Fantasy Football Week 4 Quarterback Rankings: Deshaun Watson's absence leaves us one QB short

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Before we get to the Week 4 QB rankings for Fantasy Football, here are some thoughts on three of the biggest questions Fantasy players have about the position heading into Week 4:

Should Tua Tagovailoa be in that elite tier at QB?

Tagovailoa had 309 yards and four touchdowns in a game where Miami legitimately could have stopped trying by the end of the first quarter and won easily; backup Mike White added another 67 yards and a touchdown on a bomb to a player signed from the practice squad. Yes, two of Tagovailoa's touchdowns came on shovel passes that were essentially just fancy running plays; he was also playing without Jaylen Waddle, who might be a top-12 WR in the entire league in his own right.

This offense is just operating on a different level than anything else we're seeing in the NFL. While a ton of other teams have been working to find answers to the two-high shell defenses most of the league has adopted to take away big plays in the passing game, the Dolphins have kept right on rolling, using big, two-back-and-a-tight-end formations to keep defenses from loading up against the pass, while still creating chunk plays down the field thanks to their speed at WR and Tagovailoa's accuracy and timing. It's a true joy to watch. And, with De'Von Achane's emergence Sunday, defenses might have an even tougher time focusing on the pass.

Tagovailoa has now played 16 games at QB for the Dolphins with Mike McDaniel and Tyreek Hill, and he's passed for 4,572 and 33 touchdowns, averaging 22.3 points per game in six-point-per-pass-TD leagues, and I'll note that that is without taking away any of the games he left because of concussions last season. Take those games out and he jumps up to 25.9 points per game. That's still south of what I'd expect most weeks from Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts, but it puts him right at the next tier – though maybe just a tad lower for the matchup against Buffalo this one.

But at this point, it sure looks like you got a massive edge at the QB position without having to pay for it with Tagovailoa. Now we just have to hope he can stay healthy.

Can we trust Deshaun Watson now?

Watson has still looked largely pretty bad as a passer since coming back from his suspension last season, though last week gave us our first really promising signs that he might turn it around. However, he's not going to do so in Week 4, as he's been ruled out with a shoulder injury. That forces rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson into action for the Browns, and he's an intriguing sleeper in 2QB leagues -- he ran a 4.56 40-yard dash and ran for 600-plus yards in each of his final two college seasons. He's got a lot of starting experience at the collegiate level, and passed for more than 10,000 yards and 80 touchdowns at UCLA. He's by no means a must-start, but Thompson-Robinson looked solid in the preseason and has some upside for Fantasy even against a tough Ravens defense.

Is CJ Stroud a starting QB in Fantasy?

Stroud has 25.46 and 24.6 points over his past two games, and he's done that by throwing the ball both efficiently and regularly, with 121 pass attempts through his first three career games. I've been so impressed by how Stroud has responded to being thrown into the deep end from Day 1, on a team missing numerous offensive line starters. I'm not willing to say he's a must-start Fantasy QB or anything, especially with a very tough matchup against the Steelers on the way in Week 4, but he's been one of the fastest risers at the QB position so far and should be in the QB1 conversation once the schedule lightens up.