Sunday Aftermath: Chiefs' Receiver Woes, Lamar Jackson's Status, And More

“Easy” simply does not exist in the NFL. The Bills have the most imposing dual-threat in the history of the game but are slumping on offense. The Eagles’ operation is the envy of the football world and yet the train is off the tracks. The Rams built a summer super team but have had to scratch and claw their way to 2-2.

But perhaps no team’s champagne problems have proved more intractable than the Chiefs and their wideout woes. Since trading Tyreek Hill they’ve won two Super Bowls but had zero 1,000-yard wideouts. They’ve had only one 1,000-yard season of any kind, Travis Kelce’s 1,338-yard 2022. Hell, they haven’t even had a 1,000-yard rushing season in that timespan.

Kenneth Walker III is poised to change that on the ground. Through the air? The slump seems all but guaranteed to continue after a stirring victory over the revitalized Raiders brought the Chiefs to 4-0 but left them without Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton.

Thornton’s injury is the one most emblematic of the Chiefs’ post-Hill problems. A slow-burn reclamation project who was having the best game of his NFL life in Vegas, Thornton was injured on the longest reception of the afternoon and second longest of his career. He didn’t even realize he was hurt until he stood up and saw his own foot pointing in the wrong direction. How do these things keep happening?

So Thornton’s loss has robbed the Chiefs of long-sought depth. Rice’s departure with a hamstring issue is less concerning in the long run but could leave the Chiefs with the league’s very worst receiver corps in the near term. Walker has opened up space and created passing lanes for Patrick Mahomes, but who is he even supposed to throw to? A veteran will undoubtedly be signed, perhaps Hill himself, but there’s a reason you’re available in October.

There are young Dynasty fliers to tantalize fantasy managers in Jalen Royals and Cyrus Allen, but again, there’s a reason most casual players have no idea who these people are. It all adds up to a complicated QB1 case for Mahomes, and for a wide receiver fantasy black hole where there should be 2-3 weekly starters.

Five Week 4 Storylines

Lamar Jackson rejoins the injury report. Speaking of never easy. Jackson is well familiar with Mahomes’ receiver woes because he has lived them himself. That includes this season. After the Ravens’ death star opener, they dealt with a limited Zay Flowers for two weeks. Well Flowers was ready to rock on Sunday and the result was 8/118/1 — with Jackson playing only one half. He sat out the second with a supposedly minor ankle injury. That then required a walking boot. That now requires an MRI. This could be standard precaution with a superstar franchise player, but fantasy managers long ago learned nothing is quite standard when it comes to Jackson’s injuries and illnesses. For now, he should be considered on the wrong side of questionable for Week 5 against the Falcons, putting Tyler Huntley in the desperation superflex mix.  

Bryce Young’s previously incremental progress begins to appear exponential. Staying on the subject of symbols and struggles, Young is a perfect emblem for how quarterback progress is rarely linear in the 2020s. A complete bust as a 2023 rookie, Young spent the next two years taking one step forward and .75 steps back. He was getting better, but it wasn’t always perceptible to the naked eye. But you don’t need any vision aids to spot this. Young’s great leap forward has finally arrived even if it’s not worth throwing a victory parade over shredding the Lions’ league-worst defense. It is worth pointing out that not only is Young no longer the soft matchup for a struggling defense instead of vice versa, he’s also stacking big time box scores against better teams. Finally looking like the playmaker and problem solver he was at Alabama, Young appears ready for his QB1 closeup.  

Drake Maye tries to get the Patriots’ offense on track. What was happening with Maye was nonsensical enough that you just kind of had to hope he would “snap out of it.” Snap he did vs. the Bills, having his best passing day of the season, his best rushing day of the season, and increasing his 2026 touchdowns total by 300 percent. It was “one game,” but one game that was needed in the worst way. This being the NFL, the good dead was punished with the loss of Mack Hollins to a calf injury, but Maye compensated by playing “2025 ball” and simply spreading the rock around to whomever was open. “Whomever was open” could include A.J. Brown by as early as Week 6. In the meantime, Maye will be back in the low-end QB1 mix against the Raiders.  

Ladd McConkey gets hurt again as Chargers further circle the drain. If Maye was some of the good news on Sunday, his struggle bus counterpart Justin Herbert remained part of the bad. That included an already-limited McConkey aggravating his foot issue. We would say it’s the injury the Chargers could least afford, but then again, it’s an injury they already had. That McConkey kept playing through it was probably foolhardy. Now he seems destined to get some time to rest on the shelf. It’s a brutal blow for fantasy managers and removes any shot Herbert had of returning to QB1 status in the near term. The potential waiver additions — Tre’ Harris, Quentin Johnston, Oronde Gadsden — are all capable of pop-up performances but are unlikely to sustain production for struggling fantasy squads.

Emanuel Wilson carries the mail as Seahawks wait for Zach Charbonnet’s return. The Seahawks’ starting running back, Wilson reached 60 percent of the snaps for the first time this year as he handled a season-high 24 touches. He was not super explosive in the process, but he was not a net negative, either. He mostly kept the chains moving. That, as we’ve learned, is all Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald really cares about in the running game. Charbonnet’s imminent return will immediately hollow out Wilson’s plug-and-play fantasy value, but in the meantime, he looks set to operate as a freebie RB2.  

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Five More Week 4 Storylines

Saquon Barkley gets hurt again as Eagles’ offense plunges to heretofore unseen levels of dysfunction. There are plenty of fancy stats that will tell you how bad the Eagles were against the Rams on Sunday, but a more prosaic one will do — 0-12 on third down. That’s an offense that has no go-to plays or players. It’s a conundrum that would have been unthinkable for the Eagles even last season, and one getting worse instead of better. That’s because Barkley (hamstring) has now joined DeVonta Smith (hamstring) on the shelf. With uncertainty swirling around RT Lane Johnson, things could somehow spiral even further. Making matters even more complicated for fantasy managers is the fact that fill-in RB Tank Bigsby got banged up at the end of yesterday’s contest. Although he and Will Shipley are both worth waivers looks, it is Bigsby who projects to carry the mail on early downs if he can go.  

Bucs’ backfield becomes a confusing mess with Baker Mayfield sidelined. When you’re missing your quarterback, it stands to reason you will rely more on the running game. What the Bucs took that to mean was, what if we make our backfield both more confusing and less productive? That’s what manifested as Bucky Irving played under 60 percent of the snaps for the second consecutive week as Kenneth Gainwell continued to get more involved on passing downs and Sean Tucker re-emerged as a goal-line vulture. Irving was largely trapped between the 20s, which would be a disastrous development for his RB2 value. With Jalon Daniels tabbed for another short-week start against the Cowboys, the only thing keeping Irving hanging around the top 24 is a date with Dallas’ awful run defense.  

DJ Moore gets hurt again, Keon Coleman pops up again. Moore has now failed to finish 50 percent of his first four Bills appearances. He’s been healthy precisely once. The only good news is that Sunday’s injury was an aggravation rather than a new issue. Moore is likely to keep playing through it. He will probably also keep blue tenting through it. Which leaves suddenly resurgent third-year pro Keon Coleman as an intriguing waivers add. This pains me to write as someone who cut Coleman in my Dynasty league after Week 1, but Coleman is doing everything we want out of mid-season receiver additions. He is seeing volume, making big plays, and mixing in some touchdowns. Coleman seems destined to remain inconsistent, but it’s looking like it will be as a WR4 rather than WR40.

Carnell Tate has first good game by any Titan all season. It had gotten to the point that it was difficult to get a single Titan into 12-team league lineups. Tate’s nine-catch, 145-yard performance has at last proven his upside is worth chasing even if Cam Ward is the quarterback. That’s due in part to the fact that though Sunday was the exclamation point, it was a performance Tate had been building towards. Late Round Fantasy’s JJ Zachariason has the defining statistic on that point: “Tate has a 29.6 percent target share this year. The only other rookie wide receivers since 2016 with a higher target share after four games are Malik Nabers, Drake London, and Puka Nacua.” Thank you JJ, and that will do, Carnell, that will do. It’s going to be a wild ride, but maybe Tate can flip you a matchup or two as you deal with byes and injuries elsewhere.  

Ollie Gordon wins the first round with Jaylen Wright. Although Gordon played “just” 56.4 percent of the Dolphins’ snaps, he made them count. He decisively won the touches and routes battle with Wright, and rather improbably contributed the Dolphins’ three longest runs of the season. That included a 53-yard non-scoring rush and 12-yard touchdown. This team is bad enough that no status quo might hold for long — struggling clubs tend to get both desperate and experimental — but Gordon continues to take advantage of the opportunities he has been afforded by De’Von Achane’s loss and Wright’s Week 3 absence.

Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)

QB: Kirk Cousins (@NE), Jacoby Brissett (vs. DET), Aaron Rodgers (vs. IND), Geno Smith (vs. CLE), Michael Penix Jr. (vs. BAL), Deshaun Watson (@NYJ)
RB: Emanuel Wilson, Keaton Mitchell, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Tyler Allgeier, Brian Robinson Jr., Kimani Vidal, Kaleb Johnson
WR: Adonai Mitchell, Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Malik Washington, Tre Harris, Roman Wilson, Chris Bell, Malachi Fields, Cyrus Allen, Dohnte Meyers
TE: T.J. Hockenson, Michael Mayer, Hunter Henry, Darren Waller, Brenton Strange, Tyler Higbee, Oronde Gadsden
DEF: Bengals (@MIA), Cowboys (vs. TB), Giants (@WAS), Patriots (vs. LV), Browns (@NYJ)

Stats of the Week

Jacoby Brissett is averaging 4.7 yards per attempt on 115 passes since the Cardinals beat the Chargers in Week 1.

Kyren Williams is up to 47 touches over the past two weeks after that number was 28 for Weeks 1 and 2.

We hoped Davante Adams would remain more involved following Puka Nacua’s return, but here are his splits in two games with Nacua in the lineup — 7/58/0 — and two games without: 15/332/2.

Three. That’s how many games in four David Montgomery has played fewer than 60 percent of the Texans’ snaps. He has a 40.4 rushing success rate, putting him just ahead of MarShawn Lloyd and just behind Tony Pollard.

The Jets possessed the ball for just 17:15 against a team starting Tyson Bagent on Sunday. It is the 43rd lowest time of possession in Pro Football Reference's database.

Awards Section

Week 4 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Drake Maye, RB Kyren Williams, RB Javonte Williams, WR Tetairoa McMillan, WR CeeDee Lamb, WR Nico Collins, TE T.J. Hockenson

Week 4 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Justin Herbert, RB Bucky Irving, RB David Montgomery, WR George Pickens, WR Parker Washington, WR Emeka Egbuka, TE Dalton Kincaid

The Spite Decision of the Week: Ben Johnson “starting” Case Keenum solely because he was mad people said he wouldn’t be starting Case Keenum.

Saddest Development of the Week: The Jets finally intercepting a pass and ruining the NFL’s all-time funniest streak.