2012 Fantasy Football Week 4: Wide Receiver (WR) Rankings and Projections

A little trickeration from the Cincinnati Bengals helped kick things off right for A.J. Green against the Washington Redskins. On the day, Green was targeted 11 times, hauling in nine receptions for 183 yards and a score.

If you couldn’t tell by the offseason injuries to the secondary and below-average talent at strong safety and linebacker, the Bengals defense is going to struggle this season.

They will still be an opportunistic bunch, but expect Cincinnati to be in shootouts throughout the season.

Only in his second year, Green may be the smoothest technician at the receiver position in the game today. While other receivers like Andrew Hawkins and Armon Binns are finding success around him, you can trace their success to the presence of Green in the offense and the attention he receives from opposing defenses.

Andy Dalton will take some punishment this season because of a shaky offensive line, but his sound play and the game calling by Jay Gruden will keep this passing game productive.

What Did We Learn From Week 3?

Larry Fitzgerald got his groove back against the Eagles, a team he’s owned over the course of his career. What looked like a horrible situation is starting to turn into a promising season for the Cardinals, and with a top-10 defense, you can bet this offense will have plenty of chances to keep Fitzgerald in fantasy lineups weekly.

It appears Kolb’s confidence is growing after three big wins, and I’m sure the latest victory over his old team had to be sweet. The better Kolb performs the more likely Fitzgerald’s production will return to the elite fantasy receivers in the game.

Just like his time in San Diego, expect up-and-down performances from Vincent Jackson over the course of the season. For most of the game Josh Freeman was held under 40 yards passing in Dallas—by far his worst performance through three weeks.

Expect this passing game to get back on track against a Redskins secondary that has given up huge performances to Danny Amendola and A.J Green in recent weeks.

For those of you hoping the absence of Laurent Robinson from the lineup would bring an expanded role for Dez Bryant, it’s time to give up. Tony Romo continues to spread the football around, and while Bryant has the talent to be a WR1, we should consider him nothing more than a low-end WR3 until the Cowboys offensive line gives Romo reasonable time to throw from the pocket.

Andrew Hawkins was receiving WR3 love last week from many fantasy owners, and he rewarded them with another long touchdown catch. Hawkins will likely be a hit-and-miss option weekly.

Sean’s Week 4 Watch List

Darrius Heyward-Bey is likely down for a while with a bad head injury, and that should mean more targets for Denarius Moore. In his third game back from a hamstring injury, we should see a good battle between the young speedster and Champ Bailey should the two match up on Sunday.

The Bears are struggling mightily to protect Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall will have his work cut out for him, likely matched up against press corner Brandon Carr. Vincent Jackson was shut down by Dallas last week, so expect only fair numbers from Chicago’s No.1 receiver this week.

Danny Amendola will continue to be Sam Bradford’s top target but this week he faces a Seahawks defense with big, physical corners in Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman. It will be up to the coaching staff to move Amendola around, possibly by moving him in motion before the ball is snapped, to help him out this week.

Thankfully, Amendola should also benefit from playing in the slot against Marcus Trufant.

Kenny Britt looked good against the Lions, but unfortunately he rolled his ankle toward the end of the game. It's a darn shame as Britt has the talent to be an explosive weapon for fantasy owners, but he can’t stay healthy. Let’s see what his snap count is this week, if he plays.

1	Calvin Johnson	Vikings
2	A.J. Green	@ Jaguars
3	Julio Jones	Panthers
4	Jordy Nelson	Saints
5	Andre Johnson	Titans
6	Larry Fitzgerald	Dolphins
7	Demaryius Thomas	Raiders
8	Eric Decker	Raiders
9	Stevie Johnson	Patriots
10	Percy Harvin	@ Lions
11	Torrey Smith	Browns
12	Victor Cruz	@ Eagles
13	Dwayne Bowe	Chargers
14	Roddy White	Panthers
15	Vincent Jackson	Redskins
16	Brandon Lloyd	@ Bills
17	Hakeem Nicks (I)	@ Eagles
18	Wes Welker	@ Bills
19	Steve Smith (I)	@ Falcons
20	DeSean Jackson	Giants
21	Miles Austin	Bears
22	Greg Jennings (I)	Saints
23	Denarius Moore	@ Broncos
24	Brandon Marshall	@ Cowboys
25	Malcom Floyd	@ Chiefs
26	Dez Bryant	Bears
27	Marques Colston  (I)	@ Packers
28	Andrew Hawkins	@ Jaguars
29	Danny Amendola	Seahawks
30	Michael Crabtree	@ Jets
31	Randall Cobb	Saints
32	Mike Williams	Redskins
33	Jeremy Maclin (I)	Giants
34	Nate Washington (I)	@ Texans
35	Brandon LaFell	@ Falcons
36	Anquan Boldin	Browns
37	Sidney Rice	@ Rams
38	Kenny Britt (I)	@ Texans
39	Santonio Holmes	49ers
40	Titus Young	Vikings

Week 4 Standard Rankings – QB | RB | WR | TE | Waiver Wire Pickups