Fantasy football free agent pickups: Replacing Malik Nabers; surprising RB options

The fourth Sunday of the NFL season featured quite a bit of action and high-scoring performances, starting with a morning game in Dublin, Ireland, and finishing in Dallas with a game that ended in a tie. Overall, six players scored 30 PPR points, including Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua and Las Vegas Raiders rookie RB Ashton Jeanty. Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes turned back time to throw four TD passes.

However, the big story in Week 4 was, once again, an injury. New York Giants star WR Malik Nabers tore the ACL in his right knee in his team’s stunning win over the Los Angeles Chargers. QB Jaxson Dart played well. RB Cam Skattebo played well. Fantasy managers lost Nabers — in many cases their first-round pick — for the rest of the 2025 season.

Each Monday, before the current NFL week ends, we will identify players available in at least 50% of ESPN standard leagues worthy of your attention, from standard formats to deeper options. The NFL is a weekly league, and player valuation and roles seldom remain stagnant. It does not matter how you acquire players for your fantasy rosters, just that you get them.

Quarterback

Jaxson Dart, New York Giants (rostered in 21.1% of ESPN leagues): What a Sunday of mixed emotions for the Giants. Dart’s first start went well enough statistically, as he scored 19.84 PPR points — mainly thanks to his 54 rushing yards and touchdown. However, he attempted only 20 passes and was under heavy pressure. Dart’s running ability might make him look statistically like New England Patriots sophomore Drake Maye, which is potentially special in fantasy. Dart should be a QB2 this season even with a limited group of receivers to throw to now that Nabers is out. No QB1 options are on bye this week, but fantasy managers should add Dart anyway for a Week 5 road game against the New Orleans Saints … and beyond.

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks (9.4%): Darnold scored 16.08 PPR points to open Week 4, a tough Thursday win on the road against the Arizona Cardinals. He continues to play efficient football. He has been mistake-free in three of four games and has completed 70% of his passes. Darnold faces an overmatched Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary in Week 5.

Deep-league options/streamers/random thoughts

• Minnesota Vikings fill-in Carson Wentz (6.2%) wasn’t supposed to throw 46 times for 350 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday morning in Ireland, but the Vikings trailed and the game script altered. Wentz figures to start again Week 5 (in London) against a tough Cleveland Browns defense. We don’t expect Wentz to throw 46 times in this one (he threw only 20 times in a Week 3 victory), but one never knows. Sophomore J.J. McCarthy (ankle) might or might not reclaim the starting role when the team returns from its bye in Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

• Perhaps none of the current Browns quarterbacks would have fared well Sunday against the Detroit Lions, but veteran Joe Flacco certainly has not been the answer. Under constant pressure, Flacco scored 1.26 PPR points. Not 10.26 points, but 1.26! Averaging 6.5 PPR points per game is not getting things done for the Browns or fantasy managers. Flacco seems likely to start Week 5 in London against the Vikings, but Oregon product Dillon Gabriel (0.4%) lurks for stashing in superflex formats after that.

Running back

Woody Marks, Houston Texans (33.2%): Marks, a fourth-round pick from USC, didn’t see many chances over the first three weeks, earning just 12 rushing attempts, and he turned them into only 44 yards. He also caught two passes. On Sunday, against the woeful Tennessee Titans, the Texans split the work between the rookie and wily veteran Nick Chubb more evenly. Marks turned his 21 touches into 119 yards and two touchdowns, including his receiving work. That’s 27.9 PPR points. Chubb scored 8.2. Advantage, Marks.

The Texans really should rely on Marks moving forward, starting in Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, though this might remain a timeshare, and nobody seems to know when or if Joe Mixon (foot) will play again. Marks becomes a viable RB2 option even against the Ravens.

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Should fantasy managers consider adding Kenneth Gainwell?

Eric Karabell offers his fantasy take on Kenneth Gainwell after his nice game vs. the Vikings.

Kenneth Gainwell, Pittsburgh Steelers (35.6%): Starter Jaylen Warren (knee) was a surprise inactive Sunday morning, and many fantasy managers were simply not prepared to remove him from lineups. Others added Gainwell and were rewarded with 31.4 PPR points, the No. 3 RB performance from Week 4 (entering Monday).

Gainwell might be worth adding this week even though the Steelers are on a bye in Week 5, because we shouldn’t presume that Warren will be fully healed for Week 6 against the Browns or beyond. This knee problem might linger. Gainwell rarely started over four seasons with the Eagles, and perhaps he lacks the size to handle a regular role, but what he achieved Sunday was quite impressive.

Deep-league options/streamers/random thoughts

• The Seahawks employed a frustrating running back timeshare over the first two weeks between presumed starter Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet (69.1%). Charbonnet missed Week 3 due to a foot injury, and many managers moved on. That was a mistake. Charbonnet outscored Walker in Week 4 (12.4 PPR points to 12), and it remains likely both running backs will continue to see ample touches. With several top options on bye in Week 5 (Bijan Robinson, Josh Jacobs), both Seattle backs are playable.

• Alvin Kamara investors need not worry just yet, but New Orleans Saints backup Kendre Miller (5.6%) turned his 11 rushing attempts into 65 yards and a touchdown Sunday for 12.5 PPR points. Kamara, thanks to a mere four receptions for 2 yards, scored 11.2 PPR points. The Saints simply (and oddly) are not utilizing Kamara properly in the passing game, and if Miller can create a modest timeshare for rushing attempts, this might get interesting. Also, Kamara is 30, so perhaps the rebuilding Saints want to see what Miller, 23 and in his third season, can do.

• Ravens backup Justice Hill (12.4%) scored 28.7 PPR points in the team’s blowout loss to the Chiefs. That might make him a popular fantasy add this week, but it isn’t remotely sustainable with Derrick Henry healthy. Hill had eight touches, two of which he turned into touchdowns, including a garbage-time, 71-yard jaunt in the closing minutes. Hill entered play with five carries and minus-7 rushing yards through three games.

Wide receiver

Wan’Dale Robinson (54.3%) and Darius Slayton (3.6%), New York Giants: Well, someone needs to catch the football now that Nabers is done, and these fellows combined for six receptions on nine targets Sunday. Robinson is far more rostered, coming off a season in which he caught 93 passes, though he turned them into a mere 699 yards and three touchdowns. He averaged 5.0 yards per target with Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle throwing the football last season. Dart is better, and Robinson, speedy out of the slot and not much of a downfield threat, should be productive. Slayton gets downfield better, but he doesn’t figure to see major volume. Regardless, there is a void in this offense. Robinson and Slayton must see opportunity.

Deep-league options/streamers/random thoughts

• Indianapolis Colts speedster Adonai Mitchell (1.3%) scored 10.6 PPR points in the team’s loss to the Rams, but it should have been much more. Mitchell would have scored a fancy 76-yard touchdown from QB Daniel Jones but … he fumbled right before crossing the goal line, seemingly in preparation for celebrating. Still, Mitchell has skills, and neither Josh Downs (48.5%) nor Alec Pierce (1.4%) have done much statistically. If the Colts forgive Mitchell for his mind-boggling mistake, perhaps a relevant, deep-league option lurks, though I’d still choose Downs.

• Fantasy managers made Texans rookie Jayden Higgins (30.2%) one of the most-dropped wide receivers when he caught only four passes over the first three games. He caught only one pass Sunday, but it was a 24-yard touchdown. It is possible Higgins, a second-round pick from Iowa State, emerges at some point as a weekly volume threat, but he isn’t there yet. Even Christian Kirk (31.6%), with 10.5 PPR points in his two games, is a better option in the short term.

Tight end

Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles (67.8%): Goedert is rostered in more than 50% of leagues, but he was started in a mere 15.2% of them in Week 4. He tallied a position-leading 19.7 PPR points, and he has had three touchdowns over the past two weeks. Goedert has been a relative disappointment in recent seasons for both production and health reasons, but he seems to have a safe role in what has become a wildly inconsistent Philadelphia offense.

Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars (22.7%): A repeat name from prior weeks, Strange has six receptions on seven targets over consecutive weeks, which might not seem like much, but it’s pretty good in this offense. Strange leads the Jaguars with 19 receptions and 192 receiving yards.

Deep-league options/streamers/random thoughts

• Jake Tonges (2.5%) boasts a pair of double-digit PPR outings in the first month of the season, as he takes advantage of the George Kittle (hamstring) absence, though Kittle might return in Week 6. Still, with Kittle out, Tonges remains worth a look in deep leagues for Week 5 against the Rams.

Bye weeks: Keep these players rostered

• Bye weeks begin in Week 5, with the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Steelers off. Some managers with Bears WR DJ Moore (93.1%) might wish to move on as sophomore Rome Odunze has clearly become the team’s top receiving option for QB Caleb Williams. Moore averages only five targets per game, and he has reached double-digit PPR points in only one game. Still, keep him rostered. The Bears play the Washington Commanders, Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals in October, defenses against which the Bears should thrive.

• Exalted Packers rookie Matthew Golden (81.6%) hasn’t scored a touchdown yet, but he did reach double-digit PPR points in his past two games. It is premature to let Golden hit your league’s waiver wire. Part with injured Packers WR Jayden Reed (52.4%) instead.

• Fantasy managers might not have room to keep relevant TE Kyle Pitts Sr. (65.3%) and tandem RB Tyler Allgeier (35.5%) rostered, but they really must try to do so. Pitts scored 18 PPR points Sunday, and he looks like a borderline TE1 option (finally). Allgeier is one of the most reliable reserve running backs, and he gets more volume than most backups. Try to keep both of these fellows on your team.

• The Steelers and Packers D/ST units rank among the five most rostered in ESPN leagues, but because I typically do not advocate rostering more than one D/ST at a time, there isn’t a need to keep either of these units around. Despite the addition of Micah Parsons, the Packers D/ST (84.5%) has scored only 21 PPR points, tied for 17th in the league.

Defense

Arizona Cardinals (24.6%): The Cardinals D/ST has reached double-digit fantasy points in just one game (Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers) and did so mainly because of an early fumble recovery for a touchdown. The Cardinals host Tennessee on Sunday, and the Titans didn’t score in Week 4.

Jacksonville Jaguars (7%): It seems dangerous to rely on the Jaguars for a Week 5 home game with the Chiefs, after seeing what Kansas City did to the Ravens on Sunday. Then again, the Jaguars D/ST has scored double-digit PPR points in three of four games. That is impressive.

New York Giants (7.2%): The Giants have a lot of other stuff going on, obviously, but the defense played admirably against Justin Herbert and the Chargers. In Week 5, the Giants hit the road against the Saints. The Saints are not an offensive juggernaut. Then again, one could make the case to add the Saints D/ST (0.6%) against the Giants, too! Go with the Giants first.