To an extent, injuries dictate the success — or lack thereof — of any and all fantasy football teams.
Only a month into the season, we’ve lost a handful of elite NFL players who were likely selected in or around the first five rounds of your fantasy draft, with some out for the week, some for the month, and some for the year:
- Bengals QB Joe Burrow (toe)
- Cardinals RB James Conner (foot)
- Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (hamstring)
- Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (hamstring)
- Vikings RB Aaron Jones Sr. (hamstring)
- Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb (ankle)
- 49ers TE George Kittle (hamstring)
- Texans RB Joe Mixon (foot)
- Giants WR Malik Nabers (knee)
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To compare and contrast, last season, the only notable skill players on the shelf during Week 4 were WR Davante Adams, WR Cooper Kupp, and RB Jaylen Warren. So, yeah.
Nabers’ injury — which is reportedly a torn MCL that would keep him out for the remainder of the year, and possibly into the 2026 season — is particularly gutting, as aside from the fact that he seems like a good dude, his Giants appear to have found a nifty little quarterback in rookie Jaxson Dart. Hopefully Nabers comes back at 100% sooner than later, so the duo can morph into an electric Gen Z version of Phil Simms and Mark Bavaro.
As for Jackson, in terms of fantasy and reality impact, if the former MVP misses significant time, we’ll see a massive ripple effect across the AFC and your own fantasy league:
- The 1-3 Ravens will be all but toast, as just approximately 13% of NFL teams who begin the season 1-3 earn a playoff spot.
- The Buffalo Bills’ path to an AFC crown becomes that much smoother.
- The Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens’ AFC North division-mates, might remain in the playoff mix if/when Burrow returns to the field.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers arguably become the favorites to win the North.
- If you have Jackson in your two-quarterback fantasy league, you’re in deep doo-doo.
Rough stuff.
Now I can’t, in good conscience, list any injured players in the “loser” column, because aside from Detroit Pistons old-school thug Bill Laimbeer, I never want to see an athlete decamped in the trainer's room, so we’ll focus on some notable players — and, in one case, an entire offensive unit — who lost the week while remaining healthy. On the sunnier side of the street, there were also a handful of players who blew up your fantasy scoreboard during Week 4.
(Fantasy rankings and points via FantasyPros.)
NFL Week 4 Fantasy Football Winners & Losers
WINNER: Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty
Sometimes in FantasyLand, the best trades you make are the ones you don’t make.
On Thursday, I offered one of my league-mates Jeanty in exchange for Texans WR Nico Collins. Rather than just reject the trade, he sent back a stupid counteroffer, asking for Jeanty and Raiders TE Brock Bowers for Titans RB Tony Pollard and Packers WR Jayden Reed.
Hilarious.
On Sunday, Jeanty was the video game character we saw last year at Boise State, putting up 138 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 17 receiving yards, and 2 receiving touchdowns for 31.5 fantasy points, the most of any player in Week 4.
Collins had 4 receptions for 79 yards, good for 7.9 fantasy points (WR26).
So Ashton won, but more importantly, I won.
LOSER: The Entire Cleveland Browns Offense
Man, what a waste of prime Myles Garrett.
The Browns all-world DL is having an epic season, racking up 4 sacks and 8 tackles for loss, all while generally wreaking his typical brand of havoc.
The Browns all-garbage offense averages 14.0 points per game, tied for second-worst in the league. And their most productive fantasy player, rookie RB Quinshon Judkins, has managed 40.1 fantasy points, good (or bad) for 73rd in the league.
So barring a cray-cray bye week, there’s exactly no reason to include a Cleveland Brown in your fantasy lineup. Ever.
WINNER: Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving
Before I extol Irving’s numerous virtues, I’d like to point out that at the 2024 NFL Draft, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles decided it would be a good idea to nab a punter in the fourth round — an admittedly solid booter in Tory Taylor — rather than Irving. I’m a Bears truther, so that’s all I’m willing to say on the subject.
Yesterday in the Bucs’ 31-25 loss to the Eagles, Irving went full Christian McCaffrey, racking up 63 rushing yards on 15 carries, and 102 receiving yards and 1 receiving tuddy on 5 receptions, giving him 20.5 fantasy points (RB8), edging out McCaffrey by 0.4.
Irving has a tough couple weeks ahead of him, facing two quality defenses in Seattle and San Francisco, but he’s still thisclose to becoming a top-five fantasy back.
LOSER: Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka
I know, I know, the bestial rookie had another stellar statistical week, delivering 101 receiving yards and a touchdown, good for 16.1 fantasy points (WR8), but hear me out, here.
- Oft-injured Bucs WR Chris Godwin was back in the lineup yesterday, and hoovered up 10 targets, the same total as Egbuka.
- Tampa’s WR1, Mike Evans, could return to the field as soon as Week 6, and he’s what we in the industry call a target sucker.
- And don’t forget Irving, who garnered 5 targets of his own yesterday.
All of which means that Egbuka is about three weeks away from becoming the league’s top WR3. He’ll be fine, but his fantasy owners, possibly not so much.
WINNER: Los Angeles Chargers Skill Players
In what was easily Sunday's most improbable loss, the Giants shocked the previously undefeated Bolts, 21-18, but there was a contingent of fantasy players (like yours truly) who didn’t give a rip, because they'd selected Chargers RB Omarion Hampton on draft day and grabbed WR Quentin Johnston off of the waiver wire.
In L.A.’s L, Hampton and Johnston combined for a monster 38.3 fantasy points, and if you started both of them as well as Ashton Jeanty (like yours truly did), you had yourself a really, really nice weekend.
LOSER: Chargers QB Justin Herbert
Even after the loss, Herbert will remain in the MVP conversation — but he’s playing his way out of fantasy relevance.
His 14.5 fantasy points landed him at QB17, and his season average dipped to 19.2 (QB11), far from lousy numbers, but far from league-winning.
If you have some depth at the quarterback position, you might want to consider dealing him, because the name factor could land you a solid RB2.
WINNER: Texans RB Woody Marks
The rookie out of USC had himself a coming out party in Houston’s 26-0 beatdown of Tennessee, posting 69 yards on the ground, 50 yards through the air, and 2 total TDs, good for 23.9 fantasy points (RB5)
What could be bad about that?
LOSER: Texans RB Woody Marks
You know what could be bad about that? Joe Mixon, that’s what.
There are whispers that the Texans’ incumbent starting RB could return to the lineup as early as Week 7, and while that wouldn’t entirely kill Marks’ fantasy value, it’ll give it a significant ding, as Mixon is a chip-on-the-shoulder stud who finished 2024 as fantasy’s RB9.
Marks might be a three-week wonder, but that doesn’t mean you should leave him on your waiver wire or anything. Nonetheless, temper your expectations.
WINNER: Cowboys WR George Pickens
This summer, Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb was a top-ten fantasy pick, and when he went down last Sunday, the fantasy landscape was suddenly littered with broken hearts.
That is, unless you drafted Pickens as your handcuff.
Lest we forget, in 2024, Pickens was a high-end WR2 in Pittsburgh, finishing the year averaging 7.6 fantasy points, ahead of Deebo Samuel Sr., Jaylen Waddle, and Michael Pittman Jr. — and that was catching balls from a washed Russell Wilson, and a yet-to-find-himself Justin Fields.
With Lamb down for the count, Pickens planted his flag during his first week as Dallas’ top wideout, compiling 134 receiving yards, a pair of touchdowns, and 25.4 fantasy points, making him Week 4’s WR1.
We want CeeDee back on the field ASAP, of course — after all, he's not Bill Laimbeer — but in the interim, we’ll enjoy the hell out of watching Pickens make nice with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott.
LOSER: Titans QB Cam Ward
Is it too early to call the rookie signal caller a bust? Welp, in his four starts, he’s staggered his way to 30.8 total fantasy points, managing just 5.5 here in Week 4.
For the sake of comparison, in his first NFL start, Jaxon Dart — who was picked 24 spots after Ward in the 2025 NFL Draft — dropped 19.5 fantasy points.
Let the finger-pointing begin.
Here in Week 4 of the NFL season, some of your PrizePicks picks won, while others lost — that’s the nature of fantasy sports, of course — but regardless of how it all panned out, you had a ton of fun making your selections, and will continue to do so as the NFL season progresses.
And if you enjoyed our NFL Week 4 fantasy winners and losers, stick with Playbook all season for advice, predictions, and takes.
