Getty Odell Beckham Jr. #13 of the Cleveland Browns.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Wide Receivers for Week 4 of the 2021 NFL season. In this week’s column, we examine if Odell Beckham can continue to build off of a promising season debut and if fantasy owners should fade Emmanuel Sanders despite a 26-plus point performance the week earlier.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Tyreek Hill will not be found in this column.
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WR: Start ‘Em
Odell Beckham Jr. at MIN
Beckham performed admirably in his season debut last week, hauling in 77 yards receiving. More importantly, he saw nine targets come his way — seven more than the next closest Browns receiver. With Jarvis Landry on the mend, Beckham should continue to be volume-heavy in Cleveland’s passing game. The Vikings have surrendered the third-most points to receivers this season and have yet to go a game without allowing a 100-yard receiver.
Jakobi Meyers vs. TB
Meyers doesn’t exactly eat up yardage, but he does eat up targets. Meyers has averaged 9.66 targets this season and is coming off an 18.14 point performance where he saw 14 passes come his way. The Buccaneers allow the most fantasy points to receivers this season, as four wideouts have received at least 10 targets against Tampa Bay.
Sleeper: Corey Davis vs. TEN
Davis’ fantasy output has drastically slowed down since a brilliant opener. However, he’s still vastly involved in the Jets offense, as he received 10 targets in Week 3. In what will be a revenge game for the former Titans first-rounder, Davis will face off with a Titans defense that has allowed the third-most points and fourth-most targets to receivers in 2021, including at least 11 targets to three separate receivers over the past two weeks. Those three players combined for an average of 18.8 points against Tennessee.
WR: Sit ‘Em
Marquise Brown vs. DEN
Drops ruined what could have been a monster Week 3 performance for Brown. A matchup with Denver in Week 4 could once again doom his fantasy production. The Broncos have allowed just one receiver to surpass 65 yards receiving this season. They’ve also surrendered the eighth fewest points to the position and just seven pass plays of 20-plus yards (tied for sixth-fewest in the NFL) — not ideal for a deep threat such as Brown.
Mecole Hardman at PHI
Hardman found the endzone in Week 3. However, the third-year pro has yet to eclipse 55 receiving yards in any game this season. The Eagles surrender fewer than 200 yards per game passing and haven’t allowed a team’s second-leading receiver to surpass 46 yards receiving.
Buyers Beware: Emmanuel Sanders vs. HOU
Sanders has seen at least six targets in every game this season and gets what would seem like a welcoming matchup in Week 4. However, the Texans have actually been fairly stout against receivers in 2021, allowing the ninth-fewest points to the position. Houston hasn’t allowed multiple receivers to score double-digit fantasy points in the same game since the opener. Presuming Stefon Diggs does score 10-plus points, that could leave Sanders on the outside looking in. Sanders is essentially the third target in Buffalo behind Diggs and Cole Beasley, who has seen exactly 13 targets in two of his three games this season.