Week 4: Brady Unstoppable - 12 comments

You don’t need a Start/Sit column to tell you to start Tom Brady. He’s leading all QBs by almost 100 yards per game, and he has two more TDs than the next best QBs on the season. Someone may come along offering you a deal for Brady if you have him — I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t trade him for anything. He looks capable of breaking records this season. The Patriot defense doesn’t look as strong as it once was, so Brady’s going to have to fling the ball around plenty to keep the Patriots in games. Now that that’s out of the way …

Congratulations to our Cafe rankers for finishing third on the web in the Week 3 rankings, according to the Fantasy Pros. Let’s see if we can do ourselves one better this week.

Rank	Quarterbacks	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Tom Brady	NE	at OAK	98.33
2	Aaron Rodgers	GB	vs. DEN	96.50
3	Drew Brees	NO	at JAC	93.50
4	Philip Rivers	SD	vs. MIA	90.50
5	Matthew Stafford	DET	at DAL	89.33
6	Matt Schaub	HOU	vs. PIT	80.83
7	Michael Vick	PHI	vs. SF	79.05
8	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	at HOU	78.50
9	Matt Ryan	ATL	at SEA	78.33
10	Ryan Fitzpatrick	BUF	at CIN	76.67
11	Tony Romo	DAL	vs. DET	75.00
12	Eli Manning	NYG	at ARI	74.00
13	Rex Grossman	WAS	at STL	71.17
14	Cam Newton	CAR	at CHI	69.33
15	Kevin Kolb	ARI	vs. NYG	68.00
16	Matt Hasselbeck	TEN	at CLE	67.83
17	Josh Freeman	TB	vs. IND	67.67
18	Jay Cutler	CHI	vs. CAR	67.33
19	Sam Bradford	STL	vs. WAS	66.17
20	Joe Flacco	BAL	vs. NYJ	65.83
21	Jason Campbell	OAK	vs. NE	65.83
22	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	at BAL	62.83
23	Kyle Orton	DEN	at GB	61.50
24	Chad Henne	MIA	at SD	59.00
25	Donovan McNabb	MIN	at KC	59.00
26	Andy Dalton	CIN	vs. BUF	58.50
27	Matt Cassel	KC	vs. MIN	56.17
28	Colt McCoy	CLE	vs. TEN	54.67
29	Alex Smith	SF	at PHI	48.83
30	Curtis Painter	IND	at TB	47.67
31	Tarvaris Jackson	SEA	vs. ATL	46.17
32	Blaine Gabbert	JAC	vs. NO	45.83

Start: Eli Manning. The Giants’ QB should have both Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham out on the field this week, and the trio of skill position players figures to take advantage of a terrible Arizona pass defense that just made Tarvaris Jackson and the Seattle offense look solid. We had him as a sit last week, and he still managed to produce top-seven numbers. The sky’s the limit in this matchup.

Sit: Joe Flacco. Flacco has mixed two excellent fantasy starts with one poor appearance, burning the Steelers and Rams while struggling against the Titans. This week he faces the Jets, a team that skews more difficult than the Steelers or Rams. We could be in for a repeat of his Week 2 line: 197 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT.

Rank	Running Backs	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Adrian Peterson	MIN	at KC	96.43
2	Darren McFadden	OAK	vs. NE	93.33
3	LeSean McCoy	PHI	vs. SF	89.67
4	Chris Johnson	TEN	at CLE	88.00
5	Ray Rice	BAL	vs. NYJ	86.40
6	Matt Forte	CHI	vs. CAR	84.17
7	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	at HOU	82.95
8	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAC	vs. NO	82.07
9	Fred Jackson	BUF	at CIN	80.50
10	Arian Foster	HOU	vs. PIT	79.67
11	Michael Turner	ATL	at SEA	79.57
12	Jahvid Best	DET	at DAL	78.63
13	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	at ARI	77.17
14	Peyton Hillis	CLE	vs. TEN	76.87
15	Tim Hightower	WAS	at STL	76.50
16	LeGarrette Blount	TB	vs. IND	76.47
17	Felix Jones	DAL	vs. DET	74.83
18	Cedric Benson	CIN	vs. BUF	74.53
19	James Starks	GB	vs. DEN	73.08
20	~~Daniel Thomas~~	MIA	at SD	67.63
21	Ryan Mathews	SD	vs. MIA	67.62
22	Darren Sproles	NO	at JAC	65.67
23	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	at ARI	65.57
24	Steven Jackson	STL	vs. WAS	65.42
25	Beanie Wells	ARI	vs. NYG	64.71
26	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	at CHI	63.97
27	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	NE	at OAK	63.73
28	Mark Ingram	NO	at JAC	63.17
29	Joseph Addai	IND	at TB	63.13
30	Ryan Grant	GB	vs. DEN	63.07
31	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	at CHI	62.30
32	Mike Tolbert	SD	vs. MIA	62.27
33	Willis McGahee	DEN	at GB	62.17
34	Shonn Greene	NYJ	at BAL	61.50
35	Dexter McCluster	KC	vs. MIN	60.57
36	Danny Woodhead	NE	at OAK	59.93
37	Frank Gore	SF	at PHI	59.90
38	Ben Tate	HOU	vs. PIT	59.33
39	Michael Bush	OAK	vs. NE	59.07
40	Pierre Thomas	NO	at JAC	58.83
41	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	vs. ATL	58.13
42	Thomas Jones	KC	vs. MIN	55.53
43	Reggie Bush	MIA	at SD	53.03
44	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	at BAL	51.27
45	Roy Helu	WAS	at STL	50.50
46	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	at GB	50.33
47	Cadillac Williams	STL	vs. WAS	42.97
48	Montario Hardesty	CLE	vs. TEN	40.97
49	Kendall Hunter	SF	at PHI	38.43
50	Deji Karim	JAC	vs. NO	38.13
51	Jerome Harrison	DET	at DAL	34.93
52	C.J. Spiller	BUF	at CIN	34.83
53	DeMarco Murray	DAL	vs. DET	34.27
54	Earnest Graham	TB	vs. IND	32.90
55	Delone Carter	IND	at TB	32.60
56	Stevan Ridley	NE	at OAK	29.03
57	Tashard Choice	DAL	vs. DET	23.77
58	Marion Barber	CHI	vs. CAR	21.50
59	Javon Ringer	TEN	at CLE	20.67
60	Ricky Williams	BAL	vs. NYJ	20.13

Start: Arian Foster. He’s been in and out of the lineup over the first three weeks, but Foster appears ready for a full workload against the Steelers. The competition and the hamstring injury may have you considering keeping Foster out of the lineup this week; don’t. He has as much fantasy upside as any back in football in a given week.

Sit: Daniel Thomas. We included him above thinking he had a chance at playing, but now it appears he’ll miss this game. Be sure not to take the zero and get him out of your lineups immediately. Looking for a “sit” option that actually is playing? How about Shonn Greene? He got going a little bit last week thanks to finally getting involved in the passing game, but things aren’t looking up in his matchup against the Ravens.

Rank	Wide Receivers	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Calvin Johnson	DET	at DAL	95.00
2	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	vs. NYG	94.00
3	Andre Johnson	HOU	vs. PIT	93.33
4	Roddy White	ATL	at SEA	89.67
5	Mike Wallace	PIT	at HOU	89.17
6	Wes Welker	NE	at OAK	88.93
7	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	at ARI	86.17
8	Greg Jennings	GB	vs. DEN	84.83
9	Steve Johnson	BUF	at CIN	81.13
10	Vincent Jackson	SD	vs. MIA	78.00
11	Steve Smith	CAR	at CHI	77.83
12	DeSean Jackson	PHI	vs. SF	77.73
13	Santana Moss	WAS	at STL	77.67
14	Brandon Marshall	MIA	at SD	77.40
15	Percy Harvin	MIN	at KC	76.30
16	A.J. Green	CIN	vs. BUF	75.23
17	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	at BAL	74.93
18	Mario Manningham	NYG	at ARI	73.03
19	Mike Williams	TB	vs. IND	72.33
20	Reggie Wayne	IND	at TB	72.17
21	Dwayne Bowe	KC	vs. MIN	71.53
22	Nate Washington	TEN	at CLE	71.50
23	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	vs. SF	69.48
24	Dez Bryant	DAL	vs. DET	68.43
25	Anquan Boldin	BAL	vs. NYJ	67.50
26	Nate Burleson	DET	at DAL	67.33
27	Deion Branch	NE	at OAK	67.17
28	Jordy Nelson	GB	vs. DEN	67.07
29	Brandon Lloyd	DEN	at GB	67.00
30	Lance Moore	NO	at JAC	65.20
31	Mike Thomas	JAC	vs. NO	64.93
32	Julio Jones	ATL	at SEA	63.53
33	David Nelson	BUF	at CIN	62.63
34	Jacoby Ford	OAK	vs. NE	61.43
35	Plaxico Burress	NYJ	at BAL	60.53
36	Devery Henderson	NO	at JAC	59.79
37	Robert Meachem	NO	at JAC	59.43
38	Mike Sims-Walker	STL	vs. WAS	59.00
39	Marques Colston	NO	at JAC	58.27
40	Johnny Knox	CHI	vs. CAR	57.57
41	Early Doucet	ARI	vs. NYG	57.03
42	Devin Hester	CHI	vs. CAR	56.03
43	Sidney Rice	SEA	vs. ATL	53.87
44	Denarius Moore	OAK	vs. NE	53.17
45	Pierre Garcon	IND	at TB	52.37
46	Michael Crabtree	SF	at PHI	51.70
47	Torrey Smith	BAL	vs. NYJ	51.27
48	Davone Bess	MIA	at SD	51.20
49	Derrick Mason	NYJ	at BAL	50.83
50	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	vs. TEN	47.97
51	Danario Alexander	STL	vs. WAS	47.83
52	Hines Ward	PIT	at HOU	47.47
53	Malcom Floyd	SD	vs. MIA	47.40
54	Brandon Gibson	STL	vs. WAS	45.83
55	Josh Cribbs	CLE	vs. TEN	45.83
56	Eric Decker	DEN	at GB	45.47
57	Donald Driver	GB	vs. DEN	45.10
58	Mike Williams	SEA	vs. ATL	44.17
59	Kevin Ogletree	DAL	vs. DET	43.40
60	Brian Hartline	MIA	at SD	41.67
61	Jerome Simpson	CIN	vs. BUF	39.33
62	Titus Young	DET	at DAL	38.27
63	Jacoby Jones	HOU	vs. PIT	38.17
64	Jabar Gaffney	WAS	at STL	38.00
65	Brandon LaFell	CAR	at CHI	36.63
66	Donald Jones	BUF	at CIN	34.33
67	James Jones	GB	vs. DEN	34.33
68	Lavelle Hawkins	TEN	at CLE	34.10
69	Antonio Brown	PIT	at HOU	33.83
70	Emmanuel Sanders	PIT	at HOU	33.57
71	Arrelious Benn	TB	vs. IND	33.50
72	Roy Williams	CHI	vs. CAR	33.03
73	Kevin Walter	HOU	vs. PIT	32.83
74	Andre Roberts	ARI	vs. NYG	32.33
75	Michael Jenkins	MIN	at KC	30.77
76	Victor Cruz	NYG	at ARI	30.47
77	Chad Ochocinco	NE	at OAK	30.30
78	Greg Little	CLE	vs. TEN	29.83
79	Bernard Berrian	MIN	at KC	29.40
80	Andre Caldwell	CIN	vs. BUF	28.33
81	Randall Cobb	GB	vs. DEN	28.33
82	Austin Collie	IND	at TB	26.97
83	Harry Douglas	ATL	at SEA	26.23
84	Ted Ginn Jr.	SF	at PHI	26.00
85	Jason Avant	PHI	vs. SF	24.77
86	Damian Williams	TEN	at CLE	23.90
87	Steve Breaston	KC	vs. MIN	23.50
88	Anthony Armstrong	WAS	at STL	23.00
89	Dane Sanzenbacher	CHI	vs. CAR	22.67
90	Preston Parker	TB	vs. IND	21.83

Start: Santana Moss. He has a dream matchup against the Rams, who couldn’t contain a guy that entered Week 3 with zero career catches. Moss has managed at least five catches in each of his first three games, and it’s hard to imagine him not getting at least that many in Week 4, with 100 yards and a TD to boot.

Sit: Torrey Smith. You added him from the wire this week, and you’re itching to use him. However, this isn’t the time. Baltimore should have trouble moving the ball with Smith, who caught the eye of Jets coach Rex Ryan as someone that deserves extra attention.

Rank	Tight Ends	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Jermichael Finley	GB	vs. DEN	92.67
2	Rob Gronkowski	NE	at OAK	92.67
3	Jason Witten	DAL	vs. DET	89.83
4	Vernon Davis	SF	at PHI	87.17
5	Jimmy Graham	NO	at JAC	85.83
6	Owen Daniels	HOU	vs. PIT	76.50
7	Fred Davis	WAS	at STL	75.53
8	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	at SEA	73.50
9	Dustin Keller	NYJ	at BAL	73.10
10	Kellen Winslow	TB	vs. IND	72.67
11	Dallas Clark	IND	at TB	72.13
12	Brandon Pettigrew	DET	at DAL	71.23
13	Jermaine Gresham	CIN	vs. BUF	71.00
14	Greg Olsen	CAR	at CHI	67.00
15	Scott Chandler	BUF	at CIN	64.50
16	Ben Watson	CLE	vs. TEN	60.17
17	Todd Heap	ARI	vs. NYG	58.20
18	Ed Dickson	BAL	vs. NYJ	57.33
19	Anthony Fasano	MIA	at SD	54.33
20	Randy McMichael	SD	vs. MIA	50.96
21	Brent Celek	PHI	vs. SF	50.33
22	Tony Scheffler	DET	at DAL	47.67
23	Visanthe Shiancoe	MIN	at KC	47.50
24	Heath Miller	PIT	at HOU	46.83
25	Jeremy Shockey	CAR	at CHI	46.00
26	Evan Moore	CLE	vs. TEN	44.67
27	Jeff King	ARI	vs. NYG	44.33
28	Lance Kendricks	STL	vs. WAS	43.50
29	Daniel Fells	DEN	at GB	43.00
30	Chris Cooley	WAS	at STL	40.97
31	Marcedes Lewis	JAC	vs. NO	40.50
32	Antonio Gates	SD	vs. MIA	40.00
33	Jared Cook	TEN	at CLE	38.83
34	Zach Miller	SEA	vs. ATL	32.63
35	Leonard Pope	KC	vs. MIN	28.50
36	Kevin Boss	OAK	vs. NE	27.83

Start: Dustin Keller. The tight end has become a major part of the Jets offense early on, catching TDs in two of his first three games while averaging over 80 yards each week. On the surface this looks like a tough matchup, but Keller is playing much better than any TE the Ravens have faced so far.

Sit: Randy McMichael. With Gates out, smart owners may be looking to pick up McMichael and plug him into the lineup, hoping for Gates-level production. It’s not going to happen. He caught two TDs in Gates’ first missed game last year, but those were his only two catches (for 23 yards) in that one. He averaged just over 20 yards in the other five games Gates was out, failing to score in any of them. He’s just not a good bet for fantasy relevance.

Rank	Kickers	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	vs. NE	80.53
2	Neil Rackers	HOU	vs. PIT	77.93
3	Jason Hanson	DET	at DAL	76.67
4	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	at OAK	74.57
5	Mason Crosby	GB	vs. DEN	74.00
6	John Kasay	NO	at JAC	72.60
7	David Akers	SF	at PHI	71.30
8	Rob Bironas	TEN	at CLE	71.10
9	Nick Folk	NYJ	at BAL	69.60
10	Dan Bailey	DAL	vs. DET	68.10
11	Alex Henery	PHI	vs. SF	67.53
12	Billy Cundiff	BAL	vs. NYJ	67.03
13	Robbie Gould	CHI	vs. CAR	66.80
14	Adam Vinatieri	IND	at TB	66.50
15	Ryan Longwell	MIN	at KC	66.33
16	Matt Bryant	ATL	at SEA	65.83
17	Jay Feely	ARI	vs. NYG	65.33
18	Rian Lindell	BUF	at CIN	65.33
19	Dan Carpenter	MIA	at SD	65.03
20	Josh Brown	STL	vs. WAS	64.70
21	Matt Prater	DEN	at GB	64.03
22	Mike Nugent	CIN	vs. BUF	63.00
23	Connor Barth	TB	vs. IND	61.23
24	Josh Scobee	JAC	vs. NO	60.80
25	Shaun Suisham	PIT	at HOU	60.53
26	Graham Gano	WAS	at STL	60.17
27	Nick Novak	SD	vs. MIA	59.67
28	Lawrence Tynes	NYG	at ARI	59.47
29	Olindo Mare	CAR	at CHI	58.63
30	Phil Dawson	CLE	vs. TEN	57.33
31	Steven Hauschka	SEA	vs. ATL	55.22
32	Ryan Succop	KC	vs. MIN	53.23

Start: Jason Hanson. He’s leading fantasy leagues in points, and he has a great matchup against the Cowboys.

Sit: Matt Bryant. He hasn’t received too many chances at scoring this year, resulting in a low total. He also may have to battle the elements in Seattle, making his outlook poor again.

Rank	Team Defense	Team	Opp	Avg
1	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI	vs. SF	79.83
2	Tennessee Titans	TEN	at CLE	73.05
3	Atlanta Falcons	ATL	at SEA	72.87
4	New York Jets	NYJ	at BAL	71.75
5	San Diego Chargers	SD	vs. MIA	71.67
6	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	vs. NYJ	71.67
7	Green Bay Packers	GB	vs. DEN	70.50
8	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	at KC	70.07
9	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB	vs. IND	68.40
10	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	at HOU	67.50
11	Washington Redskins	WAS	at STL	67.28
12	Chicago Bears	CHI	vs. CAR	66.32
13	New Orleans Saints	NO	at JAC	65.92
14	Detroit Lions	DET	at DAL	64.65
15	Houston Texans	HOU	vs. PIT	63.13
16	New York Giants	NYG	at ARI	59.83
17	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	vs. DET	59.83
18	Cleveland Browns	CLE	vs. TEN	56.87
19	Buffalo Bills	BUF	at CIN	56.58
20	Carolina Panthers	CAR	at CHI	56.15
21	San Francisco 49ers	SF	at PHI	55.33
22	New England Patriots	NE	at OAK	54.60
23	Arizona Cardinals	ARI	vs. NYG	53.35
24	Indianapolis Colts	IND	at TB	52.40
25	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	vs. BUF	52.22
26	St. Louis Rams	STL	vs. WAS	52.20
27	Kansas City Chiefs	KC	vs. MIN	50.08
28	Seattle Seahawks	SEA	vs. ATL	46.68
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	JAC	vs. NO	46.08
30	Oakland Raiders	OAK	vs. NE	44.05
31	Denver Broncos	DEN	at GB	43.50
32	Miami Dolphins	MIA	at SD	42.53

Start: Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They draw Curtis Painter on Monday night in a road game for the newly-minted starting QB. Good luck with that one.

Sit: San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers fantasy defense has gotten off to a hot start in the first three weeks, but they should struggle against a dangerous Eagles offense.

R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.

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12 Responses to “Week 4: Brady Unstoppable”

y0ukn0wit says:

September 30, 2011 at 12:52 pm

Decker should be higher than that…
Reply
Fartman says:

September 30, 2011 at 3:59 pm

u mean STAFFORD UNSTOPPABLE….. I’m playing against Brady this week…. SUCK IT UP BRADY.
Reply
Fartman says:

September 30, 2011 at 4:01 pm

Like what 40? I have him to.. home he pans out
Reply
Ian Griffiths says:

September 30, 2011 at 6:53 pm

Johnny Know or Dexter McCluster for flex pos?
Reply
daullaz says:

September 30, 2011 at 7:06 pm

@Ian Griffiths: I like McCluster for you.
Reply
umma10 says:

September 30, 2011 at 7:57 pm

Is Winslow really going to do better than Dickson, Gresham, or Moore?
Reply
Navyseal says:

September 30, 2011 at 8:44 pm

hey Ian — I’m tempted to start Knox this wknd over the likes of Manningham (concuss.) and Lloyd (potential “bust”) because RoyWills is still a punk who will never be ANYBODY’S WR1, and Knox’s targets have increased each wk, from 4 to 6 to 9 last wknd. Over the last 2 seasons, Knox has notched 5TDs in each, this being wk #4 and Knox still looking to hit paydirt, statistically he may be “due” in a manner of speaking… But I will probably roll with Lloyd for one more week before resorting to Cutler’s default WR1 in Knox… my 2c
Reply
Deryck Bogs says:

October 1, 2011 at 12:11 pm

Whoo Do I start, Michael Jenkins, Meachum, orr Victor Cruz?

And on a side note I got offered, Larry Fitz, Jon Stewert, Tolbert, and Hightower for Ryan Mathews, Cedric Jailbird Benson, and Miles Austin… Should I Accept or ride out mathews in hopes he doesnt get injured…
Reply
Youngsir620 says:

October 1, 2011 at 12:25 pm

Who do i start as my flex, Steve Smith (carolina), Tim Hightower, or Felix Jones?
Reply
Deryck Bogs says:

October 1, 2011 at 12:29 pm

Being from chicago and knowing how bad the bears corners get beat I think Steve smith will have the best upside… cam is gonna throw throw throw cuz Williams and Stewert have been pretty unproductive thus far.. Hightower is in the shanahan ride, Helu will get more carries than you think and is more explosive… Felix jones could have an upside but Detroits Line is pretty solid, and and i see megatron owning the whole team soo im guessing dallas run game is going to be nonexistent when they are playing from behind
Reply
lidlchris says:

October 2, 2011 at 12:13 am

Meachem or Henderson?
Reply
oranger68 says:

October 2, 2011 at 3:18 am

AJ Green or Dez Bryant
Reply