Updated Fantasy Football WR Rankings Week 4: Who to start, best sleepers, injuries, waiver wire picks at wide receiver

It's impossible to know for sure, but it's highly unlikely anyone had Jauan Jennings leading all fantasy scorers in Week 3 with 40+ fantasy points (depending on scoring settings) on their bingo cards. With Deebo Samuel and George Kittle both out, and with Brandon Aiyuk looking closer to his 2022 self rather than his 2023 self, Jennings went off for 11 catches on 12 targets for 175 yards and three touchdowns. Not only is that insane volume, it's even more insane efficiency. While it's very likely Jennings never eclipses that number again in his career, let alone this season, he's now fantasy-relevant for as long as either or both of Samuel and Kittle are out. 

That's how dramatically things can shift from week to week. Tyeek Hill looked locked in as a top-2 WR, but with Tua Tagovailoa going down with another concussion, the Dolphins' offense has looked anemic. Skylar Thompson also went down in this one, so it's still unknown who will be tossing balls to Hill next week. 

And then you have someone like Malik Nabers. No one every questioned the kid's talent, but with as bad as Daniel Jones looked in Week 1, and as bad as Jones has looked at times in the past, there was a lot of worry that Nabers would never reach his potential under the current offensive setup. But then Nabers received an absurd 18 targets in Week 2, hauling in 10 of them for 127 yards and a score. And he kept the momentum rolling in Week 3 with eight more catches on 12 targets for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Nabers is going to receive enough targets where he'll still be an asset even on Jones' bad days. But it just goes to show you again, how much things can change from week to week, especially early on in the season. How will things shift again in Week 4? 

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Fantasy WR Rankings Week 4: Who to start, sit at wide receiver

Rankings based on PPR scoring. These rankings were updated on Sept. 29 and will be updated throughout the week, so check back often. 

Those who played on Thursday are listed in italics. 

Who are the best fantasy WRs Week 4?

Our initial rankings feature the same exact top-3 that we saw in Week 4. So while we still have CeeDee Lamb, Ja'Marr Chase, and Justin Jefferson atop our rankings again in that order. We'll focus on WR4 and WR5 this week in our writeup to mix it up a bit. 

After an extremely quiet opener, Amon-Ra St. Brown exploded in Week 2 for 119 yards on 11 catches. And he followed that up in Week 3 with seven catches for 75 yards and his first touchdown of the season against the Cardinals. The target tree may be shrinking in Week 4 as well, as tight end Sam LaPorta had to be carted to the locker room after making it to the sideline under his own power with an ankle injury. If LaPorta can't suit up, St. Brown will have even more of the middle-of-the-field targets to himself. 

And after a couple of really touch matchups against the Bears and Vikings, Nico Collins gets the Jaguars in Week 4. Collins did still get to 86 yards on four catches for the Texans, but we're expecting more of a splash week against Jacksonville. It would be a surprise if Collins doesn't got for 100+ yards and at least one score this week. 

Who are the best fantasy WR waiver pickups Week 4?

WanDale Robinson continues to rack up bonkers targets numbers this season. The Giants picked up a surprising victory over the Browns in Cleveland, and Robinson had another productive game as he hauled in seven of his eight targets for 61 yards. He didn't receive any rushing work in this contest, but that's in his arsenal as well. With the Cowboys up next, the Giants will undoubtedly have to air it out to try and keep up with the high-octane passing attack of Dallas, so look for Robinson to continue to be peppered with targets. Rostered in just 20% of Yahoo! leagues, he is widely available. 

The Chargers' Quentin Johnston is still rostered in just 45% of leagues. Even with Justin Herbert hobbled with an injured ankle, he was able to find Johnston for another touchdown against a stingy Steelers defense. He only hauled in two catches (on just two targets), but he's clearly becoming a prime red zone target. If he continues to convert on those high-leverage opportunities, then he could be a waiver wire steal. 

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Who are the best fantasy WR sleepers Week 4?

Diontae Johnson erupted in Week 4 with Andy Dalton under center as opposed to Bryce Young. Johnson racked up 122 yards on eight catches and was targeted 14 times. Some may expect Johnson and the entire Panthers' offense to come back down to earth next week against the Bengals, but with a more competent quarterback, Johnson is a sleeper yet again, even in a tougher matchup. We have him at WR23 right now, which puts him in play as a WR2 on many fantasy teams and a FLEX option on all teams. 

Green Bay has a crucial NFC North battle against the Vikings up next, and we think Christian Watson is the type of player that could hit some splash plays against a very tough Minnesota defense. Jordan Love is widely expected to make his return under center, and with that should come more deep shots to Watson. While much of the passing game has been quiet in Love's absence, Watson did lead the team with 67 receiving yards in Week 3, including a 37-yarder. Look for more of that with Love slinging the rock. 

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What are the biggest WR injuries Week 4?

DeVonta Smith went down after a very scary hit. He reeled in a catch early on in the fourth quarter, and a group of Saints' defenders had stopped him and were pushing him back. The play was never blown dead, and Payton Turner flew in from behind and laid a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit on Smith, knocking off the WR's helmet in the process. Smith was later ruled out with a concussion, so his status for Week 4 is very much in question. 

Direct helmet to helmet late hit on DeVonta Smith which left him down on the field motionless. No flag on the play.

pic.twitter.com/dYtFf8RLXB

— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) September 22, 2024

Heading into Week 3, fellow Eagles WR A.J. Brown was ruled out for a second straight game with a hamstring injury. With a Week 5 bye week coming back, it's possible the Eagles will play it safe with Brown and hold him out again, but if Smith is also going to miss, Brown may suit up after all. Even slot receiver Britain Covey went down with an injury in this one, so there's a lot to monitor. Brown was spotted at practice on Friday, but he's still listed as questionable. 

As we mentioned earlier, the Panthers rebounded in a major way in Week 3 with the QB switch to Andy Dalton. In addition to Diontae Johnson reintroducing himself to fantasy managers, Adam Thielen also found paydirt. Unfortunately, though, he went down with a hamstring injury and landed on the IR. This should accelerate the progression of rookie Xavier Leggette. 

Keenan Allen was out again in Week 3 for the Bears with a heel injury. Rookie Rome Odunze had a monster games in his absence, hauling in six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Both players will be suiting up this week, so now the big question is how much of Odunze's target share will Allen eat into?  

Tank Dell didn't practice all week for the Texans and was ruled out. Meanwhile, Jordan Addison will be active today for the Vikings. 

Davante Adams was added to the injury report this week with a hamstring issue. This also comes on the heels of Raiders head coach saying that in response to some players making business decisions in last week's loss to the Panthers, he might have to make some business decisions this week. It's also been reported that Adams is not happy being in Las Vegas right now, so perhaps there is some dot-connecting to be done here. Either way, Adams was ruled out on Friday and will not play Sunday. Jakobi Meyers and Tre Turner get boosted in the rankings, and Brock Bowers is an even stronger TE1 now. 

Chris Olave popped up on the Friday injury report with a hamstring injury. It's always a bad sign to see a new injury on a Friday, but as of now he's listed as questionable. We did move him down some more, but we'll leave him ranked unless he's ruled out. 

And Deebo Samuel joined tight end George Kittle in getting cleared for Sunday's matchup against the Patriots. We're being cautious with him, though, and have him ranked as WR30. Given that this is his first game back from a calf injury and that the 49ers should be able to take care of business against New England pretty handily, San Francisco can afford to ease Deebo back into things. This also led to a significant drop in the rankings for Jauan Jennings.