Fantasy Stock: Christian Kirk and Other Risers in Week 4

Stock Up

Christian Kirk: After a strange one-catch performance in week one, Kirk has returned to his 2022 form. He had another big day vs the Falcons with 8 catches on 12 targets for 84 yards. He has finished each week from weeks 2-4 as a WR2 which is what you would expect from a player like him. With only one touchdown on the season so far he could easily have some positive regression coming and I expect him to see around double-digit targets weekly. Since the Jaguars' offensive line play has been poor so far, Kirk has been the recipient of a ton of quick passes giving him a lot of high-percentage completions and YAC opportunities.

Derrick Henry: I have zero doubt Derrick Henry saw my article last week and used being on my stock down list as motivation to crush the Bengals. Vintage Henry was back as he rumbled for 122 yards with a rushing and a passing touchdown. It was an extremely impressive win for the Titans and played right into their gameplan. I still have reservations about Henry being able to fully pay off his draft price but this was a huge step in the right direction in turning things around.

CJ Stroud: Stroud’s beginning to his rookie campaign has been absolutely stellar. With 1,212 passing yards through four games, he’s on pace to crush Andrew Luck’s rookie passing yardage record of 4,374 yards. Whatever IT is, this dude has it. He is elevating the play of those around him and he has a great offensive coordinator to help him grow in Bobby Slowik. The rookie is finding the end zone too with 6 passing touchdowns and he has yet to throw an interception. In weeks 2-4 he reached 20+ fantasy points and he looks calm, confident, and poised without question. The only knock on him is he doesn’t run the ball and that’s fantasy quarterback gold. Despite that, I think Stroud will remain a startable fantasy quarterback the rest of the season and you likely drafted him extremely late or got him for free off waivers.

Stock Down

Kenny Pickett: Last week we had Najee Harris and this week we get Kenny Pickett. Pickett had a tremendous preseason leaving many to think he was ready to take a huge second-year leap. Well, that turned out to be a desert mirage because this offense stinks. 

Losing Diontae Johnson week one to injury was a brutal hit to the offense but they should be able to overcome it if they are for real. He is hardly completing 60% of his passes, has the same amount of touchdowns as interceptions(4), and has overall just looked terrible. It’s not like Pickett was drafted in fantasy as a top guy but if you did end up drafting him it’s likely you were banking on the leap. Help is not on the way as I don’t see things getting better under offensive coordinator Matt Canada or anyone who may step in for him if he gets fired.

Breece Hall: Breece was being drafted in the 4th round of most fantasy drafts this season after tearing his ACL last year. It seemed as if the training wheels would be off for Breece as reports through camp and preseason regarding his health were extremely positive. The Jets offense was ready to explode under Aaron Rodgers until he went down with the Achilles tear instantly to start the year. Even with that, Breece erupted in week one with multiple big runs. He took 10 carries for 127 yards in that performance vs. a good Bills defense and has since practically disappeared accumulating 26 total touches in three weeks since. 

With Zach Wilson under center, the Jets should continue to struggle on offense all year leaving them in negative game scripts for running the football. Breece popped again on Sunday Night Football with an explosive run but without a functional offense and reliable touches he doesn’t have a clear path to top running back production.

The Bengals Offense: For a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations, the Bengals have failed to look or perform like anything close to that. Burrow has the lingering calf injury which is clearly bothering him but that isn’t their only issue at the moment. They have put up only 3 points in two separate games already this year and one of them was against a Titans defense that has gotten absolutely torched through the air by everyone else they've played so far. 

With four premier fantasy assets, it looks like Ja’Marr Chase might be the only one who will pay out his draft value. Even then, he has only had one game so far that looked like the dominant Chase we’re used to seeing and he was clearly frustrated in the locker room after this latest game. The icing on the cake here is head coach Zac Taylor said Monday in his press conference that he believes Joe Burrow is healthy enough to run the offense. Yikes all around in Cincinnati.