Fantasy Football 2018: Best flex players not to miss in Week 4
By Dan Salem
Many top players keep under performing, meaning your flex players will make or break Week 4 of your Fantasy Football season. These are 2 WRs and 2 RBs you can’t miss.
Through three weeks of the Fantasy Football 2018 season, not much has gone according to plan. Ryan Fitzpatrick is the leading scorer and leading quarterback in standard fantasy leagues. Aaron Rodgers is the 10th-ranked QB; Russell Wilson is 16th at his position; Tom Brady is 21st.
James Conner is the fifth-ranked fantasy running back; David Johnson is 20th and Kareem Hunt is 21st. Matt Breida is tied for the league lead in rushing yards. The consensus top four wide receivers rank 11th (Antonio Brown), 15th (Julio Jones), 17th (DeAndre Hopkins), and 20th (Odell Beckham) respectively at their position.
Jared Cook and OJ Howard have more fantasy points than Rob Gronkowski. The Jaguars defense ranks 10th in fantasy. Things are a little screwy these days. A small sample size caveat is necessary, but unpredictability in the NFL is becoming predictable. The current expert rankings leave us wondering whether we can actually trust that preseason expectations will eventually be met. Facts are facts and certain players keep scoring big.
These are your best flex players not to miss in Fantasy Football 2018 Week 4. Two running backs and two wide receivers you can’t miss.
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Fantasy Football 2018 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Todd Salem’s Top Flex Plays:
For flex picks in Week 4 of Fantasy Football 2018, I’m eyeing one game in particular. The Green Bay Packers have yet to look like themselves offensively. This week they get the Buffalo Bills, who had one good game and two awful games. We know what is real.
Aaron Jones, RB
I may be a week early on Jones, but better to acquire him one week too early than to wait one week too long and have someone else benefit. Jones is going to be the lead back in Green Bay once he gets churning. In fact, in his first game off suspension, he already led the Packers in carries despite Jamaal Williams being the starter.
I relate this situation to one brewing in Tampa Bay. Ronald Jones is going to take over for Peyton Barber sometime soon. The difference is Green Bay’s Jones already has NFL experience and proven himself a capable player. Tampa’s Jones is still struggling with game concepts and is waiting to see the field in his first year.
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Randall Cobb, WR
Doubling down on the Packers this week against Buffalo, Cobb is primed for a big game. Cobb has not been a fantasy presence yet this season, but the non-scoring totals are there. He has garnered 27 targets through three games, just two behind team-leader Davante Adams.
He blows away the rest of the Packer receivers in yards after catch. And Cobb has seen the field much more often than Geronimo Allison each week, including out-snapping him 136 to 113 in the past two weeks when Allison seemed to be overtaking the veteran.
Before shutting down Minnesota, the Bills were one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Rodgers’ weapons should be ready to take advantage.
Dan Salem’s Top Flex Plays:
Because so many of the “top” ranked fantasy football 2018 players are struggling, we know from simple math that only half of them will actually reach their expected levels of excellence. Some are just having down years, or in the case of our quarterbacks, finally hitting that proverbial wall. Picking flex players this week is tricky, because we can’t include current leaders, even if they remain under the radar players.
Calvin Ridley, WR
How many touchdowns does Ridley have to score before people take him seriously? He is currently ranked 62nd, yet has had two monster weeks. Set aside his first game in Week 1, because that was his first game ever in the NFL.
Now that Matt Ryan knows he can rely on Ridley, you should be starting him every week. Cincinnati has been playing solid defense, but Ridley is benefiting from teams doubling up on Julio Jones. He is easily Atlanta’s No. 2 receiver right now. Don’t sleep on their offense, or on Ridley.
Austin Ekeler, RB
Directly behind Ridley in the rankings in Ekeler, who keeps getting solid touches in the Los Angeles Chargers’ offense. He scored double digit fantasy points in Weeks 1 and 2 against poor defenses. Now the Chargers face a weak San Francisco run defense in Week 4. Los Angeles is going to eat them up and Ekeler will be the beneficiary.
Ekeler is the No. 2 back, but a reliable part of Philip Rivers‘ offense in Los Angeles. Who are you targeting in Week 4? Are you already on the bandwagons of these four players? Let us know in the comments below.