Welcome to Week 4’s start/sit column. Each week throughout the regular season, I will go over a few players at each major position and tell you whether you should make room in your lineup for them or pull them out of a starting spot. Players labeled “starts” are non-obvious options that either have a good matchup or are trending in the right direction, ranking higher for me than consensus this week. Players labeled “sits” are ones I have concerns about leading into the week but are in a significant amount starting lineups. This article is most helpful for those in full- or half-point PPR leagues.

As always, you should make the final call on all of your lineup decisions. This column is intended to be a piece of your research puzzle and/or a resource to highlight some specific names that may have been overlooked in my weekly rankings. Without further ado, here is Start/Sit for Week 4:

NOTE: All Steelers, Titans, Vikings, and Texans players have been intentionally omitted due to the uncertainty surrounding their Week 4 games.

QUARTERBACK

START: Jared Goff (QB - LAR)

I’m starting to really buy into 2020’s version of Goff. While I still want to see if he’s going to continue to play at this high of a level all season, especially when there’s a significant amount of film on Sean McVay’s 2020 offense, he’s a must-start this week against the Giants. While the raw numbers don’t necessarily indicate that the Giants defense a great matchup, keep in mind those stats are skewed a bit by playing Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Mullens over the last two weeks. Goff ranks as a top-10 fantasy quarterback through three weeks, has his full cache of weapons, and should exploit this vulnerable New York secondary at home. Goff is averaging 25.61 points per game in Weeks 2 and 3 and should have his third consecutive 20-plus point performance on Sunday.

START: Joe Burrow (QB - CIN)

Burrow may not be able to make it through the entire season if he continues to get hit as hard and as often as he has through the first three weeks of the season, but give him credit for being tough, bouncing right back up, and performing at a pretty high level. His 20.38-point performance last week keeps him just inside the top-10 fantasy quarterbacks list in the early going. He’s a QB1 for me again this week with a home game against the Jaguars on tap. Jacksonville is allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. Ryan Tannehill and Ryan Fitzpatrick carved this defense up and Burrow should too. He may even get his first NFL victory in the process.

SIT: Cam Newton (QB - NE)

I’ll start by saying this is not an overreaction stemming from Monday Night Football where the Chiefs’ defense absolutely stymied Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense. Newton was not ranked in my top 15 for Week 4 before the game kicked off. However, Monday Night Football displayed some reasons to be concerned about playing Newton this week. Kansas City is one of the five worst defenses for fantasy quarterbacks to face this season. The Chiefs are allowing the fourth-fewest passing yards and sixth-fewest points per game this season. You’ll be relying on Newton to get you a touchdown or two on the ground in order to finish in the top 12 because he should struggle through the air this week.

RUNNING BACK

START: Darrell Henderson (RB - LAR)

I’m not sure what I’m doing more of, buying the Rams or fading the Giants. Probably both, but I am certainly buying stock in Henderson after back-to-back solid weeks. After starting the season banged up, Henderson looks healthy and is running with confidence right now. He’s had two straight 19-plus point performances and now faces a Giants defense allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to running backs this season. Malcolm Brown will still get some work, but for as long as Cam Akers is out, Henderson is an RB2.

START: Myles Gaskin (RB - MIA)

August me couldn’t even fathom writing this so early in the season, but here we are. One of the best-kept fantasy secrets as a result of no preseason games being played, Gaskin is clearly the lead back for the Dolphins. After back-to-back 13-touch games to open the season, Gaskin received a staggering 27 touches (22 carries) on Thursday Night Football against the Jaguars. While he wasn’t terribly effective on the ground, he continues to catch enough passes to garner low-end RB2 consideration in PPR leagues. The Seahawks have solid numbers against the run because they have a historically bad pass defense right now. I expect Gaskin to continue to produce in the receiving game.

SIT: Joshua Kelley (RB - LAC)

While I’m still very much in on Kelley long-term, you need to fade all running backs against the Buccaneers, particularly those that are rush-heavy with low pass-catching volume. Austin Ekeler takes a bit of a hit this week, but not as much as Kelley, who ranks outside of my top 40 players at the position. Tampa Bay had the best run defense in the NFL last year and are allowing the third-fewest rushing yards in the league despite playing Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey, and Melvin Gordon to open the season. Even if you guaranteed me 20 carries for Kelley on Sunday, he’s still not a start this week. Get him out of your lineups.

WIDE RECEIVER

START: DeVante Parker (WR - MIA)

Another Dolphin makes this list as Parker gets to face off against the worst passing defense in the NFL this weekend. Parker hasn’t blown you away with his production so far, but he’s also been banged up. With a few extra days between games to heal, Parker should thrive as the top Miami pass-catching threat. He’s a must-start, top-20 wide receiver this week.

START: CeeDee Lamb (WR - DAL)

Despite not yet finding the end zone, Lamb ranks at the WR27 through three weeks with 40.0 fantasy points. While Michael Gallup stole the show in Week 3, Lamb was more than productive enough to warrant a spot in your starting lineup. He’s had no fewer than six targets or 10.9 fantasy points in his first handful of NFL games. The Browns have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season, and with Denzel Ward’s attention likely elsewhere, Lamb should continue to produce as a flex play or WR3.

SIT: T.Y. Hilton (WR - IND)

This one pains me because I had such high expectations for Hilton in the preseason. He was one of my favorite value picks and I expected a big season from him with the upgrade to Philip Rivers at quarterback. He’s yet to have more than four catches in a game and after getting nine targets in Week 1, he has only eight since. The matchup with the Bears isn’t great, but sitting him is more about Hilton than Chicago. He’ll take over a game here at some point, and the Colts are running out of other weapons, but he’s not ranked among my top 30 wide receivers this week.

TIGHT END

START: Mike Gesicki (TE - MIA)

If it’s not yet apparent, start the top Dolphins play-makers. Gesicki scored a touchdown but had an otherwise quiet night of action last Thursday against the Jaguars. However, he’s back at home this week and gets an extremely juicy matchup against the Seahawks. While Seattle was the second-worst team in the NFL against tight ends last season, Gesicki is essentially a big slot receiver, and no team has allowed more fantasy points to wide receivers this season than the Seahawks. With no certain No. 2 option aside from Parker for Fitzpatrick to throw to, Gesicki should assume that role and feast.

SIT: Evan Engram (TE - NYG)

Last week in this column I challenged Drew Brees and A.J. Green to show me something before I continued to play them based on past reputation—one of them (Brees) played well enough to avoid the ax, while the other (Green) did nothing to help his cause. This week, it’s Engram. The oft-injured tight end has been healthy so far this season but very unproductive. He has a grand total of 20.6 fantasy points this season, just barely enough to sneak into the top 25 at the position. The matchup against the Rams is neutral, but until Engram starts playing better, it’s getting harder and harder to rank him in my weekly top 15 with no bye weeks. You likely have a better option in 10- or 12-team leagues.