Fantasy Football Week 4: Players to Keep On Your Bench

What’s great about Week 4 of the NFL season is we have so many divisional matchups—10 of them to be exact. However, what’s not great about this week is that it's when the bye weeks begin.

This week your fantasy football team will be missing out on players from the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Thus, if you have players on one of those four teams, you’ll need to find somebody to start in their places. Out of the potential players you might use, here’s a list of guys you should consider not starting this week.

Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos) @ Tennessee

Last week, in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton threw for 476 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

That’s good because that’s a lot of points, but it’s unreasonable to expect a similar performance this week against the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee ranks fifth in the league in passing yards allowed and points allowed, and the Titans have only allowed two offensive touchdowns all season.

Their defense has already had 10 sacks, five forced fumbles, and three interceptions. Nothing about that is good for Orton or the Broncos passing game, and that’s why you should leave him on the bench this week.

Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins) @ Philadelphia

As the season has gone on, Washington Redskins quarterback Clinton Portis has received less carries in each of the three weeks so far, going from 18 to 13 to seven. He’s averaging just 3.7 yards per carry, and now he’s questionable for this week’s game with the Philadelphia Eagles because of a wrist injury.

Portis practiced this week, but the hand injury was enough to cause him to slide during a big gain in last week’s loss to the St. Louis Rams as he wanted to avoid contact. More specifically, he wanted to avoid fumbling or injuring the hand further.

Though Portis has practiced this week, wrist injuries typically don’t heal quickly. So he’s got a bad wrist and is receiving less carries each week, meaning he deserves a spot on your bench this week.

Mike Wallace (Pittsburgh Steelers) vs. Baltimore

Last week in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Mike Wallace had 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns. That’s great and all, but he caught just three passes, and one of his touchdowns came off a tipped ball that luckily fell right into his hands.

He’s unlikely to find the same luck this week against the Baltimore Ravens, who rank first in passing yards allowed and fourth in points allowed. Plus, the Ravens have given up just one passing touchdown all season. So if there if there was any question about whether or not to start Wallace this week, he should probably be on your bench.

To see who else you should sit this week click here... Week 4 Players to Avoid