Week 4 DFS locks of the week

As we’ve noted several times this week, Week 3 was brutal for the “chalk” plays. Our Week 3 DFS locks were pretty iffy, but considering how much of a mess the week was, we actually hit on a fair amount of players.

We’ll definitely be looking for a higher hit rate in Week 4. Below are some of the players I’m locking into Week 4 DFS lineups.

Note: There’s always a case to be made for playing any player in tournaments. This list of “locks” is cash game focused, but I typically like these players across all contest types.

Quarterbacks

Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Brady is just unstoppable right now. The Panthers gave up three passing scores to Drew Brees last week. Now they face Brady in New England.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Brees gets the Dolphins in London. The Dolphins just gave up 10.8 YPA to the Jets — the Jets! — last week.

Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals

Most people were too quick to apply the “washed” tag to Palmer’s name. His 123 aimed attempts rank third in the NFL, as do his 925 passing yards. The 49ers have given up the 10th-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

Trevor Siemian, Denver Broncos

Siemian will be overlooked, but he’s extremely cheap on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The Raiders have given up the fourth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, and Siemian has been extremely efficient. Don’t overlook the fact he has 14 rushing attempts, either. That’s tied with Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton.

Running backs

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

Elliott has struggled to begin the year, gaining just 3.5 YPC without scoring a touchdown through three games. Things will open up in Week 4 against the Rams, who have given up the third-most fantasy points to running backs, including 326 rushing yards and four touchdowns over the past two games.

LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills

Like Elliott, McCoy has struggled to start the year. But the Falcons struggle against pass-catching backs — they have given up the second-most receptions (26) and fourth-most yards (220) and tied for the most touchdowns (2) to running backs out of the backfield. They have also given up over 4.5 YPC.

Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

McCaffrey is in a great spot against the Patriots, who struggle against pass-catching backs. I explain more on McCaffrey here.

Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings

Cook’s 61 rushing attempts quietly rank third among all running backs, and he has a strong 4.7 YPC to begin his career. His Week 4 opponent — the Lions — have given up the eighth-most fantasy points to the position.

Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars

Fournette’s Jaguars have a good matchup against the Jets, who have given up the seventh-most fantasy points to the position this year. Fournette has a touchdown in three straight games and ranks fourth in rushing attempts (57). His volume and production have been steady, and the matchup is right.

Wide receivers

Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants

I explained my love for Beckham this week in the PPO breakouts piece, but I’ll do a brief recap here. He played 82.9 percent of New York’s snaps and had a 13-9-79-2 line, indicating that he’s fully back from his ankle injury. The Buccaneers have given up the most fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts.

Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

Jones has a great individual matchup primarily against E.J. Gaines, and he remains deadly efficient, gaining 2.98 YPPR, fourth-most in the NFL.

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

After (correctly) saying he should get the ball more, Green posted a 13-10-111-1 line against the Packers. This week he draws the Cleveland Browns. Green has at least 5 inches and at least 15 pounds on Cleveland’s starting corners. They won’t be able to cover him.

Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos

Sanders (28) and Thomas (24) both rank in the top 15 in targets through three weeks. These two alone account for 56 percent of Denver’s targets.

Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Fitzgerald caught fire in Week 3 and now he gets the second-best individual matchup of the week in Week 4 against 49ers slot man K’Waun Williams, who has given up 0.36 fantasy points per route run — sixth-most among all slot corners.

Rishard Matthews, Tennessee Titans

Matthews drew nine targets with Corey Davis out of the lineup in Week 3. Davis won’t play again in Week 4, and Matthews is extremely cheap for a player who will see that much volume.

Tight ends

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

After an off Week 1 — which would have been much better if his near-touchdown had been a real touchdown — Gronkowski has caught 14 of 19 targets for 205 yards and two touchdowns, all of which are either first or second among all tight ends over the past two weeks. He’s fine.

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Kelce has caught 14 of 16 targets for 144 yards through three games, and he’s still fantastic after the catch, with 6.8 average YAC. The Redskins have already given up two 100-plus yard games to opposing team’s tight end groups.

Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles

Ertz leads all tight ends with 21 receptions and 245 yards. This week he has the best individual TE matchup of the week — and it’s not even close.