Week 4 Fantasy Rankings: Fantasy football player rankings to set your lineups

Tim Heaney

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Griffin Missant

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Week 4 Fantasy Rankings: Fantasy football player rankings to set your lineups image

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Fantasy football rankings help league players at every stage of the NFL season. 

Between draft player rankings, weekly inseason player ranking reports, and season-long or offseason categories like rookies and dynasty league rankings, fantasy managers should refer to many different types of ranking notes.

We at The Sporting News have created this fantasy football player rankings hub, centralizing all of our offerings to guide you through each chapter on the journey to (hopefully) a fantasy league championship.

Use the above chapter links above to jump to your desired sections. 

NEW - FANTASY FOOTBALL TOOLS: NFL Player Stats | NFL Transactions | NFL Depth Charts | Fantasy Injury Reports

Fantasy Football Rankings This Week

QB Fantasy Week 4 Rankings

Updated Sept. 24

PPR Fantasy Football Week 3 Rankings

These point-per-reception (PPR) rankings outline which players to start and bench in fantasy leagues that reward one point or one-half point for each catch, regardless of position.

Updated Sept. 24

Half-PPR Fantasy Week 3 Rankings

For fantasy players in leagues that only reward half a point for a catch, click for your weekly fantasy rankings:

Updated Sept. 24

Defense & Kicker Fantasy Week 3 Rankings

Updated Sept. 23

Fantasy Football Dynasty Player Rankings 2025

Fantasy Football Rest-of-Season Player Rankings 2025

The first edition will be published during Week 4 of the 2025 fantasy league season.

Fantasy Football 2025 Draft Rankings (Archived)

Last updated: Aug. 29, 2025

Fantasy 2025 PPR Draft Cheat Sheet: Top 300 Players

Fantasy 2025 QB Draft Player Rankings

Fantasy 2025 PPR Draft Player Rankings (RB/WR/TE)

Fantasy 2025 Non-PPR Draft Cheat Sheet: Top 300 Players

Fantasy 2025 Non-PPR Draft Player Rankings (RB/WR/TE)

Fantasy 2025 Defense & Kicker Rankings

Fantasy Football Rookie Player Rankings 2025 (Archived)

Last updated: Aug. 2025

Everything you need to know about fantasy football rankings

How are weekly fantasy football rankings created?

Weekly fantasy rankings rely significantly on the team matchups every weekend.

You may see some players who were drafted in the middle rounds be ranked near or ahead of much more talented, highly regarded star names due to favorable circumstances that allow many fantasy points to a particular position.

Team news, depth charts, in-game positional matchup advantages and disadvantages, positive or negative game scripts, Vegas sportsbook odds and spreads, and more NFL data are implemented into ranking players each week.

How do PPR fantasy rankings differ from non-PPR and half-PPR rankings?

PPR rankings often give a boost to players who earn more targets. Simply put, the more opportunities seen, the more chances to accrue easy points with catches, even if it’s on midrange routes that don’t go double-digit yards.

This is how the likes of Julian Edelman and Wes Welker made a living with Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. In similar ways, a possession, chain-moving type of receiver often will get a boost in PPR fantasy games. 

Target count potential is a reliable tiebreaker to use when deciding on which players to play in a PPR game.

On the flip side, non-PPR games (and half-PPRs, to a degree) reward players who can maximize every target downfield.

Deep burners and field-stretchers like the Kansas City Chiefs’ Xavier Worthy and the Detroit Lions’ Jameson Williams see their values nudge upward in leagues that aren’t full PPR because they’re likelier to gain their production on chunk plays. They don't need to rely on volume.

How often are fantasy football rankings updated?

Weekly inseason fantasy rankings: typical update schedule

For Weeks 1-17 (and, to a lesser degree, Week 18 and the NFL playoffs, which may have standalone fantasy contests), we at The Sporting News aim to keep the following schedule:

  • First weekly rankings release: Sunday night
  • Key updates for injuries, depth chart movement, transactions: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday after inactives
  • After final NFL injury reports: Friday, Saturday
  • Sundays: following the release of morning inactives, afternoon inactives, and Sunday Night Football inactives.

Preseason fantasy draft rankings: typical update schedule

In the months and weeks leading up to the regular season, draft rankings will be updated on-demand when news, injuries, or other roster decisions dictate necessary.

We strive to keep fantasy rankings updated on-demand and heading into major draft weekends, including the final two weekends and August and September around the United States' Labor Day weekend holiday.

Dynasty fantasy rankings: typical update schedule

  • Offseason: Many fantasy rankings for the following season get an initial release after the Super Bowl.
  • NFL free agency: The big player movement will prompt a new update, determined by landing spots, future opportunity expectations, and more circumstances with new teams.
  • NFL Draft: After the seven rounds are all selected and undrafted free-agent signings (UDFAs) are locked in, the best time to have a true first edition would be in early May, heading into the fantasy offseason.
  • Preseason: Several updates before the first regular-season kickoff.
  • Inseason: Monthly, at minimum, and on-demand when injuries, trades, releases, depth chart movement, and more long-term NFL roster implications occur.

How are superflex and 2QB rankings different from typical fantasy player rankings?

Superflex and two-quarterback (2QB) leagues allow you to play up to or a required pair of QBs. Superflex stands for a flex spot that allows you to play a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, or tight end (commonly listed as QB/RB/WR/TE).

Quarterbacks score many more points -- or at least have much higher upside for points -- every week, and incorporating more QBs into fantasy lineups drastically alters the player pool and positional advantages.

What sites allow you to sync your fantasy football draft to their rankings for free?

Among the leading fantasy league service sites that allow you to connect The Sporting News' fantasy rankings to your app software are:

  • FantasyPros
  • Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
  • ESPN Fantasy
  • CBS Fantasy Sports

These services can put your lineup questions into proper context by incorporating our fantasy rankings into their systems.

Tim Heaney

Tim Heaney joined The Sporting News in 2025 as Fantasy Football Editor. For nearly 20 years, the FSWA award winner has created fantasy NFL and MLB rankings, podcasts, and analysis for sites including ESPN, USA Today/Sports Weekly, KFFL, RotoWire, and RotoBaller. The Boston University alum hopes he’s helped a few followers win their leagues, even when he’s a year too early on breakout players.

Griffin Missant

Griffin Missant joined The Sporting News in 2025 as a fantasy football intern. He graduated from Grand Valley State University, where he covered the Lakers football program. He has also worked for Sleeper and the Fantasy Trade Room. He has played fantasy for over a decade, and has been passionate about fantasy football ever since.