced back in Week 2, catching four passes for 51 yards. But against Dallas in Week 3, he was a no-show. Andrews played 33 percent of his team’s snaps and was targeted just once, failing to bring it in.

While the Bills have allowed the third-most receptions by tight ends this season, I just can’t trust Andrews in fantasy right now. It wasn’t even the lack of targets this week — it was the sharp drop in snaps that makes me worry that Andrews’s days as a fantasy TE1 are behind us.

Start: Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals have utilized Mike Gesicki well over the past two games, with the veteran tight end being targeted 14 times total and finishing as a TE1 both weeks, including a finish as the overall TE5 in Week 2 against the Chiefs.

Now, he gets a Panthers defense that is currently the only NFL defense to allow multiple touchdown receptions to the tight end position. With how volatile tight end has been, I’m comfortable ranking Gesicki as a solid TE1 play this week. There’s probably only five or six names I’d take over him.