Our Jake Bailey shares his expertise on the upcoming week of fantasy football.The fourth week of the fantasy football season was unusual to say the least.  One of the main oddities that we saw was Cam Newton lead the charge for the Carolina Panthers as they took down the New England Patriots in Foxborough, throwing for four touchdowns posting 38 points across  ESPN standard leagues.  For Newton, his 38 points in week 4 nearly equaled his combined total of 41 points through the first three weeks.  Though Newton is riding high off his week 4 performance, the Panthers will face the top ranked fantasy defense, the Detroit Lions. The lone bright spot in this matchup is the potential for a shootout between Newton and gunslinger Matthew Stafford.

Quarterbacks I would look to acquire via the waiver wire this week would be Eli Manning and Deshaun Watson (owned in 73.1% of leagues). If either one of these two  guys are available, they would serve as top-notch BYE week replacements especially for owners who need to replace the talents of quarterbacks such as  Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins.

Following another strong performance in a losing effort, Manning finds himself in the top ten among fantasy quarterbacks (9th) with 71 points over the first four weeks.  Manning (owned in 51.3% of leagues) produced two touchdowns through the air, and added one on the ground en route to his 33 point fantasy performance.  Manning has had back-to-back 25 plus fantasy point performances and will face the 0-4 Chargers in week 5 at home.

Watson has increased his point total each of the first four weeks of his young NFL career.  Coming off a huge 38 point performance, Watson has a tough matchup Sunday Night as the Texans take on the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs.

A second tier waiver wire pickup this week at the quarterback position would be Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback, DeShone Kizer.  In his brief four week career, Kizer has alternated double digit scoring weeks.  After scoring just 4 fantasy points last week, Kizer has potential for a break out game as the Browns take on the Jets in Cleveland.

Switching over to the pre-madonnas of the league, top wide receivers, Antonio Brown and Julio Jones were held to less than 10 points this weekend and owners may need to worry.

Antonio Brown, ESPN’s second ranked wide receiver, posted just 7 points last week after averaging 23 points over the first three weeks.  Brown expressed his own frustration, as well as fantasy owners, on the sideline after being held to just 34 yards in a Steeler victory.

I look forward to Brown having a bounce back week as the Steelers return home to Heinz Field to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars who are on the heels of a 23-20 loss to the Jets.

Julio Jones, ESPN’s 22nd ranked receiver following his three reception, 30 yard (6 point) performance.  The concern for fantasy owners is that Jones exited the Falcons week 3 loss to the Bills with a hip flexor injury.  Falcons head coach, Dan Quinn has stated that Jones injury should not be viewed as long term, and he should be ready to go following the teams’ upcoming BYE week.

Looking at the running back crops, Panthers rookie running back Christian McCaffrey was not a huge fantasy contributor once again this weekend.  Despite Carolina’s offensive explosion as he only had 8 points in ESPN standard fantasy leagues. McCaffrey’s rookie campaign going as well as many people had sought it out to be as Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt has stolen the spotlight scoring 120 fantasy points (2nd) over the first four games of his NFL career.

One running back who had a breakout performance in week 4 was Jets running back Bilal Powell.  Powell surprised fantasy owners everywhere with a huge 31 point performance against the Jaguars.  You can expect another double digit performance out of Powell this week in a favorable matchup with the Browns.

Players I would avoid this week include Joe Mixon and Marshawn Lynch.  Mixon goes up against the Bills who have held opponents to just 93 rushing yards per game. The Raiders will be without Derek Carr which will limit the offense, however this will play as a double edged sword as Lynch should see a boost in touches in the Raiders upcoming matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.

A key pickup this week for fantasy owners desperate for a running back would be Vikings Latavius Murray and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacquizz Rodgers. Murray will likely get the bulk of the carries for Minnesota against the Chicago Bears this week, following the unfortunate season ending  ACL injury suffered by Dalvin Cook last week.  Although Doug Martin is returning from  suspension this week and will receive the bulk of the action out of the backfield, don’t give up just yet (especially in PPR leagues) on Rodgers as he could have plenty of receptions in the upcoming weeks.