Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 4: High-Profile Stars You Must Bench

We are just hours away from kicking off the bulk of Week 4 action in the NFL, and for fantasy football owners, that means the clock is running out on lineup decisions.

While oftentimes that means choosing between two fringe players who are equally likely to burn you or win your matchup, there are even times when it is necessary to sit your big-name players.

Fantasy football is all about setting yourself up with the lowest risk and highest reward. Most of the time, playing your studs no matter what and hoping for a solid performance is the best option. However, for these players, that isn't the case this week. 

Here is a look at some high-profile players you would be best served to keep out of your lineup in Week 4. 

Philip Rivers (QB, San Diego Chargers)

While many expected a slight downtick in the San Diego signal-caller's numbers without departed wide receiver Vincent Jackson, no one expected a one-way ticket to fantasy irrelevance.

Through three games, Rivers has passed for just 688 yards and four touchdowns while throwing three interceptions. Flailing behind a struggling offensive line, he has scored more than 20 fantasy points just once and currently ranks as the 26th-best fantasy quarterback in the league.

Unfortunately for Rivers' fantasy owners, not even advanced statistics are promising. According to Football Outsiders, Rivers ranks as the 20th-best quarterback in the league this season, accumulating 5.8 percent less yardage than a replacement-level player would against similar opponents. 

Look for that to continue this week against the Kansas City Chiefs. While they're no world-beaters defensively, the Chiefs have allowed just 225 yards passing per game thus far, good for 12th in the NFL. Rivers has also struggled fantasy-wise against the Chiefs recently, throwing zero touchdowns against four interceptions in two matchups last season.

If you have a solid backup (e.g. Ryan Fitzpatrick), feel free to play him over the struggling San Diego star.

Reggie Bush (RB, Miami Dolphins)

It's hard not to feel great about the season Bush is having thus far.

Labeled a bust by almost every talent evaluator, Bush has gone to Miami and soared in his little over a season with the team.

Through three weeks in 2012, Bush has 302 yards on a mere 50 carries and has scored two touchdowns.

Nevertheless, he still hasn't been the superstar runner everybody thinks he's been. Bush's two touchdowns and 172 of his yards came in a breakout Week 2 performance against the Oakland Raiders. In the Dolphins' other two contests, has rushed for a total of 130 yards and has failed to reach the end zone.

While part of the reasoning for that is that Bush went down with a knee injury last week against the New York Jets, that injury also makes him a questionable start at best this week.

Bush was already going to have a tough enough time in Week 4 against the vaunted Arizona Cardinals defense. To expect an excellent performance with a knee that is surely not 100 percent seems unrealistic.

Demaryius Thomas (WR, Denver Broncos) 

After two weeks of seemingly emerging as Peyton Manning's top offensive target, Thomas struggled mightily in Week 3 action. 

Despite being targeted 11 times, Thomas came away with just three receptions for 34 yards against the Houston Texans.

The amount of targets the young receiver got is encouraging, but Manning's inability to connect triggered fears that many had in the preseason.

Despite some openings, Manning and Thomas were seemingly never on the same page in terms of where a route should break or when timing patterns would be thrown. Though it's easy to point the finger at Manning's obviously weakened arm, Thomas' route-running ability has always been a weak spot, and it reared its head last week.

On the other hand, fellow receiver Eric Decker got his first huge performance of the season, grabbing eight passes for 136 yards. 

When taking into account Manning's performance with similar receivers, it always stood to reason that Decker would emerge in 2012 while Thomas played a Pierre Garcon-like role. 

It seems that threat has finally taken shape and will lead to frustrating inconsistencies for Thomas going forward. 

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