Fantasy Football Week 4 Quarterback Start/Sit: Jaxson Dart, Geno Smith, and More

Streaming quarterbacks becomes tougher when injuries start racking up. Fantasy stars, like Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, go down, leaving more owners needing quarterbacks, and the level of play drops without those top guys around, meaning the average streamer is a worse player. The best bet is to just get lucky and never lose your guy.

Let's look at three quarterbacks to start and three to sit in Week 4 of the NFL season. This won't include any obvious names; you don't need me to tell you to start Jalen Hurts. Instead, we have six guys below who are worth starting consideration some weeks but better left on the bench other weeks.

Check out FantasySP's Who Should I Start? tool to compare players and make your toughest lineup decisions each week!

Start

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers @ Dallas Cowboys

Love is QB14 through three weeks, finishing outside the top 10 every week. He fits in somewhere in the middle as a fantasy quarterback, but it doesn't help that his team is dealing with injuries.

Christian Watson started the season on IR and will miss a few more games, and de facto WR1 Jayden Reed is on IR after undergoing both collarbone and foot surgery. Green Bay has depth, but this is testing their top-line talent.

The Cowboys present one of the best matchups early in the season, allowing the most yards per pass attempt by nearly a full yard. Turns out a below-average defense from last year losing their best player wasn't a good thing! Dallas has given up more than 30 points per game; all positions have value against this team.

Love still has enough guys to orchestrate a good offense, and the matchup is right for a big day, making him a player to put in your lineup.

Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders vs. Chicago Bears

Smith already has games with 362 yards on 10.6 per attempt and 289 yards on 10.0 per attempt. There was also one mixed in where he had 180 yards on just 4.2 per attempt, but Smith was good when the matchup was right (that bad game came against the Chargers).

The matchup is really good in this one. The Bears have allowed the fifth-most yards per pass attempt after finishing second worst in the same category last year. Chicago has given up the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.

A lot of that came in Week 2, when Jared Goff had 334 yards on 11.9 per attempt with five touchdowns. Chicago was better last week when Dallas lost CeeDee Lamb to injury early, but there isn't much reason to expect high-level play from the Bears defense.

Smith is a good streamer in this one. He has racked up volume and has a few really good pass catchers who can help him find sustained success, at least when he's not against one of the best defenses in the league.

Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers @ New England Patriots

I'm skeptical of Young as a feasible fantasy quarterback. He had a stretch of more success near the end of last year, but those good times have gone away, as Young has averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt with 201 yards per game. He racked up 328 yards in Week 2, but it took 55 attempts to get there, just 6.0 per attempt.

This is all about the matchup. New England has allowed the second-most yards per pass attempt, letting Las Vegas' Smith and Tua Tagovailoa average more than 10 yards per attempt. They were good against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers in Week 3, but we've seen more bad than good from the Patriots' pass defense.

Young is only a low-level streamer. You can find a better player, but if you're really struggling or in a deep league, he can at least be a feasible fantasy guy. There's a little risk to go along with the great matchup.

Sit

Jaxson Dart, New York Giants vs. Los Angeles Chargers

There will be a lot of fantasy buzz now that the rookie Dart has taken over the starting job for the Giants. He starts with a hellacious first five games: Chargers, Saints, Eagles, Broncos, and Eagles. That's one decent matchup with New Orleans and four really tough games against three teams who could all be in the top five defensively.

It won't be a surprise to see Dart have a rough start, something that will take him off fantasy radars. When the schedule lightens up, he could have a few weeks in which he has fantasy value because he will both throw and run the ball.

Los Angeles has been maybe the best defense in football so far. They have allowed the second-fewest yards per pass attempt after ranking fourth best last season. LA has held down Patrick Mahomes, Smith (who averaged 10.0 yards per attempt in the games not against the Chargers), and Bo Nix (a guy expected to be a top-10 fantasy QB).

I don't want to trust any players at any positions against the Chargers, so you can imagine what I say to a rookie in his first start. Dart has big-time talent and the chance to be great some day, but don't look for him to be a fantasy option in the first month-plus of his career.

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles

This isn't based around the player as much as his surroundings. Mayfield ranks as QB9 on the season, with weekly finishes of QB12, QB15, and QB8. He is right around the fringe of weekly starter.

This just doesn't look like his week. Let's start with his teammates. The Bucs had one of the best offensive lines in football last season and a stable of high-end pass catchers. It looked like it would be more of the same this season, but injuries have absolutely demolished Tampa Bay's offense.

• WR Chris Godwin hasn't played yet because of a gnarly ankle injury sustained last season. He could return in Week 4, though his status is questionable.
• WR Jalen McMillan suffered a neck injury before the season and has also missed the first three games. There is no timetable for his return; he could possibly be out the whole season, though that hasn't been reported.
• WR Mike Evans just succumbed to a hamstring injury last week and will miss multiple games.
• LT Tristan Wirfs had offseason knee surgery and hasn't played. His return is in question but could come in Week 4.
• RT Luke Goedeke and RG Cody Mauch were both put on IR after Week 2.

Godwin and Wirfs returning would make a difference, but they might still be working into game shape in their first games back, though both have been able to practice with the team. It's best to assume they will be at least a little compromised if on the field, and that leaves Mayfield without a ton of talent around him.

The matchup is also a tough one here. The Eagles have allowed the 12th-fewest yards per pass attempt, a 5.7 number that is well below the usual league average around 7.0. Last season, Philadelphia allowed the fewest yards per attempt. This is a top-line defense with depth and big talent at all three levels.

With a tough matchup and so many guys dealing with injuries, this looks like a week in which it's better to leave Mayfield on the bench.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers

Prescott was on the “Start” list last week because he had a good matchup against the Bears, who we talked about above. He got to 251 yards, but it took 40 attempts (just 6.3 yards per attempt), and Prescott threw two interceptions.

It was a disappointing week with a great matchup, so I'm not trusting Dak against one of the best defenses in football. The Packers have allowed the fewest yards per pass attempt by a wide margin. They shut down Jared Goff, who has otherwise been very good; Jayden Daniels, last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year; and Joe Flacco, which isn't as impressive, but Green Bay held him to just 3.9 yards per attempt.

Lamb is also set to miss several games, a huge blow to Prescott's pass-catching corps. There's just a lot going against Prescott in this one, and coming off a poor performance against Chicago, I'm benching him this week.