LaPorta was the primary beneficiary against the single-high-heavy Panthers, which was interesting considering both of Carolina’s top two corners were absent from this game. The 13 targets were easily a season high for the veteran tight end, primarily the result of 52 Jared Goff pass attempts in what would become a negative game script. LaPorta routinely found space behind the linebackers as the primary outlet through pressure for Goff, and while it remains unlikely he repeats the lofty target totals, LaPorta’s red zone acumen keeps him a fantasy TE1 ahead of a very different matchup in the two-high-heavy Cardinals in Week 5.
The NFL’s passing leader through four weeks, pending Monday Night Football, took complete advantage of a defense still working to find their identity through the first month of play, leaning on his top option in Tetairoa McMillan throughout. Young now leads the league in passing and can only be caught by Tyler Shough on Monday Night Football, while only Kirk Cousins and Brock Purdy have more touchdown passes than Young’s nine. Even more impressive was the fact that he did what he did to the Lions without two of his top three receivers with both Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette out of action in Week 4. Young and the Panthers head to their Week 5 bye at 2-2 and alone atop the NFC South, soon to be joined by the winner on Monday night. He’ll be a legitimate QB1 when he returns to action against the Eagles in Week 6.
Hubbard’s successes on the ground allowed the Panthers to remain balanced on a night they were without two of their top three wide receivers due to the absences of Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette, cashing in on two scores from 15 and two yards out. Hubbard appears to be locked into an RB1 workload in the absence of Jonathan Brooks, who will be out for 6-8 weeks after undergoing core muscle surgery. His 26 opportunities dwarfed the six of current backup AJ Dillon, the latter of whom gained just seven total yards on six touches. Fantasy managers can start Hubbard with confidence when the team returns from their bye to face the Eagles in Week 6.
Reichard made two field goals in the 40-49-yard range, and another from 50 yards. The Vikings were unable to score a touchdown today, though the offense began to figure things out late in the game. Reichard is a K1 candidate against the Saints next week.
The good news is that Thornton’s ankle was successfully put back into place by team doctors, and he was able to take the plane home with his teammates. He will have a full evaluation on Monday morning and is expected to seek a second opinion. Rapoport adds that Thornton is in good spirits. Rashee Rice also notably injured his hamstring today. Per The Athletic’s Mike Silver, the Chiefs have already contacted Tyreek Hill’s (knee) agent to discuss a reunion. The Chiefs are looking for help in their wide receiver room.
This potential return timeline is a bit surprising. After the game, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Rice “tweaked” his hamstring. Earlier this evening, Silver broke the news that the Chiefs have already reached out to Tyreek Hill’s agent about a reunion, though, so maybe Silver has the inside scoop here as well. Stay tuned.
Love engaged in a long, candid conversation with Cardinals beat reporters after the game today, saying his snaps are being managed because he currently is “not able to go out there and do spectacular plays every single time.” Love said this is probably going to be the “longest year” of his life, and his preseason ankle injury is not the only thing he is dealing with. Love said his body is sometimes just “tired,” and that he would “probably just hinder the team” if he took on more work in his current state. He rhetorically asked, “why not put somebody else out there that’s playing better?” For those wondering, the Cardinals don’t go on bye until Week 14. They face the fantasy-friendly Lions defense in Week 5, which could help Love get his confidence back with an efficient performance.
Waddle was invisible for much of the game until a late red zone touchdown with the Broncos in up-tempo catch-up mode. It was his first touchdown reception as a Bronco. Waddle, who now has three down games in his first four contests as the Broncos’ nominal WR1, will probably struggle until Denver OC Davis Webb figures out how to maximize his personnel, including the struggling Bo Nix. Against the 49ers Waddle was targeted on a meager 16 percent of his routes. Hopefully that rate will rise in Week 5 against the Chargers.
Washington remains one of the Dolphins’ primary returners despite his increased receiving involvement. His day began with a muffed punt that he successfully recovered in the end zone for a touchback. Things improved from there. Washington delivered multiple double-digit gains, functioning effectively as a weapon behind the line of scrimmage and in the flats. He also turned in a 17-yarder via a corner route on play action. Rookie WR Caleb Douglas (ankle) may return for next week’s game against the Saints. If he remains sidelined, Washington should be FLEX-viable, though his ceiling is questionable.
Silver said he spoke to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones, among others, in the locker room, and the group was “all for” signing Hill when he is ready to play. Per Silver, Hill is believed to be targeting a November return. Rashee Rice injured his hamstring today, and Tyquan Thornton suffered what is likely to be a season-ending ankle injury.
Samuel was again a critically important part of the San Francisco offense. He scored his touchdown — his third of the year — on a well-designed red zone target from Brock Purdy. Looking far quicker and more fleet afoot than he did last year in Washington, Samuel has been a consistent flex option in 12-team leagues through Week 4. That should continue in Week 5, though the matchup is much tougher against the Seahawks secondary.
After seeing 14 carries in Week 1 against the Rams, Black now has 17 rushing attempts over his past three games as the Niners’ No. 2 back behind Christian McCaffrey. Black should be rostered in most leagues as one of the best contingency options in the game. As long as CMC is healthy, Black should remain on benches.
Nix’s play — including missing easy intermediate throws in the first half — left Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb without answers, a common theme so far this season. His lone touchdown came on a garbage time score to Jaylen Waddle. Nix was in check-down mode throughout the game against the Niners, finishing with a 4.9 aDOT. He was 5 percent under his expected completion rate, targeting his running backs 12 times. Until Webb and Sean Payton figure out the offense, Nix will be a superflex-only fantasy option without much of a weekly ceiling. He gets the Chargers in Week 5.
Bell’s Week 4 outing was heartbreaking. His near-68-yard touchdown on the Dolphins’ third drive will live with him, and fantasy managers alike, for a while. Malik Willis rolled right out of the pocket, facing pressure and lobbed a wobbly pass to Bell downfield. The rookie wide receiver caught it, took off downfield, stumbled through a leg grab and ran into the end zone. Unfortunately, the officials determined Bell had stepped out of bounds, along the right sideline, during the scramble drill. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley did not challenge it. Upon replay, one can make the case that his pinky toe’s shadow grazed the white line, but it was an awfully close call. Aside from that, Willis sent him a wobbly, incomplete overthrow beyond the sticks on the Dolphins’ first drive and later tried to force a fadeaway jumper to him 25 yards downfield. The pass was contested and fell incomplete. The talent is there. Despite the rough outing, Bell warrants FLEX consideration against the Saints in Week 5.
Engram again had a good route rate but didn’t make the most of his short targets from Bo Nix. Engram, who now has five receptions through four games, is not a fantasy option in any format and should remain on waiver wires for now. He’s been targeted on just 11 percent of his routes this season.
This is Coleman’s second consecutive week catching 1-of-4 targets for three yards. He earned two targets on the second drive, which was encouraging. He should have had a double-digit gain on the fifth drive, but Malik Willis’ off-target throw was far too low. Willis targeted him again on the sixth drive, but the pass clanged off Coleman’s hands as he slid toward the sideline in the end zone. He does not need to be rostered in 12-team formats, but he is worth keeping an eye on for later in the year.
Badie was again the team’s RB3 behind JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey. Harvey led the backfield with ten catches on ten targets while Dobbins had a team-leading 11 carries. Badie would be somewhat interesting in deeper leagues if Harvey were to miss more time this season.
Less than an hour ago, Silver reported that he spoke to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones, among other Chiefs players. Everyone was reportedly into the idea of signing Hill whenever the veteran wide receiver who is currently eyeing a November return from his season-ending knee injury. With Rashee Rice (hamstring) and Tyquan Thornton (ankle) suffering injuries today, the Chiefs need help in the wide receiver corps.
Gordon entered the game on the Dolphins’ second drive, generating one yard and two receptions on three touches during that possession. Things improved from there. After letting nominal starting RB Jaylen Wright and Gordon each play their own drives, the Dolphins eventually began rotating them in and out until Gordon separated on the first drive after halftime. Gordon notched three carries in a row, breaking off a 53-yarder on the second one by navigating traffic and making his way to the left sideline, shedding a jersey grab along the way. On the seventh drive, he had what could have been a breakaway touchdown run blown dead by officials, who thought Gordon was down by contact as he stumbled through the box. It was a close call. He then touched the ball on two-of-four plays on the ensuing drive, including a touchdown run up the middle from 12 yards out, in which Gordon acrobatically vaulted over a downed lineman. Tentatively expect Gordon to be the Dolphins’ starter in Week 5 against the Bengals and treat him as an RB2/FLEX.
The best thing we can say about Wright’s day is that he got the start. The Dolphins kept him out there for the first drive, giving him a chance to keep his position, but he was unable to do so. Ollie Gordon outplayed him as the game progressed, rushing nine times for 100 yards and one touchdown, while Wright was relegated to unproductive offensive snaps and five kick returns for 97 yards. Wright is a zero-floor FLEX against the Bengals next week.
For the first time this year, Smith-Njigba was held out of the end zone. It was a quiet day fore the star wideout, but if 78 yards is your worst day (so far), well, you’ve had a pretty good season. JSN and fantasy managers will hope for a return to the end zone and a little more volume against the 49ers in Week 5.
Jennings simply isn’t meaningfully involved in the Vikings’ game plan. That is unlikely to change in Week 5 against the Saints, especially with the Vikings’ offensive line getting banged up in Week 4. Jennings could be asked to contribute more as a run blocker next week.
It wasn’t a ton of volume, but it was easily Shaheed’s biggest offensive day of the year. He took a pitch for a touchdown for his first score of 2026. He was once again not involved in the passing game, however, and he didn’t do much as a returner again, as well. Shaheed will be back in action — and should not be in lineups — against the 49ers in Week 5.
After a solid effort against the the Commanders where he caught five passes for 69 yards, Barner was once again a non-factor in this one. The 24-year-old is clearly the top tight end in the passing attack, but outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the rest of the options just haven’t done much. He’ll be a boom or bust TE1 for Week 5 against the 49ers.
With just over two minutes left in the game, Hockenson took a knee at the Dolphins’ five-yard line, allowing Kyler Murray to seal the game with a trio of kneel-downs after that. Although Hockenson surrendered the touchdown, he still delivered a TE1-worthy stat line on the day. The veteran tight end served as Murray’s go-to receiver, regularly nabbing passes on short-to-intermediate slants and curls. Hockenson mostly dove forward for a couple of extra yards after catching passes, but he did manage to drag a defender on a 14-yard gain early in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins’ pass rush was very effective today, and Murray seemed to hone in on Hockenson as his primary pressure fix as the game progressed. Hockenson will be a borderline TE1/2 against the Saints in Week 5.