In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Paramount+:
The NFL—and fantasy, by extension—is all agony and ecstasy right now. There is little room for anything in between.
Look no further than what unfolded in the late games yesterday …
ECSTASY: In the marquee game of the week, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders clobbered the Cardinals on their home turf, 42-14. Washington moves to 3-1 thanks to a nearly perfect offense. Daniels has now completed a mind-blowing 82.1% of his passes over the first four games of his career, which is good for multiple NFL records.
The future couldn’t be any more bright in Washington (or for Daniels’ fantasy managers) and the excitement for this upstart squad is fully justified.
AGONY: But then we flip over to watch the Chiefs escape the Chargers with the ultimate pyrrhic victory. Star WR Rashee Rice suffered what is believed to be a season-ending ACL injury after his own QB hit into his knee.
Rice, like Nico Collins (who makes an appearance in my Pick 6 wrap-up column below), was blossoming into one of the NFL’s elite WRs. The Chiefs might be 4-0, but they’ll need a real miracle to withstand the loss of both Rice and Isiah Pacheco.
We’ll be here all week—whether you need us to clear the runway for your victory laps or help you plug the holes of a sinking ship.
What else is in today’s newsletter?
Pete puts a bow on Week 4’s main slate of games.
Watercooler: Don’t push out the veteran.
Week 4 Takeaways: We Could Have a New WR1
by Pete Overzet
It's time for Pete's Pick 6—my weekly recap column where I round up the good, the bad, and the ugly from Sunday’s main slate.
Pull on up…
🌟 Nico Collins, your new WR1
I know this season has been mired with injuries and sluggish starts, but Nico Collins' ascension to the top echelon of NFL WRs is a massive bright spot.
It's not like Nico was being ignored heading into the year—he was a mid-second round draft pick in any competitive format—but I don't think anyone thought he'd be this good.
On Sunday, he carved up the Jags for 151 yards and 1 TD on 12 catches. What's scary about that stat line is that it could have been much, much bigger had C.J. Stroud not sailed multiple balls way over his head.
Through four weeks, here is where we stand with Collins:
Leads the league in receiving yards by a wide margin (489)
On pace for nearly 2,000 yards (1915)
Has three 100-yard games in four weeks
Set a career high with 12 receptions
Now averaging a gaudy 22.7 ppg with insane underlying peripherals
If we are redrafting today, he's a Top-5 pick (and even that might be shortchanging him).
💥 The Justin Fields breakout game
Look, I'm well aware that the Steelers lost. I'm also aware that Fields had a fumble and made some mistakes. But this is a fantasy column on a site called Fantasy Life and Justin Fields was a fantasy star in Week 4:
312 passing yards, 1 passing TD
55 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs
31.98 fantasy points
Fields was one of the most polarizing players in the league this offseason—both in real life and in fantasy—but no one could ever deny that he has the tools for blowup games like this.
Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith kept the training wheels on the first few weeks, and there were plenty of "game manager" whispers floating around, but Fields took over as the engine of the offense vs. the Colts.
Fields is now 3-1 as the starter with a 71% completion percentage.
In case this needed to be said, Russell Wilson isn't getting this job.
RELATED CONTENT:
A record-setting day among Sunday Week 4 highlights.
Time to catch the Week 4 Fantasy Football Overreactions.
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AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
The latest analysis and insights from our merry band of football nerds:
👀 Rehash all of the Week 4 action with Ian and Dwain in this Instant Recap Show.
🚑️ Key Week 4 injuries to monitor. Some big ones, along with Rice.
👑 The King eating on SNF. He’s still got it.
🐻 Tom Brady was seriously considering signing where?! That would have been funny.
🏈 Jonathon Brooks can come back from IR, but let’s not push Chuba Hubbard into a backup role yet.
