As we push toward the quarter mark of the NFL season, things are starting to take shape. It’s still early, but you’re starting to see how teams want to operate in order to be effective. With injuries mounting, making the right call in your FLEX is crucial. Players from last week’s column like Elijah Moore (9-49-0), Jordan Addison (6-52-0), Zay Flowers (8-48-0), George Pickens (4-75-0) and Isiah Pacheco (15-62-1) all had decent days in PPR formats. Kyren Williams was the lone dud who was bottled up by the Bengals’ defense. This week’s FLEX plays that I’m targeting are headlined by a few rookie running backs and one veteran receiver who has a revenge game.
Let’s flex and win, baby.
RB - Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions @ Packers
Gibbs got a chance to carry the load in Week 3 against the Falcons and turned in a decent result with 17 carries for 80 yards. What worried fantasy managers from that game was Gibbs only catching one pass on two targets. In Week 2, Gibbs caught 7-of-9 targets for 39 yards, but had only seven carries for 17 yards. Those are the type of touches Gibbs managers can likely depend on, whether or not David Montgomery is available. Whatever the case, his usage is increasing and he’s becoming more efficient already, averaging a healthy 4.5 yards per catch on the season. The Packers are the 11th-worst defense against running backs in terms of fantasy points given up, so they’re not great, but not the worst either. Overall, Gibbs and/or Montgomery should have some room to operate against a banged-up Packers defense.
RB - De’Von Achane or Raheem Mostert, Dolphins @ Bills
The likelihood of Achane gaining another 233 yards from scrimmage is slim against a Bills’ defense that’s the 10th best against running backs in fantasy. The fact of the matter is, the Dolphins can run the ball now and it makes their offense outright terrifying to defend. After a week where Mostert and Achane combined for 285 yards, the Dolphins have the top rushing offense in the NFL. Although the Bills are stout up front defensively, they’re giving up 110.7 rushing yards per game. Achane and Mostert figure to now split the running backs duties and the Dolphins are now willing to run the ball more near the goal line. It’s also worth noting that the Bills/Dolphins game has by far the highest point total at 53.5 which means you can expect the scoreboard to be lit up. Achane and Mostert will be a big part of that.
RB - Zack Moss, Colts vs. Rams
Have you seen Moss the past two weeks? He went for 107 and 145 yards from scrimmage in each of his first two games and scored in both. As long as Jonathan Taylor is out of the mix, Moss should be in FLEX consideration every week based on usage alone. He has back-to-back games with at least 22 touches and now faces a Rams defense that is middle of the pack in terms of giving up fantasy points to running backs. Getting Anthony Richardson back will help Moss in a major way as the defense will have to play 11-on-11 football with him behind center. Plus, Moss is averaging over 20 receiving yards per game, giving him an even higher ceiling as he hasn’t been involved in that aspect much as a pro. Look for Moss to punch another one into the end zone in Week 4.
Looking for more fantasy football content? Rotoworld has you covered. Watch Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry weekdays at noon ET LIVE on Peacock and the Rotoworld Football Show on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts.
WR - Tutu Atwell, Rams @ Colts
It’ll be a tough go as the Colts have improved their overall defense, but so far they’ve given up the ninth most points to receivers in fantasy this season. Atwell himself comes into Week 4 as WR14 on the season, averaging eight targets and 16.8 fantasy points per game. Furthermore, the Rams don’t seem to be interested in running the ball as Matthew Stafford has averaged 42 passing attempts per game thus far. Atwell is the most athletically gifted receiver the Rams’ have and they try to get him the ball in a multitude of ways as evidenced by a 22-yard run where he nearly scored against the Bengals in Week 3. He’s always a big play waiting to happen.
WR - Adam Thielen, Panthers vs. Vikings
After a bad start in Week 1, Thielen has picked it up in his past two games. This week he’ll get to face his former team in the Vikings who have given up the second-most fantasy points to receivers this season. In Week 3, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Josh Palmer combined to go 29-402-2 against a leaky Vikings secondary. Now, Thielen could very well end up with a stat line somewhere in between Williams’ and Palmers’ (7-121-1 and 4-66-, respectively). It makes more sense when you realize that Thielen has gone 18-199-2 in his past two games. In those same games, he’s seen at least nine target and at this point no other Panthers’ pass catcher has emerged, which means Thielen will continue to benefit. In Week 4, he’ll benefit from his former team’s bad defense.
WR - Jakobi Meyers, Raiders @ Chargers
Despite the Raiders’ woes as a team, Meyers has given them their money’s worth in the two games he’s played. I have no problem in saying that I hadn’t bought in at all, but we are talking about the Raiders here. Meyers missed Week 2 with a concussion, but in Weeks 1 and 3 he saw 10 and 12 targets, respectively. In those games he went 16-166-2 and now faces the worst defense in fantasy in terms of giving up points to wide receivers. The Chargers managed to give up a 14-237-2 stat line to Vikings’ receivers in Week 3 and constantly let multiple players at the position feast. With the Raiders having not been able to run the ball effectively, look for them to try to attack the Chargers where they’ve been the weakest. Also take into consideration that with an Over/Under of 47.5, this Chargers/Raiders game has the second-highest total of Week 4. Meyers keeps rolling.
