Week 4 Studs/Duds
Four players who cashed in and four who left managers holding the bag. Here's who moved the needle in Week 4.
Yo! Real quick, before we get to the picks →
Novig users are 10x more likely to profit compared to competitors.
Same games, better odds, built only for sports.
New to Novig? Deposit $10, get $50.
Now, on to the picks…
🔥 QB Stud: Drake Maye (NE)
Yes, there was another interception, but after a rough first three weeks, Maye finally looked like the guy who finished as last season's overall QB2.
Threw for 269 yards and three TDs in a 29-26 win over Buffalo. He had thrown just one TD through his first three games combined.
Added 53 rushing yards on eight carries, regularly escaping pressure and turning broken plays into chunk gains.
It could have been bigger: a potential 40+ yard completion slipped through Romeo Doubs' hands in the fourth quarter.
Keep an eye on his right shoulder at practice, and Week 5 against the Raiders will come without Mack Hollins or A.J. Brown. Still, this was the performance that should calm his managers' nerves.
🧊 QB Dud: Kyler Murray (MIN)
Murray completed 27 passes in a win and still left fantasy managers with almost nothing.
Threw for 247 yards with zero touchdowns against Miami.
Ran six times for just 16 yards. He's one of only four players in NFL history to average 200+ passing yards and 30+ rushing yards per game over a career.
Took four sacks, sometimes by holding the ball too long, and kept checking down to T.J. Hockenson as the pressure arrived.
The setup under Kevin O'Connell still offers hope, but two games after his concussion return, Murray is a high-end QB2 against the Saints in Week 5.
🔥 RB Stud: Kyle Monangai (CHI)
Monangai had exactly 10 carries in each of the first three games, until D'Andre Swift lost a fumble and the Bears gave him the backfield.
Took 30 carries for 146 yards against the Jets, triple his previous workload.
Chicago leaned hard on the run with Tyson Bagent under center: 49 rushing attempts to 34 passes.
The talent was already there. He ranked 16th in True Yards Per Carry (4.5) as a rookie, and Ben Johnson has publicly praised him as an ascending player who could take over the lead role.
It's unclear whether Swift was benched or slowed by his lingering knee issue, so watch his practice reports. With bye weeks starting in Week 5, Monangai is a priority stash right now.
🧊 RB Dud: Bucky Irving (TB)
Irving got his touches in Green Bay, but not the ones that score fantasy points.
Ran 16 times for 61 yards and wasn't targeted once, his first game of the season without a catch.
Sean Tucker scored a goal-line TD late in the second quarter, and Kenneth Gainwell caught a 10-yard TD early in the fourth.
This was the summer's red flag: Irving had zero carries inside the 5-yard line last season, while Tucker led the team with nine.
He's still Tampa's lead back and just inside RB2 range for Week 5 against the Cowboys. Without high-value touches, though, his ceiling stays capped. Up next: a receiver who saw more targets than ever before in his career.
🔥 WR Stud: CeeDee Lamb (DAL)
Lamb has been rewarding managers who drafted him in the late first round all season, and against Houston he had the best game of his career.
Caught 17 of 21 targets for 189 yards, including the go-ahead TD with under 30 seconds left.
He had never seen more than 17 targets in a game before this one.
That's three straight 100-yard games: 153, 112 and 189, for 454 yards across the stretch.
Don't expect 21 targets again, but Lamb is a plug-and-play alpha WR1 against the Bucs on Thursday night.
🧊 WR Dud: Parker Washington (JAX)
Washington started the season as Jacksonville's clear WR1 but nearly disappeared against Cincinnati.
Caught 1 of 3 targets for 7 yards, plus a 3-yard carry.
Jaguars receivers combined for just 11 of Trevor Lawrence's 23 targets, with Brenton Strange taking the lead role against a Bengals defense that struggles with tight ends.
His best play, a 40-yard catch-and-run that would have sealed the game, was called back after replay showed he stepped out after seven yards.
This looks like a game-script blip, not a demotion. Washington is still the Jags' No. 1 receiver and a WR2 against the Eagles in Week 5.
🔥 TE Stud: T.J. Hockenson (MIN)
Hockenson had just nine catches through three weeks and looked like a low-floor TE2. Then he caught every ball thrown his way.
Went a perfect 13-for-13 for 119 yards against Miami.
Became Kyler Murray's go-to pressure relief, working short-to-intermediate slants and curls as the Dolphins' pass rush closed in.
He gave up a touchdown on purpose, taking a knee at the 5-yard line so Minnesota could run out the clock.
One big game doesn't erase a slow start, and he's a borderline TE1/2 against the Saints in Week 5. This volume does show his ceiling, though.
🧊 TE Dud: Dalton Kincaid (BUF)
Last season's most efficient tight end per route barely ran routes in a game where Buffalo needed him.
Caught 1 of 2 targets for 7 yards in the loss to New England.
Ran only 22 routes on Josh Allen's 40 dropbacks. That's fewer than Josh Palmer and just six more than DJ Moore, who left after a quarter and a half with a shoulder injury.
When he's on the field, he earns looks. He led all tight ends last season in both yards per route run (3.02) and target rate per route run (25.9%).
This is a usage problem, not a talent problem, and Weeks 1 and 2 (130 yards, then 95 and a TD) showed what he can do. The Bills need to get him back in the plan before Monday night against the Rams.
That's the list. Keep your eye on these guys to see whether Week 4 was a blip or the start of a bigger trend.
-Joe
P.S. you can get $50 after playing just $10 on NOVIG if you sign up using code HOLKASHOW