Fantasy Football Week 4 Running Back Preview: Raheem Mostert is must-start; De'Von Achane top 25 as well

In Week 3 Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane combined for 285 yards rushing, 11 receptions, 90 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. And it is ia legitimate question what should be done about them in Fantasy Football moving forward. Funny game we play, huh?  

There seems to be some consensus forming as to what we should do with Mostert. He is a clear sell as a  31-year-old with a laundry list of past injuries. While I get the sentiment, there have been so many injuries this season, it's hard to sell anyone coming off a performance like last week unless you think they still really aren't worth starting. And that is not the way I feel about either Dolphin.

• Week 4 previews: QB | WR | TE

This week against the Buffalo Bills, I have Mostert projected for 14 carries, three catches, 97 total yards, and a touchdown. That makes him RB3 in the projections, though I've dropped him to RB7 in my rankings. Achane projects for nine carries, two catches, 62 totals yards, and 0.6 touchdowns. That makes him RB24, just ahead of Najee Harris, Matt Breida (assuming Saquon Barkley is still out) and Jerome Ford. 

It's perfectly fine to start both Mostert and Achane as long as they are both healthy. We'll see if that remains true once presumed starter Jeff Wilson returns from his injury. There was a point not too long ago when the Dolphins were flirting with Jonathan Taylor because they didn't have enough at running back. They may have too much once Wilson returns.

Now let's get to the rest of the Week 4 RB Preview:

Week 4 RB Preview

Who's Out

Numbers to Know

Matchups That Matter

Waiver Wire Targets

DFS Plays

Projections

RB Preview

Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 4 at this time. Here's what it means:

Jonathan Taylor RB

IND Indianapolis • #28
Age: 25 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Taylor is eligible to return as soon as Week 5 and reportedly is healthy. His landing spot will alter the Fantasy landscape if he's traded and ruin the value of Zack Moss if he's not.

RB Preview

Numbers to know

• 51% -- More than half of Derrick Henry's rush attempts have come against an eight-man box, the highest rate in the league.
• 16.1% -- 16.1% of Jahmyr Gibbs' rush attempts have gone for 12 or more yards. That's elite.
• 33.3% -- Zack Moss leads all running backs with at least 20 rush attempts with a 33.3% avoid rate.
• 12 -- Miles Sanders has 12 catches already. He only had 20 all of last year in Philadelphia.
• 10.9 -- De'Von Achane has averaged 10.9 yards before contact per attempt.
• 19.8% -- Bijan Robinson still leads all running backs with a 19.8% target share. Don't worry about his Week 3 dud.
• 419 -- Tony Pollard is on pace for 419 touches. The Cowboys are not babying him. 

RB Preview

Matchups that matter

Matchups that Matter

Josh Jacobs RB

GB Green Bay • #8
Age: 26 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ LAC LAC -5.5 O/U 47.5

OPP VS RB 21st

PROJ PTS 16.7

RB RNK 5th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 108	REC 10	REYDS 92	TD 0	FPTS/G 10.1

Isiah Pacheco RB

KC Kansas City • #10
Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ NYJ KC -9.5 O/U 42.5

OPP VS RB 19th

PROJ PTS 9.7

RB RNK 26th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 155	REC 7	REYDS 47	TD 1	FPTS/G 11.1

Javonte Williams RB

DEN Denver • #33
Age: 24 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CHI DEN -3 O/U 46

OPP VS RB 31st

PROJ PTS 12

RB RNK 17th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 138	REC 8	REYDS 42	TD 0	FPTS/G 8.7

Khalil Herbert RB

CHI Chicago • #24
Age: 26 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DEN DEN -3 O/U 46

OPP VS RB 32nd

PROJ PTS 7.4

RB RNK 28th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 93	REC 6	REYDS 64	TD 0	FPTS/G 7.2

RB Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 4 Adds (RB Preview)

Matt Breida RB

NYG N.Y. Giants • #31
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs SEA NYG -1 O/U 47.5

OPP VS RB 23rd

RB RNK 29th

ROSTERED 60%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 31	REC 4	REYDS -2	TD 1	FPTS/G 4.4

Saquon Barkley is trying to come back, which could completely ruin Breida's Week 4 appeal, but Breida is a high-end flex is Barkley is out and needs to be added just in case. Breida played 86% of the snaps with Daniel Jones including all 11 on third and fourth down. The Seahawks present a much better matchup than San Francisco did.

Kendre Miller RB

NO New Orleans • #25
Age: 22 • Experience: 2 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs TB NO -3 O/U 39.5

OPP VS RB 14th

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED 47%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 34	REC 1	REYDS 0	TD 0	FPTS/G 4.4

The waiver wire is thin this late in the week, but I would still expect close to 10 touches for Kendre Miller in Alvin Kamara's return. That's about as good as you're going to find. Miller is also a great stash candidate with Jamaal Williams on IR.

Stashes (RB Preview)

Justice Hill RB

BAL Baltimore • #43
Age: 26 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CLE CLE -3 O/U 40.5

OPP VS RB 1st

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED 53%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 50	REC 3	REYDS 12	TD 2	FPTS/G 10.6

Hill still isn't practicing and we don't expect him in Week 4, but he's a good stash because the last time we saw him he was handling almost all of the high value touches for the Ravens. He's a high-end flex in tandem with Edwards and a low-end Rb2 if Edwards misses time.

RB Preview

DFS Plays

Top DFS Play

Zack Moss RB

CIN Cincinnati • #31
Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAR IND -1 O/U 46.5

OPP VS RB 13th

PROJ PTS 10.3

RB RNK 6th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 210	REC 6	REYDS 42	TD 2	FPTS/G 21.6

I'm going right back to Moss after a great Week 3. In these instances it takes a while for the pricing to catch up to the usage. Moss leads all running backs with an 83% snap share the past two weeks and he has a much better matchup against the Rams than he did last week against the Ravens. He's my No. 2 back in the projections and a must-play in cash games at his price.

Contrarian DFS Play

Josh Jacobs RB

GB Green Bay • #8
Age: 26 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ LAC LAC -5.5 O/U 47.5

OPP VS RB 21st

PROJ PTS 16.7

RB RNK 5th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 108	REC 10	REYDS 92	TD 0	FPTS/G 10.1

The Chargers are shaping up to be the get-right spot for struggling running backs. It worked last week with Alexander Mattison, and I'm betting on it with Josh Jacobs in Week 4. Jacobs showed signs of life in Week 3, and he's primed to explode in Week 4 against a defense that is once again hemorrhaging yards to the position. Opposing running backs are averaging 136 yards per game against this defense.

RB Preview

Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 4 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 4. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections over at SportsLine.