Week Four Fantasy Football Winners
Week Four concluded with a handful of close games and even more blocked kicks and punt return touchdowns. Week Four also featured the highest-scoring tie and the 1,093rd unique score in NFL history. Fans are starting to realize what type of team their franchise will be in 2025, leaving many in anguish, and some optimistic for the rest of the season. There were a lot of great performances around the NFL, and it is impossible to analyze each one, but here are 13 players who exceeded their projections for the week and invite the intrigue to start them in Week Five.
QB Jordan Love – (26.28), RB Josh Jacobs – (31.7), and WR Romeo Doubs – (29.8 Fantasy Points)
Starting on Sunday Night Football, both Green Bay and Dallas were clicking and firing on all cylinders offensively. The Packers jumped out to a 13-2 lead, with Dallas’ only points coming from a blocked and returned extra point that would come back and haunt Green Bay. Jordan Love completed 31 of 43 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns, adding 28 rushing yards on three carries. 20% of Love’s passing yards went to Josh Jacobs, catching all four targets for 71 yards, adding 86 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Romeo Doubs would add his first career hat-trick of receiving touchdowns, catching six of his eight targets for only 58 yards, but Doubs did not need to put up 100 yards to be impactful for his team. Doubs showed that he is dangerous on the goal line, capable of running an effective fade or slant, leaving the DB in the dust. The game ended with poor time management, but the Packers were lucky that Love’s final incomplete pass left one second on the clock, allowing a short Brandon McManus field goal to give them the tie as the OT period expired. Love and Jacobs are definitely starting material, but Doubs would have to find himself a part of the game plan consistently to be considered. However, the Packers are on a Week Five bye, so their next chance to win for you will be Week Six, when the Bengals come to town.
QB Dak Prescott – (30.96), TE Jake Ferguson (17), and WR George Pickens – (34.4 Fantasy Points)
When a score is 40-40 through 70 minutes of football, defense seems non-existent, but in reality, both Green Bay and Dallas have offensive powerhouses. The Cowboys were without CeeDee Lamb due to a high-ankle sprain suffered in the Week Three loss to Chicago, but it opened up the gates for George Pickens to have an amazing game. Dak Prescott threw for 319 yards with four total touchdowns, with 134 yards going to Pickens on eight targets, scoring twice. Pickens was a menace with the deep passes, making spectacular catches, building important chemistry with Prescott in a real-game situation. Jake Ferguson also took advantage of the offensive shootout, bringing in each of his seven targets for 40 yards and a touchdown. 40 yards doesn’t seem like a lot, especially off of seven receptions, but Ferguson was able to move and get first downs and help the Cowboys get ahead of the chains on their long drives. The Cowboys would have lost if it weren’t for the early blocked extra point for two points, which created a three-point swing. However, despite ending with no winner, if it weren’t for Prescott, Ferguson, and Pickens, the Cowboys would have surely lost Micah Parsons’ revenge game. As long as Lamb is out, all three players are must-starts in all fantasy leagues, especially with all of the injuries suffered around the league.
RB Ashton Jeanty – (33.5 Fantasy Points)
Former Boise State and first-round pick Ashton Jeanty makes his first appearance on the winners list, rewarding those who drafted the Vegas RB and stuck with him through the bad start to the season. In his best performance of the season, Jeanty finished the week as RB1, with 155 total yards and three touchdowns on 23 touches. Jeanty had multiple rushes for more than 10 yards, but none was better than his 64-yard rushing touchdown, boosting his yards per carry to more than six yards per carry. This is also the first game where Jeanty primarily lined up in his college stance, which helped him finish second in Heisman voting in 2024. Jeanty’s upside is still limited due to the woes of the Raiders' offense, but the floor is higher than most RBs that split carries across the NFL.
RB Kenneth Gainwell – (31.4 Fantasy Points)
In a surprising move that caught many off guard, while even more were asleep, the Steelers announced that Jaylen Warren would be a late scratch in the Vikings-Steelers game that took place in Dublin, Ireland. Pittsburgh came away with the win, but not without the help of an 80-yard touchdown from D.K. Metcalf and former Super Bowl champion Kenneth Gainwell. Gainwell took 19 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns, adding six catches for 35 yards. Similar to Jordan Mason or Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Gainwell is a viable backup running back in real life, but considering he has never been a starter every week, his fantasy value is very hit-or-miss without the consistent evidence. With that being said, Warren has an extra week to get back on the field as the Steelers have a Week Five bye, returning in Week Six to host Myles Garrett and the Browns.
WR Puka Nacua – (36 Fantasy Points)
Knocking on wood, Puka Nacua might be the best wide receiver in 2025. The 24-year-old recorded his fourth consecutive game with more than 20 fantasy points, adding his first 30-point game since Week 14 of 2024, when he dropped 42.8 against the Bills. The third-year player is on pace to break both the reception and receiving yard records. Despite only defeating the Colts by a score of 27-20, Nacua brought in 13 of his 15 targets for 170 yards and his first receiving touchdown of 2025. This spectacular game brings his season total to 42 receptions for 503 yards and a touchdown. Nacua is easily a must-start in the Rams’ offense, and owners who don’t have Nacua should be scared when going against him. The Rams host the 49ers in Week Five, but then visit Baltimore’s depleted and maligned defense, which should be an extremely favorable matchup assuming Nacua will line up across Chidobe Awuzie.
WR Quentin Johnston – (23.8 Fantasy Points)
If the NFL had not changed the rules of who can win Comeback Player of the Year, Quentin Johnston would easily be the top candidate. In just four games, Johnston has broken nearly every single-season career high since joining the league in 2023. In Johnston’s first two seasons, he recorded 1,142 yards and 10 touchdowns on 93 receptions. That would be a great statistical line if it were achieved in one year, but Johnston had hands made of bricks, dropping almost every wide-open pass that came his way. In 2025, Johnston found the formula, bringing in 22 receptions for 337 yards and four touchdowns. In the Week Four loss to Jaxson Dart and the Giants, Johnston still put up a touchdown with a season-high eight catches for 98 yards. I doubt that QJ is still a free agent in most leagues, but on the off-chance that he is, I would try to add him to my team to make up for how Ladd McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr. are playing.
TE Tyler Warren – (18.3 Fantasy Points)
Another rookie makes his first appearance on the list as tight end Tyler Warren finished the week as TE2. Warren is heavily involved in the new-look Colts offense led by Daniel Jones, earning at least five targets per game and over 70 yards in three of the four games in 2025. With the inconsistencies from Indy’s WRs, Tyler Warren seems to be the only reliable weapon for the Colts outside of Jonathan Taylor. The Colts are hosting the Raiders in Week Five, so it would be reasonable to start Warren without a lot of top-tier tight ends.
K Cairo Santos – (19 Fantasy Points)
Cairo Santos is a surprising addition to this weekly iteration of the winners of fantasy football, as the Bears’ kicker finished with 19 fantasy points, knocking four field goals from 43, 46, 51, and 52 yards while connecting on his lone extra point, accounting for 13 of Chicago’s 25 points in the win over Vegas. Through four games, Santos missed one of his seven field goal attempts and knocked down two of his three kicks from at least 50 yards. Santos can only be as successful as the Bears’ offense, but since he is a kicker, Santos can thrive on drives that only go 30-40 yards and stall. Santos is not a viable option for fantasy teams in Week Five due to the bye week, but could continue to build momentum in Week Six and Seven against the Commanders and Saints, respectively.
Lions D/ST (20 Fantasy Points)
The Lions earned their spot on this list after an easy 34-10 win over the Cleveland Browns. Only allowing 10 points and 250 yards, the Lions sacked Joe Flacco three times and forced three turnovers. It would have been a good fantasy day for the Lions D/ST with just that, but then the Lions added a 65-yard punt return touchdown early in the fourth quarter. It was a little scary to watch Aidan Hutchinson leave the game twice in the first half, but the Comeback Player of the Year candidate returned to the game, wreaking havoc on the Browns. The Lions will be traveling to Cincinnati for a Week Five matchup, which is favorable for Detroit D/ST owners as the Bengals have looked like a disaster without Joe Burrow, scoring a combined 13 points in Weeks Three and Four.
