As we approach the quarter-mark of the 2022 NFL regular season, the song remains the same in fantasy: value plays make paydays. Anyone who drafted Jalen Hurts, James Robinson, Khalil Herbert, or Amon-Ra St. Brown in their season-long redrafts knows the value of high-end sleepers. The same can be said by DFS players who bought stock in Trevor Lawrence, Jamaal Williams, and Mack Hollins before they popped. More bang for your buck translates to more bucks in your pocket. That's why we highlight the best sleepers, values, and under-the-radar players for DraftKings and FanDuel contests each Tuesday, giving you a head start on daily fantasy football contests by pinpointing the potential studs and breakouts.
The task at hand is simple: scour the player pools from the main slate of both DK and FD, analyze the matchups and stat trends, and determine which players yield the highest values. By capitalizing on affordable sleepers in certain roster spots, we leave ourselves the budget to greatly improve other roster spots with proven weekly studs. In layman's terms, you can't afford a Jonathan Taylor ($8,800 on DK) each week without the occasional Noah Brown ($4,900).
WEEK 4 DFS: Best stacks
Humble brag: this column has been blistering hot right out of the gates this season. In Week 1, we had five skill-position picks — all $5,500 or less on DK — score between 18 and 27 points. We then had 11 players with an average cost of $4,500 put up an average fantasy score of 17.4 in Week 2. We kept the gravy train rolling last weekend. Check out the highlights from our Week 3 column:
| Pos. | Player | Week 2 Game | DK Price | Pts. |
| QB | Derek Carr | Raiders at Titans | $5,900 | 23.8 |
| QB | Mac Jones | Patriots vs. Ravens | $5,100 | 21.9 |
| RB | Khalil Herbert | Bears vs. Texans | $5,200 | 33.9 |
| RB | Rhamondre Stevenson | Patriots vs. Ravens | $4,800 | 20.1 |
| RB | Dameon Pierce | Texans at Bears | $5,000 | 18.1 |
| RB | Breece Hall | Jets vs. Bengals | $5,300 | 15.2 |
| WR | Greg Dortch | Cardinals vs. Rams | $4,300 | 17.0 |
| WR | Curtis Samuel | Commanders vs. Eagles | $5,100 | 13.1 |
| WR | Garrett Wilson | Jets vs. Bengals | $5,400 | 12.0 |
| DST | Philadelphia | Eagles at Commanders | $2,900 | 18.0 |
Are you not entertained!? That's 10 value plays — costing an average of just $4,900 — that averaged out to 19.3 PPR points! That kind of cheap production afforded you the ability to roster proven weekly studs like Lamar Jackson, Nick Chubb, and Mark Andrews, setting you up for success from top-to-bottom of your DFS lineups.
Let's dive right back into it, and pluck out our favorite sleepers and under-the-radar value plays for Week 4. As always, we will update if any major injuries occur, but for now, you can lock these players into your various lineups. Good luck, have fun, and may the Dortch be with you!
All player values are from DraftKings and FanDuel. All stats are from NFL.com and Pro Football Reference.
WEEK 4 DFS LINEUPS: FanDuel | DraftKings
NFL DFS Picks Week 4: QB sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel
Geno Smith, Seahawks at Lions (DK: $5,400 | FD: $6,600)
Smith bounced back from a Week 2 dud in San Francisco with a superb Week 3 performance against the Falcons at home. He completed 32-of-44 passes for 325 yards and two TDs, getting top Seattle receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett involved early and often. Now Smith rolls into Motown to face the Lions, who have allowed 31 fantasy points per game to QBs (30th in the NFL in both DK and FD). Sportsbooks list the over/under total for this game at 50.5 points with Seattle as 6.5-point underdogs, so Smith should be busy. At these modest price points, Papa Geno is a huge value — almost as good as "All You Can Eat Pizza" Tuesdays at Papa Gino's in the '90s.
More great Week 4 QB values: Matt Ryan, Colts vs. Titans (DK: $5,600 | FD: $6,700); Cooper Rush, Cowboys vs. Commanders (DK: $5,300 | FD: $6,400)
WEEK 4 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kicker
NFL DFS Picks Week 4: RB sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel
Breece Hall, Jets at Steelers (DK: $5,400 | FD: $6,300)
Last week, we predicted Texans rookie Dameon Pierce would have a breakout game against Chicago. Winning! This week, our rookie breakout pick is Hall, one of my ride-or-die guys all preseason. In Week 3 against the Bengals, Hall garnered eight carries and 11 pass targets, both of which ranked as the highest of his three-week NFL career. The result: 39 round yards (4.9 ypc) and six catches for 53 yards (8.8 ypr). He's now averaging 5.3 yards per attempt and faces a Steelers squad that has been particularly generous to RBs (364 ground yards allowed, fourth most in the league). The forecast in Pittsburgh this weekend: cloudy with a chance of Breece lightning!
Devin Singletary, Bills at Ravens (DK: $5,900 | FD: $6,200)
Singletary always seems like a risk considering the Bills are as pass-happy an offense as we've ever seen, but last week in Miami, 11 of Josh Allen's 63 passes went in Singletary's direction. The veteran RB hauled in nine of them for 78 yards and a TD. He only added 13 yards on the ground on nine carries, but that's neither here nor there. Miami has a much better defense than Baltimore at this point, and the heat index won't be at dangerous levels in Maryland like it was in South Beach last week. The Ravens have allowed 25 receptions for 162 yards to the RB position this season, both among the fifth most in the NFL. Fire up Singletary, and maybe we'll see him do a Hingle McCringleberry.
The low-hanging fruit: Khalil Herbert, Bears at Giants (DK: $5,700 | FD: $7,200) and Dameon Pierce, Texans vs. Chargers (DK: $5,600 | FD: $6,800)
Herbert is an obvious play after Bears RB1 David Montgomery's Week 3 ankle injury, but the second-year back was arguably much better than Monty even before the injury. Among RBs, he's sixth in ground yards and tied for second in TDs, and now the floor is expected to be his against a Giants D that just got gashed by Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. Pierce, meanwhile, makes an encore appearance on the values list — the monkey's out of the bottle, and Pandora doesn't go back in the box — he only comes out. The Chargers rank 27th in fantasy points surrendered to RBs. Fire away on both of these guys, at least while they're still in the $5K-6K range on DK.
Other great Week 4 RB values: Rashaad Penny, Seahawks at Lions (DK: 4,900 | FD: $6,700); Melvin Gordon III, Broncos at Raiders (DK: 5,800 | FD: $6,500); J.D. McKissic, Commanders at Cowboys (DK: $5,100 | FD: $5,300)
WEEK 4 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kicker
NFL DFS Picks Week 4: WR sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel
Isaiah McKenzie, Bills at Ravens (DK: $5,100 | FD: $6,300)
McKenzie reminded the fantasy world of his existence in Week 3, hauling in seven-of-nine targets for 76 yards and a TD against the Dolphins. Bills WR2 Gabe Davis seemed pretty rusty in the tough divisional loss, clearly not yet at 100 percent after an ankle injury kept him out of Week 2. McKenzie should have another strong week ahead of him against the Ravens, who rank dead last in fantasy points allowed to receivers and often struggle to contain speedy slot receivers. With Baltimore corners Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey likely focusing on Stefon Diggs and Davis, McKenzie could get loose for his third breakaway score in four weeks.
Romeo Doubs, Packers vs. Patriots (DK: $4,500 | FD: $5,900)
Fantasy owners far and wide over the weekend were kicking themselves for dropping Doubs after consecutive opening-week clunkers, but he and four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers reignited their preseason flame against the Buccaneers, hooking up for eight catches on eight targets for 73 yards and a TD. Their mind-meld should continue this weekend against a a Patriots defense that was just torched by Lamar Jackson. Bill Belichick usually aims to neutralize the opposing squad's top weapons, and for Green Bay, that would be RBs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon as well as WR Allen Lazard. Go with Doubs for the dub.
Three Weeks is a Charm: Greg Dortch, Cardinals at Panthers (DK: $5,000 | FD: $5,300)
I can't quit you, Greg Dortch. This dude might as well be the Captain of the DFS values column for 2022 because he's been here for three weeks and he still hasn't let us down. He's clearly one of Kyler Murray's favorite receivers with DeAndre Hopkins suspended and both Rondale Moore (hamstring) and A.J. Green (bone bruise) out. The undrafted third-year wideout has put up solid stats far exceeding his costs in each of the first three weeks: 13.3 at $3,000 in Week 1, 15.5 at $3,500 in Week 2, and 17.0 at $5,300 last weekend. How can we not believe? May the Dortch be with you!
More strong Week 4 WR values: Noah Brown, Cowboys vs. Commanders (DK: $4,900 | FD: $5,600); Richie James Jr., Giants vs. Bears (DK: $4,000 | FD: $5,500); George Pickens, Steelers vs. Jets (DK: $3,800 | FD: $5,100)
WEEK 4 FANTASY PICKS: Sleepers | Busts | Start 'em, sit 'em
NFL DFS Picks Week 4: TE sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel
David Njoku, Browns at Falcons (DK: $3,700 | FD: $5,700)
Tight end remains a barren fantasy wasteland in 2022, but certain glimpses of hope always emerge after the steep drop-off from the top tier. Njoku was one of those golden nuggets in Week 3, with the veteran finally clicking with interim Browns QB Jacoby Brissett. All said, they connected on nine-of-10 targets for 89 yards and a TD, one of the best lines at the position all weekend. Now they'll get a chance to replicate such success when they visit Atlanta, the second-worst tight end defense in fantasy and arguably the worst overall D in the pros.
Tyler Conklin, Jets at Steelers (DK: $3,600 | FD: $5,400)
Very quietly, Conklin is tied with Travis Kelce for third-most targets at the tight end position. He's delivering, too, catching all eight Joe Flacco looks on Sunday against Cincy for 84 yards (both career highs). Pittsburgh has been tough against receivers but ranks 27th in fantasy points allowed to tight ends. Go for the Conk smash this weekend.
More top Week 4 TE values: Robert Tonyan, Packers vs. Patriots (DK: 3,500 | FD: $4,900); Daniel Bellinger, Giants vs. Bears (DK: $2,800 | FD: $4,600}
NFL DFS Picks Week 4: D/ST sleepers, values for DraftKings, FanDuel
Colts vs. Titans (DK: $3,000 | FD: $3,700)
Indy's D plummeted to from $3,500 to $2,200 after allowing 24 points in a shutout loss to Jacksonville in Week 2, but the Colts rebounded well with a massive upset win over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for their first win of the young season. Shaq Leonard (back) could finally return this weekend, which is unfortunate timing for a Titans offense that ranks 26th in total yards (302.3 per game) and 29th in scoring (17.0 ppg).
Other solid Week 4 D/ST values: Browns at Falcons (DK: $3,400 | FD: $4,500); Giants vs. Bears (DK: $3,100 | FD: $4,300)
