2022 NFL season: Week 4 fantasy football matchups

Wilson is averaging just 12.6 fantasy points per game and has yet to score 20+ fantasy points in a game this season. Things should get easier this week when he faces the Raiders. The Raiders allowed both Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray to score over 23 fantasy points, and even Ryan Tannehill had 18.8 fantasy points in Week 3 against them. The Broncos have struggled to get into the end zone, but the Raiders have the third-worst red zone defense in the NFL this season. This should be the week that Wilson and the Broncos offense start clicking.

Allen is a fantasy stud, and I don't need to talk you into starting him, but I am here to tell you that Allen should finish as THE fantasy QB1 this week. The Ravens have allowed a league-high 353.3 passing yards per game this season, nearly 56 more yards per game than any other team. So far, they have allowed 300+ pass yards to Joe Flacco, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones. Allen is averaging a league-high 338.0 passing yards per game (30 more than any other QB). The Ravens secondary could be in trouble this Sunday.

It might seem crazy to put Trubisky as a possible start in fantasy football, as he has struggled mightily with the Steelers so far this season. However, he has averaged more fantasy points per game than Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady through the first three weeks. He gets a nice matchup against the Jets, who have allowed the third-highest opponent passer rating in the NFL this season. Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson had three pass touchdowns each in their matchup against the Jets, and even Jacoby Brissett scored 15.5 fantasy points against them. Trubisky is a viable fantasy option off waivers this week if you are desperate.  

The 49ers have allowed a league-low 148.3 passing yards per game and just 9.6 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks (second-fewest in NFL) in 2022. They have not yet allowed a QB to have 200+ passing yards or 15+ fantasy points in a game this season. Stafford averaged just 13.7 fantasy points per game in his two matchups against the 49ers in 2021 --- and scored just 9.8 points in the game at San Francisco. If possible, avoid starting Stafford in your fantasy lineups this week.

The Panthers pass defense is legit -- it has allowed just 195.4 passing yards per game since 2021 (fourth fewest in NFL). On the other hand, Murray has had many uninspiring performances as of late, throwing just 10 touchdowns over his last 11 games played (including playoffs), and scoring just four total touchdowns through three games this season. Thirty-two of Murray's 60 total fantasy points scored in 2022 have come in the fourth quarter, when the Cardinals were in a need of a big comeback. In this matchup, it is unlikely the Panthers take a big lead on the Cardinals to cause garbage time in the fourth quarter. 

After throwing five touchdowns in Week 1, Mahomes has scored just three times over the last two weeks. He has struggled to click with his new wide receiver group and it likely won't look better in this matchup. The Buccaneers have allowed just 10.3 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks so far this season (fourth-fewest in NFL). Aaron Rodgers had the best performance against the Bucs' defense in 2022, and he still scored just 16.1 fantasy points. Don't sit Mahomes, just temper expectations.  

Williams is the RB8 in fantasy through three weeks this season, and now D'Andre Swift is uncertain to play in Week 4 with a shoulder injury. Williams leads the NFL with eight carries inside the 10-yard line this season, and the Seahawks have allowed eight opponent drives inside the 10-yard line (tied for third-most in the NFL). Williams should get a ton of volume in this matchup and sneak into the end zone at least once.  

Ekeler has had a very meh start to the fantasy season, averaging just 14.3 points per game in PPR leagues. Still, Ekeler is leading RBs in receptions (21) and his rushing production should be much better in this matchup. The Texans have allowed 202.3 rushing yards per game in 2022, by far the most in the NFL. Jonathan Taylor, Javonte Williams, and Khalil Herbert have each averaged 5.0+ yards per carry against them this season. 

The Lions are allowing a league-most 30.2 fantasy points per game to the running back position in 2022. They have allowed multiple RBs to score 11+ fantasy points in each of their three games this season (Philadelphia's Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell, Washington's Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic, Minnesota's Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison) . Rookie RB Ken Walker III is getting more involved in the Seahawks offense, but Penny is still the clear lead back and he should have a very nice fantasy day in Week 4. 

• Cam Akers
• Darrell Henderson

The backfield for the Rams is a mess with neither running back providing much use in fantasy. Henderson has the highest-scoring fantasy week this season among the two of them with just 12.3 points in Week 1. Akers even sneaked into the end zone in Week 3, and still scored just 10.1 fantasy points in the game. The 49ers' run defense has dominated, allowing just 2.9 yards per carry this season. These two are almost un-playable in fantasy this week. 



The Broncos have yet to allow a running back to score 12+ fantasy points in a game against them this season, and Jacobs is averaging a measly 10.7 fantasy points per game through three weeks. In Jacobs' last matchup against the Broncos (Week 15, 2021), he was given 27 carries, and ended the game with just 11.4 points in PPR scoring. His upside feels very limited in this game. Fantasy managers will need him to get into the end zone to produce a solid fantasy week. 

Edwards-Helaire is somehow the fantasy RB4 so far this season, while averaging just 7.3 carries per game and 11.3 total touches per game. He had ZERO rushing yards in Week 3, yet had a rushing touchdown. This type of production is not sustainable on such a low workload. Plus, the Buccaneers are allowing the fewest fantasy points in the NFL to running backs. The list of guys that I would start over Edwards-Helaire this week is quite long.

Olave has 13 targets in each of his last two games and put up a monster performance in Week 3 with nine receptions for 147 yards. With Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry dealing with injuries, Olave's target share should continue to be sky high. He gets to face the Vikings' secondary, which has allowed the second-most fantasy points in the NFL to the wide receiver position this season. Get Olave into your fantasy lineups.

Per Next Gen stats, no player in the NFL has run more routes than Moore this season. He hasn't been very productive for fantasy, but the targets are there, and the yards will come. The Steelers have allowed a WR to put up 100-plus receiving yards and a touchdown in each game this season, plus they allowed Jakobi Meyers to have nine receptions for 95 yards in Week 2. Moore could end as a top-10 fantasy WR this week. 

• Stefon Diggs
• Gabe Davis
• Isaiah McKenzie

The Ravens have allowed 175 more receiving yards to WRs than any other team in the NFL this season, while the Bills WRs have combined for the second-most receiving yards in the NFL. The Ravens' secondary has had serious struggles since last season, and this week could get ugly for them against one of the best offenses in the league. Diggs is an obvious start every week, but Davis and even McKenzie should be in your fantasy lineups in Week 4. 

The Broncos have allowed the fewest fantasy points in the NFL to the WR position in 2022, by a good chunk. They have faced some good WRs so far this season (DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Brandin Cooks, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk) and none of them recorded 75-plus receiving yards in the matchup. After his monster Week 1 performance, Adams has just 48 total yards over his last two games. Luckily for fantasy managers, he has been able to pull in a receiving TD in each week. Adams is too talented to sit in fantasy, but this could be another low-scoring week for him.

Bateman has just eight receptions so far this season. It just so happens that two of those eight were long touchdowns catches. One hundred and thirty of his 226 receiving yards this season have come on those two receptions. Per Next Gen Stats, the Bills are the best defense in the NFL at defending the deep pass since the start of the 2021 season and have not allowed a deep pass TD (20+ air yards) since the 2020 season.

Doubs played the most snaps and had the best game of his rookie season (eight receptions for 73 yards) in Week 3. It seems Aaron Rodgers is starting to trust Doubs more and more and his utilization should continue to increase. However, he gets a touch matchup this weekend against the Patriots, who have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to WRs in 2022. Over the last three seasons, Bill Belichick's defense has allowed just two rookie wide receivers to score more than 10 PPR fantasy points against them in a game (Jaylen Waddle twice and Brandon Aiyuk), and no rookie WR has scored 18-plus points against them in that span. 

Njoku had a monster fantasy day in Week 3, but it was his first big fantasy performance since Week 5 of 2021. I don't typically like to chase good fantasy weeks from guys who don't usually score many points, but this matchup is good enough to risk it. The Falcons have allowed 20.4 fantasy points per game to the tight end position in 2022 (second-most in NFL) --- Taysom Hill, Tyler Higbee and Will Dissly each scored 12-plus fantasy points against the Falcons this season. 

Conklin is the fantasy TE3 so far this season in PPR leagues. He has seen seven-plus targets in each game and has 18 receptions this season; only Mark Andrews has more receptions (22) among TEs. The Steelers just allowed David Njoku to go off for 89 yards and a TD on nine receptions in Week 3. The Steelers defense is very weak over the middle and Conklin should be plenty open all game long. 

 Okwuegbunam has done very little so far this season, with just 46 receiving yards through three games. However, he has ran the second-most routes on the Broncos this season (behind only Courtland Sutton) and he gets a fantastic matchup this week. The Raiders have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points in the NFL to the tight end position since the start of the 2021 season. Gerald Everett, Zach Ertz and Geoff Swaim have each scored 10+ fantasy points in their matchups against the Raiders this year. 

Higbee has been a solid fantasy producer for a tight end due to his target volume, but this week's matchup is far from ideal. In Week 4, the Rams will face the 49ers, who have allowed just 7.3 TOTAL fantasy points (2.4 points/game) to the tight end position through the first three weeks this season. Higbee did score three times over his two matchups against the 49ers last season, so hopefully he can save his fantasy day on Sunday night by getting into the end zone.  

The Bills have allowed a league-low 7.6 fantasy points per game to the tight end position since the start of the 2021 season. In Andrews' last matchups against the Bills (2020 Divisional Round), he was targeted 11 times in the game. He ended up with just four receptions for 28 yards and no TDs. Don't get me wrong, Andrews is a must start every single week, but this will not be an easy matchup for him.

Smith has seen six-plus targets in each of his last two games, and although it is nice to see him being utilized more often, this is not the matchup to risk starting him in fantasy. The Saints have allowed just 5.1 fantasy points per game to the tight end position this season (second-fewest in NFL).