Under-the-Radar Booms/Busts: Week 4

September 29, 2018

Craig Rondinone analyzes the under-the-radar booms and busts for Week 4 in fantasy football. These players could be high upside flex plays or players to bench and sit in Week 4.

Week 3 of the NFL season was a crazy train even Ozzy Osbourne could not have kept on the tracks.

Minnesota lost to Buffalo, Jacksonville lost to Tennessee, New England lost to Detroit, and the Cleveland Browns won their first game since the iPhone X came out! The NFL looks like it is going to be as unpredictable as ever this season. Let’s hope the same cannot be said about my under-the-radar booms and busts!

Here are some under-the-radar booms and busts for the fourth week of NFL action to help you set a winning lineup. Good luck RotoBallers!

Week 4 Under-the-Radar Booms

Sterling Shepard, New York Giants (WR, NYG) vs. NO

It was refreshing to see Shepard catch some passes and make some plays this past Sunday as it is never easy for him to do so in an offense that revolves around Odell Beckham and Saquon Barkley touching the ball 99 percent of the time. Shepard’s six snags for 80 yards and a touchdown will not be a one-week aberration, however, especially since tight end Evan Engram’s injury upgrades Shepard to Eli Manning’s third-best option.

The New Orleans defense has a lot not to be proud of. The Saints have allowed three receivers (Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, and Calvin Ridley) to have 140-yard games with touchdowns against them. Worse, they actually allowed Cleveland quarterback Tyrod Taylor to throw for 242 yards in Week 2, which is as bad as having Matt Ryan throw for 700 yards. And if things couldn’t get worse for the 30^th-ranked pass defense in the league, cornerback Patrick Robinson is now out with a broken ankle. Do not be surprised if Shepard and Beckham become the fourth and fifth receivers to break the 140-yard mark against the sad sack Saints this season.

The Los Angeles Chargers defense vs. SF

The Chargers defense will not be confused with the 1985 Chicago Bears or the 2000 Baltimore Ravens defenses anytime soon, especially without pass rusher Joey Bosa on the field. The Chargers are allowing 31 points per game, are ranked 24^th in total defense and only have seven sacks and four turnovers after their opening three games.

Under normal circumstances, fantasy owners would not touch the Chargers defense with a 1,000-foot pole, but L.A. is hosting the San Francisco 49ers this weekend, the mash unit of the NFL. The Niners will have C.J. Beathard (four career TD passes, six career INTs) at quarterback instead of Jimmy Garoppolo and might be down to third-string plodder Alfred Morris at running back if Matt Breida is not able to suit up due to a hyperextended knee. Los Angeles’ defense is below-average, but it is better than what San Francisco’s offense will be on Sunday. Look for the Chargers defense to have its best game of the early season and help fantasy owners.

Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (TE, CIN) at ATL

Cincinnati’s oft-injured tight end has remained healthy through the first three games of the season. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he has not scored a touchdown this season, something he is normally good at when he is on the field (20 TD in 42 career contests). Complicating manners is that Eifert’s backup, C.J. Uzomah, has 68 yards and a score on the young season and has been taking some of Eifert’s targets.

This is lining up to be a big week for Eifert, though, as he will be running routes against an Atlanta Falcons secondary that has already lost both of its starting safeties to season-ending injuries. He should be open early and often and be a humongous fantasy force this weekend. Enjoy Eifert before he goes on injured reserve again!

Week 4 Under-the-Radar Busts

Quincy Enunwa (WR, NYJ) at JAC

Enunwa has easily been Sam Darnold’s go-to guy during the first month of the season. Enunwa has 17 receptions whereas New York’s other top three receivers (Terrelle Pryor, Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse) have 18 combined. Enunwa should be the Jets most productive receiver fantasy-wise, especially in PPR leagues, throughout the season now that Darnold trusts him so much with the football.

Enunwa will have one of his worst games of the season against Jacksonville, though. The Jaguars have the third-best pass defense and fourth-ranked overall defense in the NFL and have only allowed two touchdown tosses. You can see the Jags, especially coming off an embarrassing loss to Tennessee, suffocating Enunwa and overwhelming the Jets’ work-in-progress offense. I can see Enunwa getting five short receptions for 50 yards, but not much more.

Chris Hogan (WR, NE) vs. MIA

Hogan has had a fair share of outings against Miami over his career since he has spent his entire time in the AFC East between playing with Buffalo and now New England, but they have not gone well. Over his last half-dozen games against the Dolphins, Hogan has only managed 19 receptions for 203 and one touchdown – and those games were versus Miami’s teams that were nowhere near as good as this 2018 version.

New England’s offense is in flux as the Patriots have no running game, are still are without WR Julian Edelman for another week and are somehow ranked 26^th in passing offense with a healthy Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. Miami’s pass-defense ranking (29^th) is a little skewed because of its opponents primarily throwing in the fourth quarter because the Dolphins were winning. I would choose a different receiver this week other than Hogan, even though he is a Monmouth University product like me.

Javorius Allen (RB, BAL) at PIT

I know Allen has scored four touchdowns in the first three weeks, including two in his last game against Denver. I know he is a better receiver than Baltimore’s top tailback, Alex Collins, and seems to be favored in goal-line situations. I know Allen is slated to get touches against Pittsburgh’s 25^th-ranked run defense, a defense Allen had a two-TD game against in 2017. It all shapes up for Allen being an under-the-radar boom, right?

Let’s shoot straight on Allen, though. The man is averaging two yards per carry. Yes, two! How can he be taken seriously as a fantasy option?  Pittsburgh’s run defense has improved each week, and the only reason the Steelers allowed 177 rushing yards in Week 1 is because their game went five quarters. Plus, ALL Ravens-Steelers games are slobberknockers where rushing yards are harder to come by than in your average contest. I am penciling Allen in for 20 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards and having a few thousand fantasy owners mad at him.

More Week 4 Lineup Prep