We’re Espen and Arnav and these are our boom and busts heading into Week 5 of the NFL season. All fantasy football stats are from ESPN fantasy.
Espen:
[BOOM] Jayden Reed GB WR:
When Jordan Love plays, Reed averages 30.1 points per game when Jordan Love plays, and 8.75 when he doesn’t. Thankfully for Reed owners, Love is back, and threw 54 passes against the Minnesota Vikings. Reed is Loves’ favorite target, and the matchup against the Rams calls for another pass heavy game for the Packers. Reed is almost a lock for another 100 yard game and an endzone. Reed has also been an active participant in the run game, averaging 22.75 run yards per game.
[BUST] Travis Etienne JAX RB
The Jaguars have gotten off to an awful start, going 0-4 including a 37 point loss to the Bills. Etienne hasn’t rushed for over 68 yards yet this season, and Tank Bigsby is starting to explore more of the lead running back role. Against the Texans, Bigsby had more rushing yards than Etienne (90 for Bigsby compared to Etienne’s 50), and Bigsby had less attempts, making the most of his runs. As Bigsby begins to fully split time with Etienne, Etienne’s production is going to go down. I would bench him this week, as the Jaguars struggling offense will take another loss to the Colts.
Arnav:
[BOOM] George Pickens PIT WR:
George Pickens has been somewhat average in terms of fantasy, currently ranking 34th in his position with 11.4 average fantasy points per game. However, I expect him to have a monster game against the Cowboys this weekend. The Steelers played the Colts at Indianapolis last week, where Pickens was really able to present himself, hauling in 7 catches for 113 yards. He lead in targets for the Steelers with a total of 11, with second place (Najee Harris) having 5 less targets. Fields showed us that Pickens is his clear go-to number one target, with 31% of completions and and 32% of total targets to him. The Cowboys have been one of the worst defenses in the league thus far, and with the loss of star linebacker Micah Parsons, Pickens will feast on this shredded up defense.
[BUST] Marvin Harrison Jr. ARI WR:
The rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. has had a phenomenal first four weeks as expected. Harrison came into the draft as the top prospect in all receivers and was drafted fourth overall, first in all receivers. He’s been averaging 15.8 fantasy points thus far, ranking him 16th among all players, and without including his week one 1.4 fantasy point fluke game, he averages 20.6 fantasy points per game. Despite this, I think Harrison could end up busting this week on the road against San Francisco. The 49ers defense has been elite, ranking top 5 in fantasy, and 0.7 interceptions per game, with 3 on the season. Harrison is coming off a good fantasy performance, but most of his points came from his touchdown. Without this he would’ve been 4 for 5 with 45 yards. Although there’s definitely potential for another big game, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s disadvantages in this one could prevent him from success.
Espen:
[BOOM] Sam Darnold MIN QB:
Not many people expected such an electric start from Darnold, who has 11 touchdowns throughout the first four games of the season, leading the NFL. Darnold has averaged a very consistent 19.6 points per game throughout the first four games. The Vikings will control the ball in their week five matchup against the Jets. The Jets have been inconsistent on offense, and the Vikings defense has the ability to totally shut down the Jets offense. Darnold will continue to find the endzone against the Jets. Darnold is only rostered in 43% of leagues, if he is still available, pick him up.
[BUST] Bijan Robinson ATL RB
Benching a player with the ceiling of Robinson is a very risky move, however a down week is in the books for the Falcons’ back. Robinson started off hot, with a 97 yard game in week two against the Eagles. However he is averaging 29.5 run yards per game throughout the past two games. Robinson has always failed to meet fantasy expectations since entering the league last season. Bijan ended up with less carries than his backup Tyler Allegier, who is beginning to take over some more carries. Robinson had some hamstring issues earlier this week, which could affect his workload on Thursday night. Robinson will once again underperform in week 5.
Arnav:
[BOOM] Xavier Worthy KC WR:
Xavier Worthy has been quiet this season, with 2 busts this season, in weeks two and three. With the loss of Chiefs dominant wide receiver Rashee Rice, however, Worthy will now move up to the wide receiver one on the team. Worthy will have to share targets with big tight end Travis Kelce but considering his often double and triple teams, defenses will be more focused on Kelce which will cause the speedster Worthy to get open more often. They do play a strong Saints defense but once against considering the attention toward Kelce Xavier Worthy is bound for a big game.
[BUST] Tucker Kraft GBP TE:
Tight end Tucker Kraft is coming off a good game, catching 6 out of 9 targets for 53 yards and a touchdown. Kraft scored 17.3 fantasy points in this game. These are some promising stats because they came on Jordan Love’s injury comeback game but I don’t think Kraft will stay hot for long. Tight ends have been heavily fluctuating this year. One week they’ll put 20 points and the next it’ll be 5. In general most tight ends won’t be booms on my list because they either perform well or they don’t, which is more likely. Kraft was also looked at often because at one point in the game the Packers were trailing by over 20 points and were in desperate need of a comeback so Love needed to pass the ball more. Kraft does have a favorable matchup against the Rams surprisingly poor defense, but I’d play it safe and keep him on the bench this week because you never know what to expect with the tight end position.
