Best NFL DFS Week 4 Watch List: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
Published: Sep 24, 2024
To say that the 2024 NFL season has been a catastrophic bloodbath would be an understatement, but the reactions to what we are seeing are what helps us most in daily fantasy and helps us populate our lists for the best NFL DFS Week 4 Watch List.
Always keep in mind that a new week is just that – a new week. There are a lot of things you can carry over from week-to-week – things like snap counts, for example. But you have to look at each and every game match-up as an individual.
You’ve got different coaches, different schemes and different personnel. What worked well against one team last week might not look so great this week and it’s up to you to make the appropriate adjustments and pivots. It’s also up to us to help steer you in the right direction, which is why I created the best NFL DFS Week 4 Watch List in the first place.
Best NFL DFS Week 4 Watch List For 2024
Last week was certainly an interesting one for DFS players, especially those who played in cash games. Two of the biggest bargains for the week, Cam Akers and Jauan Jennings, turned into free squares and allowed you to have your pick of the litter from the high-end options.
If you sprinkled in guys like Saquon Barkley, DK Metcalf and Chris Godwin, you were well on your way to cashing. If you used Jordan Mason, Davante Adams and Brandon Aiyuk, you probably struggled a little more.
It happens sometimes. Tough spot to be, especially when those guys were all in, what most considered, smash spots. But that’s kind of the way this season has gone.
I know some people had Denver upsetting Tampa Bay on their Bingo cards, but who out there truly believed that Andy Dalton would unlock so much on the Panthers? We threw the darts at Dalton, Chuba Hubbard and Diontae Johnson in GPP tournaments, but in cash? No way.
So, if you cashed, congratulations! If not, keep reading because I’m feeling really good about, what I consider, the best NFL DFS Week 4 Watch List.
Top DraftKings DFS Week 4 Watch List
Jayden Daniels, QB Washington Commanders ($6,500)
As I said above, you have to look at each week’s match-up individually and after doing so, I think we can maintain our enthusiasm for using Daniels in DFS. We watched him systematically destroy the Bengals shoddy defense Monday night and can actually carry over our expectations this week in Arizona.
Being a mobile quarterback is huge in DFS and considering how good he looked, both running with and throwing the football, it is reasonable to expect a similar showing against a porous Cardinals defense.
Through three weeks, the Cardinals defense ranks 23rd overall in DVOA, 29th against the pass and 11th against the run. They did a nice job stifling pocket-passers Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford over the last two weeks, but when you look at how Josh Allen fared in Week 1, it gives you a much more enjoyable story.
Allen threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, but he also rushed nine times for 39 yards and another two scores. If Daniels can move the ball downfield against Arizona, he should easily pay off this price increase.
Chuba Hubbard, RB Carolina Panthers ($5,700)
This isn’t about chasing last week’s points. We get it, the Raiders were ill-prepared for Carolina and their defense isn’t exactly one of the most stellar anyway. This is about investing in Dave Canales’ system which puts the ol’ “featured” tag on the running back.
Hubbard dominated in snaps, carries and he even caught five passes for 55 yards and a score. He should continue to see a similar workload in this week’s match-up against a Bengals defense that just got lit up by the Commanders.
The loss of Sheldon Rankins and B.J. Hill on the Cincinnati defensive line cannot be ignored. Both are dealing with hamstring issues, and both are already listed as questionable for this game.
If one or both are out, expect the Panthers to run right at them as much as they can. The Bengals are allowing 142.3 rushing yards per game and have coughed up four rushing touchdowns already. If Canales can keep the plan going, this will be a nice pay-down.
Rome Odunze, WR Chicago Bears ($5,200)
We talk about snap counts all the time because a high snap-count gives a player more opportunity to do something spectacular on the field.
Odunze has played 94-percent and 99-percent of the snaps over the last two weeks and now has 20 targets over the first three games. He actually led the team in targets this past week and enjoyed his first 100-yard game.
This week, Odunze will square off against the Rams who have one of the worst secondaries in the league right now. The rank 31st in DVOA against the pass, they give up the fourth-most passing yards per game (248.7) and have allowed seven touchdowns through the air.
We just watched Jauan Jennings light them up and feel really good about Odunze connecting with Caleb Williams to do something similar this week.
Hayden Hurst, TE Los Angeles Chargers ($2,800)
I actually just included Hurst in my NFL Week 4 Pick Ups to Stream video on the Fantasy Alarm YouTube page, but if you haven’t seen it, I can break it down for you here as well. This is a deep-dive for the season-long fantasy crowd, but for the DFS community, this play, at this price, is how we make our money.
I understand that this is a run-first offense that just lost two key offensive linemen, but when the Chargers are running their 12-personnel, it’s Will Dissly who stays tethered to the line and Hurst is the guy running routes. In fact, Hurst is running routes on 51.5-perecnt of his snaps and is in a prime spot this week.
We’re hoping it’s Justin Herbert under center this week, but even if the team needs to play Taylor Heinicke, a lean on the tight end against Kansas City is exactly what is needed. The Chiefs rank 22nd in the league in DVOA against the tight end, but more importantly, opposing teams are focusing on their tight ends over the middle of the field.
So far this season, the opposition is averaging 11.7 passes for 111.7 receiving yards to the tight end position. If we can see those numbers again this week, oh baby!
Best FanDuel DFS Week 4 Watch List
C.J. Stroud, QB Houston Texans ($7,800)
First and foremost, after last week’s dud, fewer people are going to be looking at Stroud for their lineups. We’ll look at DFS Ownership projections closer to the weekend, but that’s always the way it goes.
He threw for just 215 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and hasn’t posted the numbers most were expecting, especially after adding Stefon Diggs to the receiving corps. But despite not having the rushing upside many DFS players covet, Stroud can deliver the points you need especially in a match-up like this week against Jacksonville.
If you didn’t watch the Bills throttle the Jaguars on Monday Night Football, you missed quite the display by Josh Allen, Stroud doesn’t run like Allen does, but he is more than capable of extending plays with his legs and duplicating the 263 passing yards and four touchdowns we witnessed.
The Jaguars looked lost on both sides of the ball and they’re allowing the third-most passing yards per game (252.3). The Texans are likely to keep piling it on.
Alvin Kamara, RB New Orleans Saints ($8,600)
OK, so he didn’t completely annihilate the Eagles like Saquon Barkley did to the Saints, but this rushing attack is still first-rate, and they are going to feast on the Falcons in this match-up. Yes, Atlanta did some nice work to improve its defense and adding Matthew Judon is big, but this zone-blocking scheme designed by Klint Kubiak and Rick Dennison is going to eat up the Falcons.
Atlanta is already allowing the fifth-most rushing yards per game (151.3) and we watched Barkley tear them up in Week 2. Last week, they gave up a total of 97 rushing yards to the tandem of Carson Steele and Samaje Perine. You don’t think Kamara can do to them what the Chiefs makeshift backfield did? Come on. This one is a no-brainer for paying up.
Michael Wilson, WR Arizona Cardinals ($5,300)
If we’re doing some paying up here on FanDuel, it makes sense to lock into a bargain wide receiver. Wilson profiles perfectly, especially with this match-up against the Commanders. We should see Washington focus on Marvin Harrison who should be a must-play also if you’re paying up here, but we can still get a slice of the Cardinals passing attack here with Wilson.
Washington ranks dead last in DVOA against the pass, and we all know that Benjamin St-Juste is the primary culprit. But Mike Sainristil isn’t exactly the best cover guy either. With such a high game total for this one (50.5), we expect Kyler Murray to start airing it out against this horrendous secondary and Wilson should be a strong beneficiary.
Dalton Kincaid, TE Buffalo Bills ($6,100)
Many will use Josh Allen on FanDuel so they have that slice of the Sunday Night Football game, but even if we don’t, we can get our share paying up for Kincaid who is the sixth-most expensive tight end on the slate. He’s behind Dallas Goedert, Travis Kelce, Brock Bowers and both Trey McBride and George Kittle who might not even play. Talk about a lack of respect.
We’ve been targeting against the Ravens with the tight end and this week should be no different. They rank 20th in DVOA against the position and opposing teams have averaged 10.3 passes for 93.3 receiving yards per game to the tight end when facing them. Kincaid found his way into the end zone last week and that’s just going to be the first of many.
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