Fantasy Football Takeaways from Monday's Games: Darren Waller, RJ Harvey and More

A pair of Monday night games occurred in week 4, so let's break those both down before moving on fully to week 5.

Also be sure to check out yesterday's takeaways stories on offense and defense.

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Waller Stands Out

Darren Waller had a big game to help the Dolphins past the Jets in one of the two Monday night games.

He was targeted four times, making three grabs for 27 yards. Waller caught two touchdowns to turn a disappointing fantasy showing into a great one.

It was his first game of the year, so to see him connect early with Tua Tagovailoa was a nice sign. He ended up playing just 16 offensive snaps, so really, his production was phenomenal.

With Tyreek Hill now done for the season, Miami is going to need some other pass catchers to step up. Jaylen Waddle will lead the wideouts, but Waller could become really involved moving forward. 

After his showing on Monday, I'd give Waller an add and at least carry him on my roster for another week. As he ramps up, I think he could be a legit fantasy asset on a team desperate for pass-catching help.

Mims Shines

Marvin Mims was fantastic in the Broncos' win over the Bengals in the other Monday game.

He was targeted six times, making six receptions for 69 yards. Mims also had a 16-yard rushing touchdown.

He had been sparsely involved offensively through the first three games, with 10 targets, but just six grabs for 40 yards. Mims was a big part of the Denver offense on Monday, and that was all despite only playing 40% of the team's offensive snaps.

For that reason though, I'm not a fan of adding Mims in standard fantasy leagues. He's a much better deep-league asset, but he's still a boom-or-bust fantasy asset.

Avoid him in standard leagues, and look for a more consistent pass catcher, who plays most of his team's snaps.

Quarterback Play

Three of the four quarterbacks who played on Monday turned in solid/good fantasy results.

Denver's Bo Nix was the best of the bunch. He completed 29-of-42 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Nix also rushed for a touchdown and seven yards across six attempts.

It was a good all-around fantasy performance, and helped some fantasy teams rally on Monday night. He remains a good weekly starting option.

In the same game, Jake Browning really struggled… again. He was 14-of-25 passing for 125 yards, no scores and no picks. Browning rushed for four yards on three attempts.

He's struggled in his two starts, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Cincy go after another quarterback before their next game. Browning is not a good starting option in any fantasy setup right now.

Tagovailoa had 177 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions on 17-of-25 passing. He rushed for six yards on three attempts.

Tagovailoa was solid, but the lack of passing yards held back his fantasy score some. He'll be a streaming option pretty much all season, with his matchup determining how many leagues he's owned and started in.

Justin Fields had a decent showing despite taking the loss. He threw for 226 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-27 passing, while rushing for 81 yards and a score on seven attempts. Fields avoided a pick, but did lose a fumble.

He's looked solid in two games now, so the dual-threat quarterback should be rostered in most leagues and is capable of earning regular starts - as long as the matchups aren't too difficult.

Taylor Gets Rolling

Jets rookie tight end Mason Taylor had a solid showing against the Dolphins. He caught five of his seven targets for 65 yards.

He now has 108 yards on 11 receptions and 16 targets over the first four games, so you can see he didn't do a ton in weeks 1-3. Taylor has played 79% of the team's offensive snaps, which is another thing working in his favor.

The only proven pass catcher for the Jets is Garrett Wilson, so Taylor has been a sneaky good fantasy option in my eyes. Maybe this showing was the start of his NFL breakout.

Taylor should be added in more fantasy leagues, and could rank quite a bit higher going into his next game. At the very least, he needs to be watched closely moving forward.

Harvey Chips In

J.K. Dobbins led the Broncos' running back, but rookie back RJ Harvey was really involved too.

Dobbins rushed 16 times for 101 yards, while catching his lone target for four yards. Harvey had 58 rushing yards on 14 carries and added 40 receiving yards and a score on four receptions and five targets.

The lopsided nature of the game allowed the Broncos to utilize Harvey a bit more. He played 33 offensive snaps, and Dobbins was just ahead of him at 36.

I still think Dobbins is the lead back, but with his injury history, Harvey remains a good fantasy option. His value will be on the rise after Monday's game, but I still think it makes sense to buy low on him. I still see the rookie taking over the backfield at some point, whether that be due to a Dobbins' injury, or simply the rookie playing better.

Now would also be a great time to sell high on Dobbins. He's been great to start the season, but the injury concern is just too much for my liking. I'd look to sell him high.

IDP and Kicker Stats

Jordyn Brooks had 18 combined tackles for the Dolphins. He has 44 tackles and a sack on the season, so while he hasn't posted super consistent tackle numbers, that chance of a high-tackle game is enough for him to get plenty of starts in IDP leagues.

Jets' Jamien Sherwood had 10 tackles and a pass defensed. He has 40 tackles now for the season, and has been pretty consistent in his tackle numbers, so he's a high-end IDP option.

Dolphins' Rasul Douglas had a sack among his three tackles and two passes defensed on Monday. He has 13 tackles on the season, but has been a splash play guy over his career, so he's worth at least some deep-league IDP starts.

Dolphins' Tyrel Dodson had a sack among his nine tackles, two tackles for losses and a forced fumble. He's up to 42 tackles and two sacks on the season, showing he's a good/great weekly option.

Miami's Zach Sieler had five tackles, with two going for losses. He has five tackles in back-to-back games, so there's some IDP value in him. 

Denver's Alex Singleton had 11 tackles on Monday. He's up to 38 tackles on the season, so on tackles alone, the linebacker is a good IDP option.

Bengals' Demetrius Knight had 10 tackles and an interception. He has 31 tackles so far in his rookie season, so he's an emerging IDP option.

Cincy's Geno Stone also had 10 tackles in the contest. He has 28 tackles overall, this while this might have been a bit of an outlier, there's enough there for some IDP deployment.

Denver's Nik Bonitto had 1.5 sacks among his three tackles. He has 4.5 sacks among his 13 tackles on the season, so while he's a bit of a boom-or-bust player, he's delivered enough to start in most IDP setups.

Broncos' John Franklin-Myers had a sack among his two tackles. He has a sack in back-to-back games, but just six tackles on the season, so while there's some IDP value, he's really just a good deep-league asset.

Denver's Jonathon Cooper had a half sack among his two tackles, and he also swatted down a pass. He has 2.5 sacks among his 12 tackles this season, so he's a bit more valuable than Franklin-Myers at this point.

Denver kicker Wil Lutz made all four of his extra points and didn't get a field goal try. Cincy's Evan McPherson made his lone field goal.

Miami's Riley Patterson made two field goals and three extra points - he was perfect on the night. New York's Nick Folk made two 50+-yard field goals and one extra point - he too was perfect.