Fantasy Football Week 4: Le'Veon Bell's return, receivers bounce back and 10 things to know

Week 4 Rankings: Standard | PPR

We've spent so much of the first quarter of the season talking about guys we're losing that it's nice to get a superstar back in Le'Veon Bell. But what type of Fantasy impact does he have on his teammates?

We'll get another superstar back in Week 5, with Tom Brady returning to the currently undefeated New England Patriots. Bill Belichick has added to his lore with this this start, but can the team stay perfect without their future Hall of Famer?

These are just a couple of the questions from Week 4, which includes our first London game of the season so it'll be an early start on Sunday. We'll end things late on Monday by possibly crowning a new "best defense in football."

As I always, we start with each Week 4 game in a tweet.

The return of the best running back in football.

Le'Veon Bell makes his return on Sunday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs. This is not a great matchup and we're unclear what his workload will be, but if you listen to Mike Tomlin it won't be anything like Rob Gronkowski's debut.

What does Bell's addition mean for the Steelers offense? Well, it means good things of course for the offense as a whole but the last three years have shown us that both Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown see their production drop off when Bell is in the lineup.

Brown is an absolute animal, averaging more than 23 points per game in half-PPR scoring when Bell sits. When Bell returns he's still been outstanding, with right around 17.5 points per game. While that's great, it's not "clear-cut No. 1 WR in football" great. On the other hand, Brown was the clear-cut No. 1 in 2014 when both he and Bell played 16 games.

Roethlisberger has averaged around 26 Fantasy points per game when Bell is out, but is closer to 22 with Bell in the lineup. That's the difference between a mid-range No. 1QB and arguably the best quarterback in Fantasy Football.

Does this mean you're benching either? Of course not. But it may mean they aren't worth their price in DFS this week and I don't think it would be the worst idea to see if you could get a Godfather offer for Brown.

A shootout across the pond.

The Colts and Jaguars aren't expected to play the highest-scoring game of the weekend (more on that later) but there should still be plenty of points scored. There are three storylines I'm interested in here:

1. Can Blake Bortles look anything like the 2015 version of himself? This was the type of opponent (high-scoring offense, mediocre defense) that he feasted on last year. If Bortles doesn't show you something this week I'm not sure why you'd keep him on your roster.

2. Does Jack Doyle continue to out-target Dwayne Allen. I really thought this could be a breakout campaign for the latter, but not if he's going to continue to play second fiddle to Doyle.

3. Does Phillip Dorsett have any hope of filling Donte Moncrief's shoes? The No. 2 in this offense should be very productive, but Dorsett was an afterthought in Week 3. If that continues this week he becomes droppable.

Injured receivers and the beneficiaries.

For all the talk about how much of an injury risk running backs are, there sure have been a lot of injured receivers in 2016. We've been dealing with Sammy Watkins' injury for a while and I'm not sure there's anyone in Buffalo who directly benefits, but some of the more recent injuries could have a major impact on Week 4 sleepers.

It's sounding less and less like Dez Bryant will be able to take the field this week. The first person everyone thinks about is Cole Beasley, but Beasley is already being force fed targets. It would be a boon to the value of Terrance Williams if Bryant misses multiple weeks and he's worth an add in deeper leagues now as speculation. As for Dak Prescott, I'd be less inclined to stream him in Week 4 without Bryant.

Eric Decker's shoulder is also an issue heading into this week and the answer there is more clear. Quincy Enunwa would be a sneaky play against a very tough Seahawks defense. I wouldn't feel great about starting him unless it's a deep league this week, but he should be owned everywhere because we have no indication as to what the length of Decker's absence will be.

Michael Floyd is progressing through the concussion protocol after waking up with headaches on Monday morning. Floyd and John Brown have both been colossal disappointments this season, but either could get back on track at home against the Rams. If Floyd sits I would comfortably start Brown as a flex. If Floyd plays I'm probably sitting both to see if one emerges.

Matt Ryan and the Falcons finally face a tough defense.

I predicted a bounce-back for Matt Ryan in 2016, but even I didn't expect this. Ryan has had one of the best three-game stretches of his career and is on pace for a career year. Unfortunately for him he won't get to play the Buccaneers, Raiders and Saints all year.

The Falcons face their first true test against an angry Carolina Panthers team coming off a loss. This begins a rough stretch that also includes the Broncos and Seahawks. So yeah, they're coming back to earth. I'm just not sure they come all the way back to earth in Week 4. I would start Ryan, Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones everywhere. Tevin Coleman is a little bit tougher decision and depends on who you have on your roster.

Worried about long-flight letdowns?

History has shown us that cross-country flight are generally not kind to teams so I'm worried about the Seahawks, Broncos and Raiders. The Broncos and Raiders have it even worse as this is their second consecutive road game.

In a perfect world I'd avoid most of the players on these teams, but Fantasy Football isn't that easy. C.J. Anderson, Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are pretty close to must-start. Same for Latavius Murray, Amari Cooper and Doug Baldwin. After that it gets questionable.

I'd rather start Derek Carr of all the QBs, just because Russell Wilson has the extra question mark of his injuries. Christine Michael and Jimmy Graham are borderline guys you could start just because you don't have a better option on your roster. Just know that the travel situation makes these difficult matchups even worse than they seem on paper.

Bounce-backs from wide receivers who busted in Week 3?

There were a lot of awful performances from No. 1 receivers in Week 3 but none of them were are bad as Kelvin Benjamin getting shut out by the Vikings. It's comforting to see that Newton has vowed it won't happen again, but Benjamin has a very difficult matchup against Desmond Trufant. I wouldn't expect elite production, but I'd definitely start him.

The same goes for Julio Jones in the same game and Brandin Cooks -- who was himself shut down by Trufant in Week 3. Cooks draws a tough matchup with Jason Verrett this week, but Verrett struggled mightily in Week 3 with Hilton.

The bounce-back candidate I'm not totally sure about is Brandon Marshall. With Eric Decker likely out Marshall should get enough volume to be good in PPR, but I'm trying to avoid him in standard leagues. The Seahawks are obviously an elite defense and when Ryan Fitzpatrick has been bad this year he's been awful.

Confirmation that you bench everyone against the Vikings?

The Vikings defense hasn't been the best against any one position but they've been consistently good (or great) against all of them. Unfortunately, the position they're the best against is also the only position the Giants have a player you can't bench.

Odell Beckham is still a must-start this week, but he's the only one. Sterling Shepard could be a flex play if you're thin on other good options, but I'd rather sit him. Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and whoever plays running back for the Giants are all sits as well.

In the past two weeks the Vikings have played two of the top offenses in football and shut them down. They've yet to give up 17 points in a game. Everyone may not fully recognize the greatness they've displayed through three games, but if they can do it again on Monday Night Football there will be no doubt. Start the Vikings DST with confidence and try to sit all of your Giants besides Beckham.

Pick on these easy targets?

Will Fuller vs. Perrish Cox (PFF Grade: 35.2)

Cox has the worst PFF coverage grade of any cornerback who has played at least 150 snaps this season and on Sunday he'll face speedster Fuller. Good corners have had trouble matching Fuller's speed -- Cox doesn't have a chance. With the Texans defense losing J.J. Watt this game has low-key shootout potential, but even if it's not, Fuller should be good.

Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett vs. Darrelle Revis (PFF Grade: 39.2)

Revis' implosion has been as publicized as any in football. NFL quarterbacks have a QB rating of 132 when targeting him and have completed 78.9 percent of their passes. Baldwin should be lined up over Revis on two-receiver sets, but there's a good chance we see Tyler Lockett outside in 3 WR sets. Revis has really struggled with the deep ball and either of these wide receivers are capable of beating him deep.

T.Y. Hilton vs. Davon House (PFF Grade: 40.9)

It's a little bit questionable who the Jaguars will have active on their trip to London, but the best bet is that House attempts to cover T.Y. Hilton in two-receiver sets and Phillip Dorsett when the Colts go three wide. Hilton lines up all over the field, so while he won't see House all game he's all but guaranteed to get a chunk of snaps against him.

Angry Birds strike again?

We saw the Cardinals in Week 2 dismantle the Buccaneers after being embarrassed by the Patriots JV quarterback. Well, they just lost to another AFC East squad in embarrassing fashion and now they get the Rams at home.

I would expect another solid performance from Carson Palmer and something out of this world from David Johnson and the Cardinals DST. Larry Fitzgerald is always a good play but the rest of the receiving corps will be dependent on who is healthy. This Cardinals team hasn't been the elite squad we expected, but they've proven to be vengeful at home if nothing else.

Patriots letdown in the final week before Brady returns.

Yes, this is pure speculation. But hear me out. The Patriots have started 3-0 without their Hall of Fame quarterback and they're just one win over a mediocre Bills team away from getting him back. If this was any other team it would be easy to believe right?

Sure, Bill Belichick is one of the greatest coaches of all time. He's done a masterful job piecing these three wins together in dominant fashion. His players are still human though. I wouldn't be surprised if Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy get loose in this game and the Bills defense rides the momentum of their four-interception game against the Cardinals to another solid showing.