We are a quarter into the season, and with that, here is a look at the top Week 4 fantasy storylines.
Ryan Torain only exists to ruin your fantasy team.
You don't want to be completely paranoid fantasy enthusiasts, but come on Mike Shanahan, what gives? Tim Hightower was supposed to have a great game against the suspect St. Louis defense, and it's Ryan Torain who goes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Shanahan said during his postgame press conference that Hightower looked "banged up" in practice this week. Yeah, that's great. How about putting that in your weekly injury report? There is only one conclusion that you can draw -- Mike Shanahan hates your fantasy team.
Jim Harbaugh hates your fantasy team, too
The 49ers announced that Kendall Hunter was going to start against the Eagles. That sound you heard was fantasy enthusiasts rushing to their computers in an attempt to add him, and bench Gore. So what happens? Gore has his best game of the season. That was just mean. But if you are holding Gore on your fantasy team, try to deal him this week while his value is really high.
Arian Foster is back, but now Andre Johnson is out
You almost had to wonder if the Texans' franchise was doomed after Johnson was running free in the open field just before he immediately fell to the ground like a Giants defender faking an injury. Johnson walked off the field, and he is going to have an MRI exam taken on his hamstring on Sunday night. But one thing going in the Texans' -- and fantasy enthusiasts' -- favor is the return of Foster, who looked rather smooth running against the somewhat disinterested Steelers defense. Foster looks like a solid start for your fantasy team going forward. And if Ben Tate misses some time, you could end up avoiding that dreaded timeshare.
Calvin Johnson is pretty good
One of my dreams was realized this year when I engineered a trade to have Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson on my fantasy team. And for one week, it was awesome. And then there was that whole Dre unpleasantness against the Steelers. But Megatron had a great game, scoring a pair of touchdowns for the undefeated Lions. When Johnson was lined up one-on-one for the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter, it seemed like the whole stadium knew that the ball was going to Johnson. Well, everybody except for Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.
Michael Vick, is pretty good, too
The Eagles' quarterback was starting to lose his grip on elite-quarterback status, but he responded by having his best fantasy stat line of the season, passing for 416 yards and two touchdowns. He also chipped in with two touchdowns. A lot of questions came rolling in before kickoff asking if Vick is a starter -- yeah, Vick needs to be started every week. He is matchup-proof at this point.
Early names to add from the waiver wire
Matt Hasselbeck, Eric Decker, Kevin Walter, Jared Cook, Isaac Redman and Stevan Ridley.
For the record, you can submit your fantasy questions to NFL.com Fantasy Live, Michael Fabiano or me on Twitter. But realize, NFL.com Fantasy has 27,000 followers, Fabiano has 34,000, me, I only have 2,400. So your odds are better that I will answer a question, just based on the numbers. So hit me up on both via Twitter or via Facebook. Be sure to catch the latest on the Dave Dameshek Football Program.
