With another week of fantasy football finishing up, now is the time to reflect on what transpired over the weekend. This week saw some blowouts, close finishes, spectacular performances and absolute duds. We are going to focus on the duds or fantasy busts of the week. These players did not meet expectations and could very well of cost you a fantasy match for the week. Here are the biggest fantasy busts from Week 4 of the NFL season.
Quarterback – Matthew Stafford
208 Passing Yards, -3 Rushing Yards, 0 TDs
While he did not turn the ball over and the Detroit Lions won the game, Matthew Stafford did very little on Sunday to wow fantasy owners. Stafford fell just short of topping 8.0 points this week, thanks to a few kneel downs to end the game. Stafford has only been average in fantasy football this season but had scored double-digit points each week to begin this season. The Minnesota Vikings are a tough defense, but Stafford has averaged right around 15 points per game against the Vikings in his career, making this week look even worse.
Running Back – Melvin Gordon
22 Rushing Yards, 1 Reception, 7 Receiving Yards, 0 TDs
After starting the year with a touchdown in his first three games, Melvin Gordon was held in check in Week 4. Gordon set a career low in rushing yards when reaching double-digit carries. Gordon’s ability to score touchdowns makes him a great fantasy option, however, when he does not reach the end zone, he is a much worse fantasy option. In 31 career games, Gordon only had three 100-yard rushing performances and has not topped 84 yards on the ground in his last eight games. Overall Gordon is still an elite running back option, he just has more risk than similarly ranked running backs who may score less but get yards at a more consistent rate.
Wide Receiver – Demaryius Thomas
1 Reception, 11 Receiving Yards, 0 TDs
Going into Week 4, Demaryius Thomas looked to have a favorable matchup against the Oakland Raiders. Week 4 did not go well for Thomas, who caught his lowest yardage total since 2014. Thomas has yet to score this season and has now been held out of the end zone for ten consecutive weeks. Thomas yardage numbers still make him fantasy relative, as he was on pace to top 1000 receiving yards before his dud on Sunday. It is just the receiving yardage numbers alone do not make him a top-30 wide receiver anymore.
Tight End– Jason Witten
1 Reception, 9 Receiving Yards, 0 TDs
After starting the year as a top-12 tight end, the last two weeks have been terrible for the veteran tight end. It is evident he is going to have a lot of ups and downs, through the season. It is just you would expect Witten to have one of his better games when the Cowboys and Rams combined for 852 yards and 65 points. Be wary of Witten going forward and maybe look elsewhere for a tight end.
Defense – New York Giants
25 Points Allowed, 434 Yards Allowed, 1 Sack, 0 Turnovers,
The Giants were not the worst defense of the week, that honor goes to the Tennessee Titans, but since about four times the people started the New York Giants defense over the Titans, the Giants find their name on this list. The Giants did little on Sunday afternoon, sacking Winston just once while forcing no turnovers and giving up nearly 10 yards per play. The Giants got lucky too, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker missed two field goals and a PAT. If he had made those, the Giants would have been on the fringe of negative points in Week 4.
Kicker – Nick Folk
1 FG Made 20-29, 1FG Made 30-39, 1 PAT, 1 Missed PAT, 2 Missed FG 40-49
Although he did redeem himself at the end by making a 35-yard field goal to win the game, Week 4 for Nick Folk was disappointing. Folk’s misses cost the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seven points. Depending on how your fantasy league scores kicking and missed kicks, Folk could have been close to zero points, in a week in which he should have been in the low teens.
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