WNBA Best Bets (Wednesday 9/25)
Josh Gross
The themes of the 2024 season have been offensive struggles and injuries. We saw an abundance of both in Week 4.
Only eight teams scored 26 or more points in Week 4. We did get an influx of 300-yard passers (Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields), but only two quarterbacks (Love and Sam Darnold) threw more than two touchdown passes. It continues to be a frustrating season for fantasy managers.
Below you’ll find the Week 4 risers and fallers to track in fantasy.
Risers
Andy Dalton, QB, Carolina Panthers
The Panthers have stated that they believe Bryce Young will make more starts this season. However, if Andy Dalton continues to operate the offense like he is, it will be difficult to make that transition.
Dalton threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4. He’s now completed 65.4% of his passes for 539 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in two starts with Carolina this season.
The Panthers have a good offensive line, a respectable run game and some weapons in the passing attack to provide fantasy production. They just needed a steady quarterback to operate the offense on time. Dalton seems to be the steady presence this offense needs to get the most out of their big offseason acquisitions.
Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels has shown that his ridiculous passing efficiency will have no problem translating to the NFL.
Daniels is completing 82% of his passes through his first four games. He’s thrown for 897 yards with three passing touchdowns and one interception. He’s also added 46 carries for 218 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
The first two weeks were a lot of high-percentage completions in Kliff Kingsbury’s “horizontal raid” offense. However, Daniels has been taking more and more deep shots and throwing the ball over the middle of the field. Pushing the ball down the field has somehow resulted in him completing 47-of-53 passing attempts.
Daniels looks to be the next fantasy sensation at quarterback thanks to his explosive rushing ability combined with his exceptional accuracy as a passer. There will undoubtedly be some bad performances in his future, but he should continue to be a steady fantasy performer regardless.
Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Green Bay Packers
Dontayvion Wicks has been trapped in a low-volume passing offense (thanks to Malik Willis) as the fourth receiver. Wicks has primarily rotated with Christian Watson for the first three weeks of the season, producing just three receptions on nine targets for 26 yards.
Watson suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter of Week 4’s matchup against the Vikings. That was all Wicks needed to show why he was a highly-coveted target in the late rounds of fantasy drafts.
With Watson out, Wicks finished third amongst Green Bay’s receivers in snaps (58) and tied for second in routes run (45). He parlayed the increased playing time into strong production, catching five of his 13 targets for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
If Watson is out for an extended period, Wicks is set to be the biggest beneficiary from an increase in playing time. He has struggled with drops this season but showed that he is still a huge playmaker if given the opportunity in Week 4.
Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers
Adam Thielen’s hamstring injury opened the door for rookie Xavier Legette to make an impact in Carolina’s revitalized offense. He made the most of the opportunity in Week 4.
Legette led the Panthers in snaps played (61) and finished second in routes run (38). He had the second-most targets on the team (10) and added two carries. The rookie caught six passes for 66 yards and a touchdown while adding 10 rushing yards. Legette will benefit from seeing an increased role from the slot and working on crossing routes to utilize his strong ability after the catch.
Thielen will eventually return to the lineup, which could have an impact on Legette’s production. But for now, he’s an interesting piece in Carolina’s offense and will have weekly FLEX appeal.
Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears
In the first two weeks of the season, Cole Kmet seemed like a wasted fantasy pick. The veteran tight end was splitting time (and losing targets) to Gerald Everett in the passing attack.
However, there has been a noticeable shift for him in the last two weeks. Kmet caught 10-of-11 targets for 97 yards and a touchdown in Week 3’s game against the Colts. That seemingly earned him more playing time, with Kmet pacing the tight end room in snaps played (54), routes run (20) and targets (3).
Kmet’s final stat line against the Rams was unremarkable (three receptions on three targets for 34 yards), but there will be an opportunity for him to have more fantasy-relevant weeks as long as he’s on the field.
The tight end position has been abysmal in 2024, but Kmet is one of the few who may see his stock rise with an increase in snaps with a rookie quarterback.
Fallers
Anthony Richardson, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Anthony Richardson was efficient as a passer for the first time this season, completing 75% of his passes against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Unfortunately, he threw the ball just four times for 71 yards. Richardson added three carries for 24 yards but was knocked out of the game with a hip injury.
And that is part of the problem with Anthony Richardson.
He isn’t an accurate enough passer (50.6% completion percentage) to operate solely as a pocket passer. When teams view him as a threat on the ground, he can make them pay with one of the strongest arms in the NFL. Unfortunately, running the ball seems to result in injuries.
Coming into this game, the Colts had done their best to limit Richardson’s designed rushing attempts. Richardson has handled just 21 carries for 141 yards and a touchdown. That just isn’t enough for a player who was routinely drafted as a top-6 quarterback in fantasy drafts this season.
Richardson won’t miss much time due to his hip injury, but there are still major concerns about his ability to produce consistently for fantasy. There will be big weeks ahead, but predicting them will be quite difficult.
Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos
At one point, Bo Nix had six completions for -7 yards. The final stat line (60 yards and a touchdown) wasn’t much better. But, it was enough to get the job done against the New York Jets.
The rookie has completed 60.1% of his passes for 660 yards and a touchdown with four interceptions to start his career. Nix has had some solid fantasy performances, but those have come on the back of his rushing ability (23 carries for 110 yards and two rushing touchdowns) and not his passing ability.
Denver is content with Nix being a game-manager, and he’s done that successfully based on the team’s 2-2 record. However, he’s a zero in fantasy until he shows more consistency or works through negative game scripts.
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
Garrett Wilson was a late-first, early-second-round pick in fantasy based on the belief that Aaron Rodgers would unlock his fantasy ability after two inconsistent seasons with bad quarterback play.
We are still waiting for that to happen.
Wilson has just 20 receptions for 191 yards and a touchdown through his first four games. He’s seeing a consistent target share but is still losing out on a good deal of opportunities to Allen Lazard (16 receptions for 206 yards and three touchdowns) and a healthy Mike Williams (eight receptions for 120 yards) in recent weeks.
It also doesn’t help that the Jets are more than happy to run a methodical offense that tries to win on the ground.
There will certainly be better days for Wilson, but this is far from the season we hoped for with stability at the quarterback position.
Jalen Nailor, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Jalen Nailor was solid through the first three weeks of the season with Jordan Addison missing due to injury. The second-year receiver had seven receptions for 106 yards and three touchdowns to start the season.
Addison returned in Week 4 and immediately made an impact in the passing attack. That didn’t bode well for Nailor’s role in the offense.
Nailor finished fifth among the Vikings receivers in snaps (14) and fourth in routes run (12). He was tied with Brandon Powell, Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt in targets (2). He caught only one pass for 31 yards.
Fantasy managers likely weren’t counting on Nailor to provide big weeks, but he did show the ability to be a boom-or-bust FLEX option with bye weeks on the horizon. Now that Addison is back, he can stay on the waiver wire.
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
Kyle Pitts continues to be a massive disappointment in fantasy. Pitts played 38 of 56 snaps in Week 4, splitting time once again with backup tight end Charlie Woerner (17 snaps). He didn’t earn a single target against the Saints.
Pitts now has just eight receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown in four games this season. He’s routinely running fewer routes than Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud in the passing game.
This was supposed to be the year we got a huge Pitts performance. He was a year removed from his knee injury and was going to get a quarterback upgrade in the form of Kirk Cousins.
Unfortunately, Pitts’s utilization has once again been frustrating, and reliability in fantasy has been non-existent. His upside is too enticing to drop in fantasy, but he’s impossible to trust in your starting lineup.
