Fantasy Football Feature – Wk. 4

Welcome to Week 4 of the 2011 NFL season, and the latest edition of the Fantasy Football Feature. If you’re not yet familiar, this is a fantasy football mash-up open thread. Feel free to throw out any sit/start troubles your having, or any other fantasy football related questions, thoughts, ideas you might have or even have live trade negotiation.

Week 3 in Review:

I think the biggest shocker of Week 3 came in Buffalo's upset of New England to remain undefeated and top the AFC East. Another big surprise were Tom Brady's 4 interceptions in that game. Despite that, he still threw for 387 yards and 4 touchdowns, totaling in a season low 27.98 fantasy points. Other big weeks for a few lower profile fantasy quarterbacks included Joe Flacco's 28.26 point outing vs. the Rams. Also, Mark Sanchez dropped 369 yards and 2 TDs on Oakland, with an additional rushing TD, scoring 27.96 points. Drew Brees topped the QBs this week with 28.70, staying consistent with the best tier. Matt Schaub (25.92) and Eli Manning (25.86) had solid fantasy weeks, just need to see those numbers more often. Aaron Rodgers (23.18), as well as two guys you might night expect to see lumped in with him, Matthew Stafford (23.02) and Ryan Fitzpatrick (20.16) are all QBs yet to have a week under 20 fantasy points. Last note, Cam Newton (15.02) may have fallen back to Earth, at least for now. However, if that's what a bad day is for Cam, we've seen the good days, this kid is still a worthy fantasy starter. Overall, it was a fairly tame week from our QBs.

After taking a small step back last week, Wes Welker exploded once again, catching 16 passes for 217 yards, 2 TDs and even rushed for 19 yards, finishing the game with 35.60 fantasy points. This weeks "Show Up Out of Nowhere And Drop Bombs" receiver comes in the form of Torrey Smith of the Ravens, who helped Flacco in his big day, and vice versa. The 2011 second round pick caught all three of the team's TD passes, with 152 yards for 34.20 points. Another obscure receiver who might soon find himself a hot fantasy commodity, Victor Cruz (23.00). He moved up the NYG depth chart with injuries to both Hixon and Manningham. Lance Moore (18.80) finally had some solid numbers, recovering from an injury as well. Now for the running backs, Darren McFadden (29.80) is continuing his monster break out season, where he now leads the league in rushing and all RBs in fantasy points. Another emerging break out star is Ryan Mathews (26.90), getting it done on the ground and through the air. In his 5th season, the Bills' Fred Jackson (22.10) is on pace for a great season. An even older veteran, one time fantasy scoring machine, LaDainian Tomlinson (21.40) had a huge week for the Jets. LeSean McCoy (20.10), is only 0.3 from the RB scoring leader, as he too continues a fantastic season so far. Lastly, the TE spot, where 99% owned Jermichael Finley (26.50) has finally warranted it, bringing in three TD receptions and Rob Gronkowski (22.90) rolls on having quite possibly the best fantasy season for a TE through the first 3 weeks ever. 

Working the Wire:

This weeks addition is written a few days later than normal, so in most leagues the waivers have already gone through. Still, if any of these guys are still available, grab them while you can. Keep in mind, owners vary in every league so some of these guys are going to be harder to grab than others. 

1. Torrey Smith (Bal-WR-34.20) - Owned in 11% of Yahoo! Leagues - MUST - This kind of receiver is just what Baltimore needed. Of course the Rams D isn't good, and I can't guarantee any consistency, but he's worth the roster spot.
2. Nate Washington (Ten-WR-31.80) - Owned in 28% of Yahoo! Leagues - DEEP - With Kenny Britt going down, he's got to be Hasselback's go to WR. And he's already been getting targets. That said, it's still the Tennessee Titans. 
3. Victor Cruz (NYG-WR-24.70) - Owned in 5% of Yahoo! Leagues - DEEP - As long as Hixon and Manningham are hurt, his guy is has a shot. He might emerge, he might not. It's a fairly deep buy, but if you can spare a bench spot, what can it hurt?

Big Question:

How healthy is Arian Foster, and how much action will he see Sunday?

This is too much fun to stop now. Sigh, can you hear the excitement in my voice? That was sarcasm by the way. For the fourth strait week, Foster's status is up in the air. This time around, reports are that he has no issues with the hamstring whatsoever after participating in a full practice Wednesday. He claims that he "could’ve played last week, but they just wanted to reassure that it wasn’t going to be reoccurring." But I'm still skeptical, especially with a game against Pittsburgh on the horizon. The thing is, at least last week, Ben Tate owners could start Tate with confidence, and got decent turnaround. Now they're both risky, not knowing who'll be getting the carries. The most dreaded fantasy starts are those with injury uncertainties. 

Other injury concerns:

1. If you haven't heard yet, the early reports about Kenny Britt being out for the year turned out to be true, as he tore his ACL and MCL. He's been placed on IR. It's a shame because he was starting to look like a very promising top tier fantasy WR. 
2. Hakeem Nicks status is in question, suffering from swelling in his knee. Tom Coughlin thinks he will start for the upcoming game against the Cardinals, but if you're a Nicks owner, this is definitely worth keeping an eye on. 
3. Dez Bryant missed practice on Thursday, and was limited on Wednesday with an apparent quad injury. If you're counting on Bryant this week, you might want to keep checking on his status, possibly up until Sunday morning. 

Unofficial DBN Fan League Standings:

You can click HERE for the full size image of the Week 2 results. 

Good luck in Week 4!

*Scores mentioned in the article are based on the Yahoo! Sports default settings, utilized by the Unofficial DBN Fan League.