Stars of Week 4 

QB: Andrew Luck 31-39, 370 yards, 4 TDs

RB: Rashad Jennings 34 carries, 176 yards, 1 TD

WR: Julio Jones 9 catches, 161 yards, 2 TDs

TE: Martellus Bennett 5 catches, 54 yards, 2 TDs

Andrew Luck find his way here for the first time this season. Won’t be the last time. The Jags did their part to help as well by playing porous defense. Rashad Jennings has been by far the brightest spot on offense for the Giants this season, and he had himself a game against the Texans. Julio Jones carved up the Bucs D en route to a monster game. Martellus Bennett took advantage of a weak Jets’ secondary to find the end zone twice, and he takes top honors for the TE position.

Week 3 Takeaways – A Closer Look 

Each week we take a closer look at a handful of performances and sort out what such performances mean going forward.

- Austin Davis 30-42, 327 yards, 3 TDs

Analysis: Davis entered the season as the Rams’ third string QB. Well, first stringer Sam Bradford went down for the season before game 1, then second stringer Shaun Hill suffered an injury which was expected to keep him out for a few weeks, which led to Davis getting his chance to show what he can do. This past weekend, against a poor Cowboys defense (albeit maybe not a historically bad one as initially thought), Davis had himself a nice game. What should we expect going forward? Note that coach Jeff Fisher has indicated that Shaun Hill will reclaim the starting job when healthy, so that’s the first point of concern. However, statements like that one are rarely ironclad, and quite frankly, Fisher should let Davis keep the job and see what he can do. So for the second and bigger concern, Davis will be facing tougher defenses going forward, with those defenses also having a base upon which to scout his weaknesses.  Davis has guile, but questionable arm strength for an NFL QB. So a long way of saying the jury remains out. If you are in a deeper league and want to take a flier on a QB with some upside, Davis might be worth a look. But for now, at best he’s a low end QB2 in very deep leagues. We’ll need to see more in order to move him up from there.

- Lorenzo Taliaferro 18 carries, 91 yards, 1 TD

Analysis: Each week I’ve written about a Ravens’ RB, and this week it’s Lorenzo Taliaferro’s turn in the spotlight. With Bernard Pierce ruled out for the game against the Browns, it meant that Forsett would be the primary ball carrier, right? Nope, that’s not how Mike Shanahan, sorry I mean John Harbaugh rolls. So what do we know about the Ravens’ RB situation (besides that it’s unpredictable)? Here are a few takeaways: 1) the Ravens are high on Taliaferro, and probably wouldn’t mind working him into the mix as Ray Rice’s replacement, and 2) the Ravens do not want Justin Forsett to be anything more than a change of pace/3^rd down RB. How long Pierce remains out needs to be seen (not expected to be long), but nevertheless, Taliaferro looks like an interesting add for teams in deeper leagues who need an RB with upside. Again, very tough to predict how the Ravens plan to handle their RB stable, best guess: Taliaferro continues to be part of the mix even when Bernard Pierce returns, and by the last six weeks or so of the season, Taliaferro becomes the lead RB. His ceiling is that of an RB2, but it may take some time for Taliaferro to get there, mostly dependent upon Pierce’s roll in the offense.

- Eddie Lacy 11 carries, 36 yards, 0 TDs

Analysis: Lacy was a consensus first round pick in leagues, and rightfully the fantasy football community had very high expectations for him. With Lacy’s fantastic skillset, combined with Aaron Rodgers and the talented WR group taking the opposing defenses’ attention away from him, the situation looked ideal. Through three games, however, Lacy has thrown his name into the ring as the biggest bust so far. Why should Lacy owners not lose their marbles? Well, let’s take a look at his schedule: Seahawks, Jets and Lions. In other words, three teams, each of which is in the top 5 in rushing defense! Better days are ahead for Lacy. If you have an impatient Lacy owner in your league, hit up such league member to see what it would cost to pry Lacy away. He’s still a clear RB1. If the malaise continues, then we’ll revisit. Don’t panic!

- Kelvin Benjamin 8 catches, 115 yards, 1 TD

Analysis: Which rookie WR has had the biggest impact with his team this year? How about Kelvin Benjamin, who has quickly emerged as the top wide received for the Panthers. After just three games, Benjamin sits at 16 catches for 253 yards and 2 TDs. Benjamin is a nightmare for opposing secondaries due to his freakish size, and he’s here to stay with respect to the fantasy football landscape. Benjamin currently straddles the WR2/WR3 line, and should be in your starting lineups if you own him.

- Jeremy Maclin 8 catches, 154 yards, 1 TD

Analysis: Jeremy Maclin is the answer if the question is which Eagles WR served to benefit most from the release of DeSean Jackson. Never lacking talent or skills, Maclin has all the tools needed to be a fantasy WR2. Injuries have been the primary issue, and with Maclin having missed all of the 2013 season with an ACL injury, Maclin owners need to have a contingency plan (i.e. solid backup) in place in case Maclin gets hurt again. But while he’s healthy, he will be a key cog in the juggernaut Eagles offense, and should be viewed as a solid WR2 and a must start in all leagues.

Rapid Fire Pickups 

Each week we throw out potential free agent pickups from each position for deeper leagues, in each case 1) someone who has not been referenced above, and 2) a player available in most leagues.

QB: Blake Bortles, JAX

QB: Teddy Bridgewater, MIN

RB: Donald Brown, SD *should have a field day against JAX

RB: Isaiah Crowell, CLE

WR: Eddie Royal, SD

WR: John Brown, ARZ

TE: Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TB

Week 4 Projections

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees

2. Andrew Luck

3. Aaron Rodgers

4. Philip Rivers

5. Matt Ryan

6. Nick Foles

7. Matthew Stafford

8. Jay Cutler

9. Kirk Cousns

10. Ben Roethlisberger

11. Colin Kaepernick

12. Cam Newton

13. Tony Romo

14. Tom Brady

15. Eli Manning

16. Geno Smith

17. Ryan Fitzpatrick

18. Teddy Bridgewater

19. Blake Bortles

20. Ryan Tannehill

Running Backs

1. DeMarco Murray

2. Le'Veon Bell

3. LeSean McCoy

4. Matt Forte

5. Jamaal Charles

6. Eddie Lacy

7. Ahmad Bradshaw

8. Alfred Morris

9. Donald Brown

10. Rashad Jennings

11. Lamar Miller

12. Arian Foster

13. C.J. Spiller

14. Stevan Ridley

15. Frank Gore

16. Doug Martin

17. Khiry Robinson

18. Darren Sproles

19. Shane Vereen

20. Fred Jackson

21. Pierre Thomas

22. Chris Ivory

23. Reggie Bush

24. Joique Bell

25. Matt Asiata

26. Knile Davis

27. Toby Gerhart

28. DeAngelo Williams

29. Steven Jackson

30. LeGarrette Blount

31. Bishop Sankey

32. Darren McFadden

33. Chris Johnson

34. Lorenzo Taliaferro

35. Alfred Blue

Wide Receivers

1. Calvin Johnson

2. Dez Bryant

3. Julio Jones

4. Antonio Brown

5. Alshon Jeffery

6. Jordy Nelson

7. Jeremy Maclin

8. Randall Cobb

9. Brandon Marshall

10. Julian Edelman

11. Victor Cruz

12. Pierre Garcon

13. Mike Wallace

14. Andre Johnson

15. Keenan Allen

16. Cordarrelle Patterson

17. Steve Smith Sr.

18. Michael Crabtree

19. Vincent Jackson

20. Brandin Cooks

21. DeSean Jackson

22. Roddy White

23. Kelvin Benjamin

24. DeAndre Hopkins

25. Reggie Wayne

26. T.Y. Hilton

27. Golden Tate

28. Marques Colston

29. Sammy Watkins

30. Terrance Williams

31. Mike Evans

32. James Jones

33. Rueben Randle

34. Kendall Wright

35. Markus Wheaton

36. Cecil Shorts

37. Anquan Boldin

38. Torrey Smith

39. Greg Jennings

40. Eric Decker

Tight Ends 

1. Jimmy Graham

2. Rob Gronkowski

3. Martellus Bennett

4. Antonio Gates

5. Greg Olsen

6. Niles Paul

7. Vernon Davis

8. Zach Ertz

9. Travis Kelce

10. Delanie Walker

11. Jason Witten

12. Larry Donnell

13. Dwayne Allen

14. Owen Daniels

15. Charles Clay

- Neema Hodjat is the fantasy sports expert for RealGM.  He can be reached via email at nhodjat@gmail.com and followed on twitter at @NeemaHodjat.