Now that the first game of the week four season is in the books, and we got to watch the last two #1 overall quarterbacks duke it out on Thursday Night Football, let’s take a look at the rest of the week. We’ve had plentiful deep wide receivers come through already this year, with Brandin Cooks, Mike Williams, and Marvin Jones all coming through to be weekly starts for you. But what if you missed out on those guys, and you fell victim to Jerry Jeudy and Allen Robinson? What if you need some punch in your wide receiver slot? Never fear, we return with our wide receiver sleepers for week four. To make this list, a player must be unrostered in 50% of leagues (or more) on Yahoo! For you deeper league players, one of the wide receiver sleepers is available in at least 90% of leagues.
Week Four Wide Receiver Sleepers
Tim Patrick versus Baltimore (32% rostered)
Tim Patrick bubbled under the surface for the first couple of weeks. Sure, he averaged 38 yards and a touchdown in those games, but the guaranteed volume wasn’t quite there. Fast-forward to post-week three and there’s no Jerry Jeudy, and no K.J. Hamler. That put Tim Patrick firmly in Teddy Bridgewater’s crosshairs. He converted his five targets into five catches and 98 yards. On paper, the Ravens don’t appear to be a great matchup for Patrick, as they rank just 22nd in fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers. However, this stems from their low target volume against (just 18 targets per game to WRs so far, eleventh-fewest in the league). On a per-target basis, the Ravens rank much worse against wide receivers, allowing the twelfth-most PPR points per target to opposing wide receivers. Despite having a name like a failed vice-presidential candidate, he is a great play this week.
Hunter Renfrow at Los Angeles Chargers (20% rostered)
If you’re in a pickle for a sleeper wide receiver, just find guys in shootouts who get lots of targets. Hunter Renfrow fits the mold in both parts. The Chargers and Raiders promise fireworks on Monday Night Football, with a 52.5 O/U, with the Chargers as just 3-point favorites. That gives the Raiders an implied point total of about 25 points, which would put them thirteenth in points this week. Renfrow’s 22 targets also tie him for 26th in the league with Diontae Johnson, Corey Davis, Sammy Watkins, and others. Renfrow is eleventh in the league in hog rate, per playerprofiler.com. That means when Renfrow runs routes, he gets targets. Should the Raiders put him in for more routes, he should go through the roof. As of right now, he averages 5 catches for 68 yards per game, which is nothing to sneeze at, either. He should be better than this as well, as the MLB season ends soon and he can stop playing double duty (unless the BoSox make the playoffs, of course).
Marquez Valdes-Scantling versus Pittsburgh (10% rostered)
UPDATE: HE IS OUT FOR THIS WEEKEND WITH A HAMSTRING INJURY, PLEASE DO NOT PICK UP MVS
Aaron Rodgers had a certain glint in his eye last week. He ended up with somewhat pedestrian numbers (261 passing yards and two touchdowns), but that final line belies the difficulty level of some of his completed catches. Rodgers tossed some absolute dimes on Sunday Night Football against the 49ers, and one such dime went to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Per Fade the Noise, as it stands right now, MVS ranks second on the team in air yards, but sixth in the entire NFL. If someone gets that many air yards from a cocky, swaggered-up Aaron Rodgers, then I am listening. It’s also worth noting that through three games this season, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has zero drops.
On the other side, this ain’t your daddy’s Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense. They rank sixth on the season in PPR fantasy points per game to wide receivers. While they’ve allowed the sixth-most touchdowns, the only downside here is that they have allowed just one 20+ touchdown play on the year. So, that might limit his upside. But, MVS is a sneaky deep play, given that he’s getting a ton of air yards and not dropping the football.
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