Week 4 Rapid Reaction + WTF? Moments

♪ Fantasy you and the whole six, oh one of us ♪ ♪ Fantasy, fantasy for us ♪ - Welcome into Fantasy Focus Monday morning rapid reaction. My name is Daniel Dopp, alongside Liz, Loza, Liz. How are you doing right now? - I'm good, but man, everything we thought was up is in fact down, I think this week, to me, the takeaway immediately in terms of a feeling is patience, a lot of people that we had written off started to come to life a little bit. Now we have to decide, this is the fun part in you and the rest of the focus crew will do this throughout the week. How much of it is real and how much of it is a mirage? - Yeah, we're four weeks in the sample size. It's big enough now that we can kind of take a full look at everything that we've seen from a player, but with that Liz right now, we are just gonna talk about the week for games. I'm with you, make sure you hang out with us the entirety of the weekend and hang out with Liz and I and facts versus feelings, which will come out every single Thursday throughout the season. But tonight we're gonna do a rapid reaction. Listen, I recording this while I have the Sunday night football game on in front of me. Oman Rossant Brown is currently on my screen, Liz, which means I'm sure you're also watching this game, but let's dive into everything that is week four from the NFL slate. (sighs) - Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast. The first player from WCF, Liz, what the fantasy CD-LAM had 17 catches. 17 catches, not targets. 17 catches for 189 yards, one touchdown, and 21 targets, 41.3 fantasy points. This dude was unbelievable. There is no question about the wide receiver one in Dallas between him and George Pickens. It's clearly CD-LAM, like he is him in this situation. 100%, I mean, for context, his 17 catches are the most by any player since Keenan Allen in 2023. He was an absolute ball hog in this game. You mentioned George Pickens. He had a couple of clutch plays, but much more important for real football than for fantasy CD-LAM. - Sure. - Continues to ascend, and he is getting fed. - Yes, he is, he is unbelievable. Let's also talk about a couple of runnybacks with Hatrix Liz Loza, Javante Williams, found the end zone three times. - Another howboy, yes. - 62 yards and three touchdowns. Plus, here's the great part. Five catches for 21 yards, 31.3 fantasy points. I love the three touchdowns, but I also love the seven points from the receiving game for Javante Williams. Absolutely crushed in this one. Take it on Tampa Bay next week. If you are a Javante Williams manager, you're feeling good here after week four. - I also love they did this in this matchup. Now, we've learned that the Texan secondary, much more generous than we were anticipating heading into the season as evidenced by CD-LAM and the prior weeks, we'll get into those stats a little bit. But also, the run defense for the Texans had been pretty stout, and yet Javante Williams continues to truck. This Dallas Cowboys offense is finding a groove, and these two players are benefiting tremendously from it. There's also, you mentioned two running backs that had a Hatrix. Should we move on to Kywin Williams of Los Angeles, Ram 16 carries for 80 rushing yards and two rushing scores, plus you mentioned it with Javante Williams. We love extra production through the air. Williams converted 10 of 13 for 66 receiving yards, and that got him 36.6 fancy points. - Did you say 10 of 13? He had 13 targets and 10 receptions. - With Puganuku back. - That's unbelievable. I mean, this is one of the things. You and I were both in on Blake Korum to start the season. I still am in on Blake Korum as a guy that needs to be on rosters and fantasy football. - For a rushing perspective, sure. - Yes, but the one thing that Blake Korum will not do is this. He will not get 13 targets in the receiving game the way that Kywin Williams does. Unbelievable game from him. Two of Hatrix, by the way, Liz, do you know where the term Hatrix comes from? - Hockey. - Everyone thinks it came from hockey, but no, our producer David Presley definitely knows that it came from, no, it is not even soccer, which is called football, in 1958, excuse me, 1858, a bowler named H. Stevenson, took three consecutive wickets with three successive deliveries in a match in Sheffield, England, and impressed fans took up a collection to buy the cricket player, Stevenson, a hat, H. Stevenson, as a brand new prize, which is where the term Hatrix came from. So it actually came from cricket. - What in the Willy Wonka are you talking about? - I had no idea. I thought it was a hockey thing. I always thought Hatrix was a hockey thing. I had no idea it came from cricket, just another thing that we found out. By the way, I hope they didn't steal bowling, but we have an unbelievable Pete Weber player of the week this week, Liz Loza. - Excellent transition. - Are you kidding me? That's right. What do you think you are, I am. Kyle Manungai, holy smokes, take a bow, Liz. Part of this happened, 30 carries. 146 yards and two touchdowns, one catch for four yards, 28 total fantasy points. A big part of this was because Deandre Swift fumbled in this game and it kind of felt like the shifts turned there in that backfield. Kyle Manungai, unbelievable though this week here in week four. - Well he did Manungai out snap, Deandre Swift 47 to 29. That was the first time that happened all this season. And here's a little fun fact about Manungai. And frankly, you could extrapolate it out to the rest of the Bears offense. Manungai was the third different Bears player with multiple rushing scores in a game this season. The aforementioned Deandre Swift and Caleb Williams, who remained sideline. Each had multiple rushing touchdowns in week one. So we know that while we really hoped it was gonna be Colston Loveland or one of the, quote, big three in Chicago to get that sort of volume, that someone in this offense is scoring multiple touchdowns on the regular. - Yeah, it just feels like it hasn't been the guys that we thought it was gonna be to start the season, Liz Lose. I feel like a lot of-- - You flexed Manungai because of the, you remember we had a DM somebody called into fantasy therapy on fax versus feelings looking for a flex question. And we both agreed that you should flex Manungai because of the upside and here it showed up. - Here it showed up absolutely this week. All right, Liz, let's dive into our biggest takeaways here from week four. - Then here we go. - Girl, Jonathan Taylor, 20 fantasy points again this week. Jonathan Taylor, 20 carries 95 rushing yards and two touchdowns, 22.7 fantasy points. He's had at least 22 fantasy points in three of four weeks this year. And that was including against really tough defenses. Baltimore and Kansas City earlier on in the season. This feels like a really great spot for Jonathan Taylor where as much as I love the cults and all the things that I was hoping Tyler Warren was gonna turn into, it just feels like the receiving game is not playing out. And Jonathan Taylor just keeps delivering weekend and week out and he is the one thing that you can count on from Indianapolis from a fantasy perspective. - I mean, London games are always a little bit wonky. It was concerning though that without Alec Pierce or Keenan Allen in the lineup, Josh Downes had fewer than five fantasy points. The passing game was not clicking and so that meant running it all through the ground and therefore Jonathan Taylor, even Seth MacGow and got a couple of carries in there, which was interesting. But yes, Jonathan Taylor continues to cook, he's got, he's traveling actually to Pittsburgh from London. That's gonna be a trek, right? In week five, not for nothing, the Steelers gave up two different scores to the running back position just this past Thursday night. Yes, it looks like you want to say something like that. - By the way, yes, no, I just wanted to say Daniel Jones scored a rushing touchdown, which is six fantasy points for us. But he finished with like seven point two fantasy points. Everything else about this Indianapolis Colts team right now, including our guy Tyler Warren, just is not playing out the way that we had hoped. But if you have Jonathan Taylor, he has been crushing and looks to continue doing that. - I hope Carly's taking notes about all that. I want to know what she's writing down, but I hope that's included in the pad. Next. - Did you take notes on Nico Collins because when he came back, he was just like an obvious, set it and forget it. - Girl, looked unbelievable this week. - 11th consecutive game played with 50 or more receiving yards, extending the longest streak in the NFL. Now, obviously if he wasn't bothered by lower body issues in that time, it would be even better. But yes, seven catches, 118 yards, two touchdowns, over 30 fantasy points for Nico Collins. What a return. - That's what you're looking for. And we had asked, is there a pass catcher when Nico was out that you maybe want to consider in fantasy? Nope, it is Nico or bust from this perspective right now for the Houston Texans. That is very much how it feels. From a wide receiver standpoint, by the way, for the Baltimore Ravens, it's Zay Flowers or bust. Like he is the guy, unless Zay Flowers is out, he is the obvious and clear wide receiver one of this squad. 10 targets again this week was eight catches for 118 yards, 25.8 fantasy points. I know that Lamar got banged up in this. You'll talk about that a little bit later on in the show. But Zay Flowers is a legit wide receiver one. I think there's still some people with like this scar tissue of the boom bust Zay Flowers that we saw at a start as career. He's kind of changed since he signed this new deal here in 2026. Is any a different player? - Well, I think the knock against him, right, was that he couldn't score touchdowns and we're seeing him do that exactly. He's cleared 25 fantasy points and two out of the three weeks in which he's played. Remember, he in week one left early with an injury in week, Three in Brazil was on a limited snap count and in some like midfield conditions frankly But still abroad and and continue to produce and this week He was limited in practice in Thursday on Thursday and Friday And I was getting questions in my DMs and on X-ing like oh should I start Zay is he gonna be able to go girl I don't care if Zay flowers has a little cue next to his name You are starting him because this is what you will often Receive I agree with that if he is gonna be out There and I know you'll be on the field. He will be in my starting lineup I did not necessarily feel that way though Liz About Drake May I did not feel that way about Drake May and I in fact I think most of us didn't feel that way about Drake May rightfully so though Listen he went off this week 26 fantasy points But three straight weeks scoring under 10 fantasy points gives fantasy managers a reason to doubt whether or not They should start you after what you saw this week though Do you feel like okay, maybe I need to reconsider and Drake May still does exist that top 10 guy does still exist here within the Drake May that we're seeing in 2026 I think we need to contextualize with the matchup against Buffalo We know that defense is very generous now Maybe that helps light a fire and may find some momentum even if my clay does not believe that momentum is a real thing I do and I think it could contribute to the engine turning over right finding something here It is worth mentioning that may did have eight carries for 54 rushing yards in this So we like to see that extra production on the ground. I Personally, you know, I always like to remind everyone that we as analysts take our own advice We're not just out there trolling you who are listening to us I benched him across multiple leagues for Marcus Marielda who admitted the London game what on the second drive So that was complete pain. I was there with everyone I did not drop Drake May and I also advised people not to do that But he had to prove it before I went and started him next week He is facing the Raiders that is a trickier defense than a lot of people think I think the Raiders have this This reputation for being quite easy, but that defense has stiffened that offense in fact has gotten much better under Mike McDonald as well Why don't you talk about the teams? QB Mike McDonald. Please it's gotten better under cussens. This dude has come in and looked unbelievable Three straight games to start the season with three passing touchdowns and then this week against Kansas City 365 passing yards another two touchdowns 22.6 fantasy points. He has scored 20 plus fantasy points in Three straight games Liz and I understand he doesn't do a lot of the stuff that we want in fantasy football He doesn't run the football. He doesn't do a whole lot. He's not valuable at the goal line He's not going to get rushing touchdowns none of that stuff But with the way that they are utilizing him within this Raiders offense and how much he is slinging it out there coming up Well, he's utilizing the offense. I think he and this is where experience is really showing out and he is providing a great learning experience A great education if you will for Mendoza sitting here and just slinging it He has been so pinpoint accurate. We know that he loves a tight end He would talk about it when he was in Minnesota He referenced Kyle Rudolph frankly back in the day as his mattress to throw to that is helping not just Brock Bauer's But the team has two other tight ends that are producing e and Thomas found the end zone in this week against the chiefs here So I have a question opposed to you Knowing that may and cussens will face each other in week five at New England Who are you ranking higher cussens or may? Oh? Gosh, just a little peek ahead just a little a little spin forward if you will so cussens has three straight games scoring 20 plus fantasy points And Drake yes, and multiple touchdowns Drake may had his first game over like nine and a half fantasy points this last week Gosh, that's tough. I There's a part of me Liz listen we eat like you said we take our own advice There's a part of me that just finds it emotionally difficult to bench Drake May for Kirk cussens But right now There you go if I need a win Tell them and there are a couple of leagues in which I definitely need a win I think I have to roll with the guy that has shown me on the field He can deliver what I need from a fantasy perspective because as much as this is a season long game if you're Oh in three or one and four or one and three excuse me coming into week four you're in a situation in which you need to win I think Kirk cussens might give you the best option this week or next week to be able to make that happen But gosh, how tough is that that here we are in week five talking about Drake May and Kirk cussens Liz Losa I mean just like we anticipated you know there was a player that we didn't anticipate frankly coming out of the NFL draft We expected him to be polished into produce and it's finally starting car now. Tate is finally making the turn into being fantasy Relevant he converted nine of 12 looks for 145 receiving yards a career high effort for the rookie in week two Five targets week three nine targets week four twelve targets now I watched him start to pick up steam in week three and I thought well to match up against the Giants We know that secondary is a bit banged up kind of generous Girl he did it again this week and we love his matchup in week five versus Houston tell the folks why Houston as a defense has given up 18 plus fantasy points to a wide receiver in every single game so far this season I would pick Carnell Tate over Wandel Robbins And even though Wandel found the end don't love that this last week Yeah, we love being able to see that but it does feel like Carnell Tate has started to unlock we were so out at the beginning of the year Because it it just frankly did take a couple of weeks Liz for cam ward him it take evolution takes time He's a rookie right you have to find their footing and that we are so unpatient inpatient we're so impatient in fantasy often and here is an example of Hopefully patients starting to wear out starting to take form and now we can play him in a plus matchup in week five Probably not in the wide receiver to range just yet although with two buys starting next week maybe but he's probably more of a flex for me Yes, we will have two teams on a buy in the panthers and the chiefs here in week five so definitely something to keep in mind as we start moving now we got by weeks to factor into all of our conversations Liz Another guy that looks really good Malik neighbors seven excuse me six catches 112 yards and a touchdown 23.2 fantasy points Here's the thing it had been a little bit with James Winston. I just want to say this like I was feeling not great because James came in didn't look good when he took over in that game when Jackson dark got hurt he just looked unprepared he didn't look like the backup quarterback that was ready to take over if his team needed him and then the next game that he played was against your Chicago Bears but it was a terrible weather game. But you still have a game in a half of bad taste in your mouth of like is James not as good as I thought he was going to be at making sure that my guys get fed from a fantasy perspective at least in this one here in week four seven targets with what I said 23.2 fantasy points I'm feeling a lot better about both Malik neighbors and Isaiah likely as passing game options here for the giants took a little bit of time coming into form got to find their flow. It is happening. We know also the good thing about Malik neighbors now is that if he had continued to not be good and if James had continued like we know that there's going to be interception thrown right he had three touchdowns and two interceptions three to two ratio. We know that that is Winston's game but we also know now that neighbors is still good right like that even as a rookie we were like he's going to get a ton of volume he'll drag the quarterback into production and you don't have to worry about him and now we're starting to see that initial analysis despite the momentary hiccup if you will start to take fruit and bear fruit. I love that I love that and I'm hoping that this continues here with Malik neighbors because as a guy that you probably drafted maybe at the beginning of the third maybe the back end of the second but beginning of the third. Yeah this is the guy that like he could really outperform his ADP for you because the reason why he dropped was the injury in situation and now with James Winston it feels like he'd still be a clear wide receiver one. Can I talk about the next player I want to thank you I was going to say can I ask you about Ali Gordon please jump in with this one. I want to talk to you about Ali Gordon because last week as a Devon a Chan manager investor if you will you had some very big feelings about Gordon coming in immediately after a Chan left the field and finding the end zone and now he's done it in back to back games nine carries for 100 rushing yards and that touchdown. He ripped off one long run for over 50 yards looking explosive and in otherwise list list offense and in a Brian Flores revenge game in which Flores called up the blitz like 800% of the time. Yes correct normally we don't see an 800% blitz rate but in this game here before we in fact did that is actually factually correct here's the thing if I was an Ali Gordon manager because I added him off of waivers. I would immediately take this game to start fueling offers and I don't think that anyone is interested but I would absolutely sell high nine carries for 100 yards and a touchdown did you see the rest of the offense I know that's the thing like against this defense he basically had that one big rip for a touchdown which was great scored 11 points on. on that play. But then scored seven points on everything else that he did the entire rest of the game. So if I am an Ali Gordon manager and I dumped a ton of my fab, by the way, it means I at least got the first laugh because I got the first game that's going to be good for him, but I would absolutely be trying to sell because this Miami Dolphins offense just still looked bad. Chris Bell notwithstanding, oh, dude, if his big toe was a third of an inch smaller, he would have had a huge touchdown. But still, I am moving on from Ali Gordon. I don't think nine for a hundred and a touchdown is a sustainable rate. Well, and I also think that week five versus Cincinnati, people are not going to believe that the Bengals defense has improved as much as it has. And they're going to think about the Bengals defense from last year and assume it's a gettable matchup. But I'm with you, so high as well, um, if Ali Gordon was someone that people spent a lot of fab on, a manual Wilson might have been as well after Jadari and price was officially ruled out. Um, is Wilson, though, who we wanted price to be? Yes. This is exactly what we wanted the first round draft pick to be. This is why I touted in Jadari and price, not a manual Wilson, Jadari and price as potentially the best RB two in football, because this role exists for the Seattle Seahawks starting running back. This has been there the entirety of the start of the season, the whole first month. And we just haven't seen it from Jadari and price. Unfortunately, now on IR, and in this game, Emmanuel Wilson goes off 21 carries 81 Russian yards and a touchdown plus three catches for 39 yards and a receiving touchdown for 27 fantasy points. It's so difficult for me as someone that advocated so hard for Jadari and price because what I was advocating for was the role in the Seahawks offense. And I thought it was obviously going to be him as the first round pick. And instead we saw it here with Emmanuel Wilson in week four. Do you think, I mean, Liz, I want to ask you this, we've been talking about Zach Charbonnet as a guy that you need to add off of waivers. He's still not ready to come back yet. Do you believe that Emmanuel Wilson moving forward at maybe in week five against San Francisco is he at least going to be in the flex conversation after what you saw here in week four. It might be only because I think Emmanuel Wilson's performance allows the offense to slow play Charbonnet if they want to, right? Like they don't feel like they have to throw Charbonnet in. And if it were price and the efficiency numbers were what he was posting, then they might feel like they have an urgency issue with Charbonnet. That doesn't exist right now with Wilson. Not for nothing. Wilson entered this contest leading the team in Russia. Tempts with 32. He also had the most inside the five yard line with five. So I said on FFC this morning, if you were going to chase touchdowns in this backfield, which isn't always advisable, although it did work out in this situation, then Wilson would be the back to chase with. And you know, it worked at least this time. You know who else is chasing touchdowns right now? Oh, girl, I cannot, but, hmm, go, go, get into it because I have some thoughts. Christian McCaffrey. Let's be honest. Christian McCaffrey has become a touchdown dependent running back. And I'm going to talk about this with field and Mike throughout the week. I promise you that. Oh, wow. 15 carries for 52 yards and a rushing touchdown. Three receptions for 18 yards. A total of 16 fantasy points only had five targets in this game. He's got two games with 16 or fewer fantasy points. And I know 16 is a big number. But the idea that Christian McCaffrey has become a touchdown dependent running back when you look at his box score is not that crazy. Liz Loza. Also, I mean, one of the biggest points that I tried to make heading into this season was that Christian McCaffrey was kind of a mid-rusher at least at this point in his career because he was coming off of a career low 3.9 yards per carry in 2025. His efficiency stinks. 15 carries for 52 rushing yards. It was the touchdown that saved his day. And, you know, the rebuttal to that understandably was like, well, yeah, but his receiving game work makes the makes up for that for the vast difference in that statistical valley. And so, all right. But now he's entering week five at Seattle. One of the best defenses in the league. Are we imagining that he's going to be efficient in that outing? No. I don't think so. And when you look at all of the four rushing touchdowns, he only has four touchdowns this year. I shouldn't say only four touchdowns and four weeks is a good number. Yeah, that's a very good number. So I'm not trying to, you know, but week one did not have any touchdowns week two had two one yard rushing touchdowns week three had another one yard rushing touchdown week four had another one yard rushing touchdown. He's not having big place from this standpoint right now. If I was going to, if I was a CMC manager, Liz, and I recognize I was already out to start the season, I would be looking to sell right now before you get into situation in which he's not able to find the end zone. And you're losing value on who CMC is. I doubt my other colleagues will agree with that. But I am very much in on that after I have seen him through the first four weeks of the season. And that the grind of the season in his age 30 campaign doesn't start to wear in his efficiency wanes even further. Right now he's the RB eight in terms of fantasy on the season. That's not how you drafted him potentially as like what the fifth overall pick probably. You could have had JS and you could have had I'm on Ross St Brown. There's a handful of guys that would have been really good in that conversation right there. So we'll see how it works out with CMC. Obviously he has not been bad. Still very good 16 fantasy points is fantastic. However, when you look at the numbers and dive in a little bit deeper, there are reasons why we were a little bit concerned. And I think there might be some reasons why I would want out if I were happen to be in the CMC game as of right now. And if the 49ers continue to win like they have been, what is the motivation to change it? A lot of Caleb Black. We've seen way more Caleb Black this season than I ever thought we would based on how they've utilized third round running backs in the past. Liz. All right. With that being said, Liz, our least favorite part of the show, but very informative for us moving forward. Let's dive into all of the injuries that happened here in week four. Ouch, baby. Very out. Let's start with Marcus Mariotta who we mentioned earlier in the program. He left, I believe, on the second drive of the game in London with a knee issue. Now it is being reported that Jayden Daniels is expected back next week. We obviously have to monitor that throughout the week. But Mariotta probably wouldn't play if Daniels couldn't start in week five. Seek one, Barkley. Ooh, this one stung for the entirety of the Eagles offense. Frank, they mean who do they have? Paxton Beglider, the flag football seventh grade QB might be scouted by the Eagles at this point. That's my son, by the way. He entered the medical tent. Barkley did not, Paxton. During the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Rams did not return. And then Tank Bigsby left the game with an undisclosed injury in the fourth quarter. So the Eagles just getting the injury, imp biting all over the place in Philadelphia. Jamar Chase also exited with a concussion. It is worth mentioning that in Chase's absence, T Higgins went off. He's now recorded 20 or more fantasy points in back to back games. And he gets Miami in week five. Higgins does a DJ more this one stung. Oh, I hated this one. He seemed to re aggravate the shoulder injury that messed him up in week two. And we really thought, especially with Christian Gonzalez sidelined in this game that more would have a big effort. Didn't happen. So we'll monitor that. Lamar Jackson was on a tear. He was producing. It was looking fantastic. I think he was at about 18 fantasy points when he left with an ankle issue adding insult to injury. He was seen wearing a walking boot on his left foot after the game. Lad Maconkey, who's been gutting it through this chest issue, picked up a foot injury in the Chargers law. So that's not great. Macon, Maconkey now feeling less and less of a priority. I don't know patients wise whether managers are going to be able to deal with it. Rishi Rice and Taikwan Thornton both left the chiefs game rice very early with a hamstring issue and Thornton a little bit later with an ankle issue. I'm sure that you and the guys will talk about Xavier worthy. He's going to be a waiver wire pickup. Erick Moody should probably mention him might be someone you want to target. If neither of these guys can make it to the field in week five. All right, Liz Lose. Thank you so much for that. Honestly, this is in a part of our show, but I want to bring it up to you anyways. We should have this in here. Dalton, Kinkade, you mentioned DJ Moore was out. I would have thought Dalton, Kinkade would have been a larger part of this offense. One catch, seven yards, only two targets, 1.7 fantasy points. It feels like we've seen this story from Dalton, Kinkade after the first two weeks where he scored 18 fantasy points in week one, 22 fantasy points in week two. He is at back-to-back weeks under four fantasy points. And there has been no DJ Moore in either of those situations. All right, Liz, thank you so much for hanging out with me on this Sunday night. Hopefully you have fun watching what is left of this Sunday night football game. And thank you to all of you guys for hanging out with me as well. Doing another five episodes of fantasy for the record. You're right. I didn't mean to say me. You're right. I apologize. But I know that I can stop you and say that because we are so close. That's right. You know, what is great being able to do another five episodes of this stupid show, fantasy focus. And a bonus episode, facts versus feelings coming out on Thursday as well Liz, it's always great to be here with you. I appreciate you, kid. And for everybody else here, don't forget to let me share that and be kind to yourself. I'll see you guys a little bit later on this week. A door you, Dopp. And I'll see you in person next week. Yes. [BLANK_AUDIO]