Fantasy Football Week 4 wide receiver rankings: Is DeAndre Hopkins still a must-start WR?

Two of the most productive receivers of the last decade enter Week 4 of the Fantasy football season with some pretty serious questions around their value, as Julio Jones‘ first season with the Titans hasn’t gone as planned to date, while, DeAndre Hopkins has shockingly gotten lost in the crowd a bit amid Arizona’s hot start. How am I handling these two for Week 4?

Well, it’s easier to answer with Hopkins: He’s still a borderline No. 1 WR for me, coming at WR14. Hopkins is averaging just 52.7 yards per game through three, his lowest total since he was a rookie, and his target share is down nearly 10 points from last season. That’s a feature of Arizona’s spread offense, but it’s also a result of the relative ease with which the Cardinals have won so far. Hopkins has a tough matchup against the Rams coming up, but I’m also betting that, when the team’s back is against the wall, they’re gonna do what they did all last season and lean on Hopkins heavily.

With Jones, on the other hand, it looks like we may need to wait a bit to find out whether his early struggles are something to be concerned about, because the vague “tightness” Mike Vrabel said he was struggling with in Week 3 turned out to be a hamstring injury that has kept him out of practice Wednesday and Thursday. At this point, I’m expecting both Jones and A.J. Brown to miss this week’s game.

Here’s my first crack at ranking the wide receivers for this week along with my thoughts on a bunch of the most interesting players to rank in Week 4: 

Week 4 WR Rankings

1. Davante Adams
2. Tyreek Hill — I have no concerns about Hill’s subpar performance the last two weeks. He had a similar stretch in 2020, where he had just 70 yards on 13 targets — he racked up 582 yards and eight touchdowns over his next three games.
3. Cooper Kupp
4. CeeDee Lamb
5. Stefon Diggs — Diggs hasn’t been the guy you paid for yet, but if you believe in Josh Allen, you should believe in Diggs’ chances of turning it around. I very much do.
6. Tyler Lockett
7. Justin Jefferson
8. D.K. Metcalf
9. Keenan Allen
10. Mike Williams — Williams won’t continue to score a touchdown every week, so in that sense, he’s a sell-high candidate. But I think you have to view him as a must-start Fantasy option for Week 4, and maybe for the rest of the season.
11. Amari Cooper — It’s been a disappointing couple of games for Cooper, who has just 50 yards over the last two. I’m not panicking, but you do have to wonder if that rib injury from Week 2 is more of an issue than the team let on?
12. Calvin Ridley — Ridley is being held back by Matt Ryan’s play, and it’s not like you can just predict this will be the week Ryan turns it around. He very well may, but for now, Ridley’s upside looks a lot less impressive than we expected thanks to Ryan’s conservative approach.
13. D.J. Moore — I’m trying to guard against confirmation bias here because I’ve been arguing Moore has elite WR upside for multiple years. But he’s actually showing it this season, sporting a 29% target share with his usual 9.2 yards per target. I don’t expect him to keep that kind of target share up, but I am buying Moore taking a step forward this season.
14. DeAndre Hopkins — Hopkins’ snap share through three games sits at 17.6%, and now he’s got a very tough matchup on the way against the Rams. That’s your reason for pessimism, but I’ll just note that I think Hopkins is going to re-emerge as the clear No. 1 option before long, and in a tough matchup where points will potentially be at a premium, we could see a renewed focus on Hopkins.
15. Terry McLaurin
16. Chris Godwin
17. Robert Woods — I’m still not giving up on Woods, but he needs to get on the same page with Stafford quickly. This has been an incredibly frustrating start to the season.
18. Deebo Samuel — Samuel continues to be a significant part of the 49ers offense, but with Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle taking on a bigger role in Week 3, this might be your chance to sell high. I think he’ll continue to be worth starting, but I’m not counting on him to be a Fantasy star.
19. Courtland Sutton — Sutton’s Week 3 was a pretty sizable disappointment, but I think you probably have to trust him even in this very tough matchup against Baltimore. KJ Hamler’s knee injury means targets could become even more concentrated at the top of the receiving hierarchy.
20. Mike Evans 
21. Brandin Cooks — The Texans can’t keep targeting Brandin Cooks as often as they are … right? He has 32 of the team’s 90 targets, and that feels low — he’s the only player with more than nine so far. Despite that, he’s been his typically efficient self. This is a tough matchup against a Bills defense that does a good job of taking the deep ball away, but it feels kind of silly to be skeptical about Cooks at this point, doesn’t it?
22. Odell Beckham — I was very impressed with Beckham in his first game, as he played 47 of 57 snaps in the first three quarters before the Browns rested him in the fourth. I’m not convinced he’s back to being a must-start option — he hasn’t really been on in Cleveland — but he’s back in the discussion, at least.
23. Tyler Boyd
24. Ja’Marr Chase — Chase isn’t going to be able to sustain his current pace of scoring, but it’s hard not to view him as a must-start option at this point, especially if Tee Higgins (shoulder) is out again.
25. Adam Thielen — I guess I’m just going to be too low on Thielen forever. I just can’t feel comfortable projecting him to keep scoring at the rate he has, even though we’re going on 18 weeks of it. He should be started in all leagues, but I would be trying to trade him right now.
26. Diontae Johnson — Assuming Johnson plays, I’m going to have a hard time going away from him. He has at least 10 targets in each game this season, continuing his role as Ben Roethlisberger’s preferred target. Those targets come almost exclusively near the line of scrimmage which limits his chances of hitting on big plays, but also makes him a lot more likely to rack up big catch numbers. 
27. Allen Robinson — I’ve been a consistent advocate for Robinson during his slow start, but it’s getting harder and harder to justify that. It’s not a knock on Robinson as much as it is a reflection of the sad state of this offense so far. I’m not saying you have to bench him, but you surely don’t have to start him either.
28. Marquise Brown — Brown is off to a solid start for Fantasy, but we would be talking about him alongside Mike Williams as the biggest breakout of the early part of the season if he could just catch the ball. He dropped three passes in Week 3 that probably would have accounted for 150 yards and at least two touchdowns. He won’t have those drop problems moving forward, I would bet, so I’m still pretty excited about him moving forward.
29. Antonio Brown — Brown was activated from the COVID list Thursday and will make his return in Week 4. 
30. Kenny Golladay — Golladay is set up to have a breakout game here with Sterling Shepard expected to miss this game, but that doesn’t mean he’s a must-start Fantasy option. Still, unless I had a lot of really good options, I’d probably want Golladay in my lineup for this one.
31. DeVonta Smith
32. Emmanuel Sanders — Last week, I told you to keep the faith in Sanders, and he rewarded us with a two-touchdown game. I love the role he has in this Bills offense, and I’m willing to keep rolling with him moving forward as a high-upside WR3. He’s this offense’s main deep threat.
33. Michael Pittman — Pittman has 12 targets in each of the last two games and has clearly established himself as the top option in this passing game. I think that will probably lead to more games like Week 3 (six for 68) than Week 2 (eight for 123), but that would still make him a solid Fantasy option.
34. Tim Patrick — Patrick has just a 13.5% target share, but he’s been productive with the targets he has had. The question is, with Hamler sidelined, can Patrick take on a bigger role? I’m betting he will.
35. Jaylen Waddle — The Dolphins love leaning on Waddle, and that was especially true in Week 3, as Jacoby Brissett looked for him 13 times, largely on short throws. They don’t seem confident they can move the ball in chunks, so Waddle is being used as an extension of the running game. That makes him a viable PPR option at this point.
36. Jakobi Meyers — Meyers had 38 yards on six targets in the Patriots lone win against the Jets in Week 2. In the team’s two losses, he has 23 targets, 15 catches, and 138 yards. The trend is pretty clear.
37. Cole Beasley — I did not expect Beasley to repeat his 2020 production, but he’s well on his way to doing just that. I think his current 23.5% target share probably won’t hold, but he’s gotta be in the WR3 discussion for PPR leagues.
38. Chase Claypool — With Diontae Johnson practicing in full Thursday and JuJu Smith-Schuster getting up to a limited participation, Claypool looks like he might be back in his role as the No. 3 option and primary deep-threat for the Steelers. Given Roethlisberger’s struggles this season, it’s hard to get excited for that.
39. Mecole Hardman — Hardman hasn’t gotten the usage we wanted yet, and now the Chiefs signed Josh Gordon to their practice squad. I’m not worried too much about Gordon becoming a big part of the offense, but I’m not sure Hardman is ever going to be the guy we hoped he could be.
40. Marvin Jones — There’s still a lot of potential in the Jaguars passing game, but right now, you can’t view anyone as a must-start WR. Jones is the closet thing, but I still view him as more of an RB3.
41. Corey Davis — You can’t feel confident in Davis at this point, but he was targeted 10 times in Week 3, and the Jets receiving corps is pretty banged up. This is a good matchup, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see a good game from Davis.
42. Brandon Aiyuk — Aiyuk finally worked his way out of the doghouse in Week 3 and he was … fine. The 49ers got him involved to the tune of six targets and one carry, and I think that kind of usage moving forward makes sense. He’s talented enough to earn a bigger role, but you can’t expect it right now.
43. JuJu Smith-Schuster
44. Robby Anderson — This might be the last chance Anderson has to stay on our good side for Fantasy. The Panthers have used him strictly as a deep threat so far this season, and his snap share dipped to just 64% in Week 3. It’s curious because they gave him a $29.5 million contract extension just before the season, so why are they using him as a role player? I’m not writing him off just yet, but I am running out of patience.
45. Hunter Renfrow — It’s getting hard to ignore Renfrow, who has at least 10.7 PPR points in each of the first three games and is averaging 14.1 per game. I don’t think he’s even close to one of the Raiders most talented pass catchers, but Derek Carr keeps leaning on him, so consider him if you need a fill-in for PPR.
46. Henry Ruggs
47. Laviska Shenault
48. Rondale Moore — A mea culpa: I got a bit over my skis on Moore last week. I knew he was just fourth on the team in snaps and routes run among wide receivers, but I just believed they were going to keep feeding him. That was a mistake. He’s got big upside weekly and in the long run, but Moore needs to see his role grow before he becomes someone you can trust every week.
49. Christian Kirk
50. Sammy Watkins
51. DJ Chark
52. AJ Green
53. Jalen Reagor
54. Devante Parker
55. Braxton Berrios
56. Darnell Mooney
57. Marquez Valdes-Scantling — Valdes-Scantling was finally able to get on the same page with Aaron Rodgers in Week 3, and his role is going to allow him to potentially make an impact every week, even if you won’t be able to rely on him consistently.
58. Bryan Edwards
59. Will Fuller
60. Zach Pascal
61. Terrace Marshall Jr.
62. James Washington

So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 4 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that has out-performed experts big-time.