Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 4: Choosing Top Fantasy Football Locks and Flops

The dreaded bye weeks have arrived. Filling out a winning lineup in the first three weeks was tricky enough with several top draft picks failing to produce at an elite level. Now fantasy football owners are also forced to navigate high-profile absences.

They start with a bang, too. The Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals are among the teams resting this week. All of those squads feature multiple fantasy assets who will need to get replaced in starting lineups.

Ultimately, the lesser number of options also shifts the line for starts and sits a bit. Those who may have deserved to ride the pine for a team at full strength could now be worth sliding into the lineup. Knowing that, let's check out where some fringe players land for Week 4.

Start 'Em

Position	Player	Team
QB	Tom Brady	NE
RB	Matt Asiata	MIN
WR	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR
TE	Antonio Gates	SD
D/ST	Lions	DET
K	Shaun Suisham	PIT

Tom Brady is off to a sluggish start. He scored a mediocre 13 points last week and it marked the first time this season he reached a double-digit total. Expect a more Brady-like performance against a Kansas City Chiefs defense that's already given up six touchdowns through the air.

Even though Matt Asiata hasn't exactly set the fantasy world on fire since moving into a starting role, he's getting a consistent workload that allows him to maintain value. Expect him to have success both on the ground and as part of the passing game against the 27th-ranked Atlanta Falcons defense.

Chris Littmann of Sporting News used Asiata as one example to showcase exactly how difficult it is to predict which players will hold fantasy value:

Kelvin Benjamin is approaching must-start status. The rookie wideout ranks sixth at the position through three weeks and is coming off a 17-point outing. He should post another big score against a struggling Baltimore Ravens secondary that ranks 25th in passing yards allowed.

It's not time to abandon Antonio Gates despite his inability to get on the fantasy scoreboard last week. He had scored 35 points in the first two games and should remain a key piece of the San Diego Chargers' aerial attack. The group faces a completely overmatched Jacksonville Jaguars defense in Week 4.

The Detroit Lions defense has quietly been a major strength in the early going. It ranks second at the position and has scored in double digits twice in three weeks. The unit has a golden opportunity to make it three out of four against a mistake-prone New York Jets offense.

Shaun Suisham is still available in a vast majority of leagues even after posting 35 points in the first three contests. He should keep his scoring binge alive in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that should feature plenty of scoring opportunities.

Sit 'Em

Position	Player	Team
QB	Tony Romo	DAL
RB	Joique Bell	DET
WR	Reggie Wayne	IND
TE	Zach Ertz	PHI
D/ST	49ers	SF
K	Nick Folk	NYJ

Tony Romo finally showed signs of fantasy life with a 15-point showing last week. The Dallas Cowboys will be heavily reliant on the rushing attack to avoid getting into a shootout with the New Orleans Saints, however, which limits his upside.

The combination of Joique Bell and Reggie Bush, which was so effective last season, is struggling to find that same success so far. Both backs are averaging less than four yards per carry and have just one rushing touchdown each. Add in Bell's lack of regular targets in the passing game and he should sit.

Reggie Wayne is no longer an elite fantasy option. He's averaging less than six points per week and has yet to find the end zone. It's unlikely that trend will change against a Tennessee Titans pass defense that ranks second by giving up just 170 yards per game.

Another factor is how Andrew Luck likes to spread the ball around, which hurts Wayne's value. The team's official site passed along comments from the receiver about the numerous weapons during his radio show on WNDE:

"

That's the beauty of it. That's something we have in our arsenal that a lot of teams don't have and that's numerous guys that can show up each week and play key roles. Like I said earlier, as long as Andrew is finding the open guys and guys are playing to that level, I think it's going to be hard for teams to keep up with us and key on one or two guys. We are blessed with a team where guys have a lot of experience and guys are eager to make themselves household names.

"

Zach Ertz is a player with plenty of fantasy upside as his role likely expands as the season goes on. He's still just a matchup play at the current time, though. He doesn't have a good one this week against a strong San Francisco 49ers linebacker group.

Speaking of the 49ers, their defense has been a top-10 option so far and should continue to hover around that mark for most of the campaign. That said, any team going up against the uptempo Philadelphia Eagles offense is a risky commodity.

Nick Folk has emerged as a solid fantasy bet thanks to a Jets offense that's inconsistent once it gets into scoring range. There are better options available this week, however, due to the aforementioned improved Lions defense.