The Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: One Month In.

The 2025 NFL season is officially four weeks in, and everything is going just as expected: The Daniel Jones-led Colts are 3-1, Quentin Johnston is a top-ten receiver, and the Ravens are tied with the Browns for last in the AFC North. In the realm of fantasy football, there have been just as many surprises and tragedies: Malik Nabers and Joe Burrow are out for the season, Jake Ferguson is the TE1, and Kyle Pitts is actually startable.

Last month’s article emphasized one thing, which is that fantasy football is unpredictable. So far, that sentiment has remained true, but now that there are four weeks of data to analyze, it will be easier to make accurate decisions. This article will discuss the players to target in trades, waiver wire additions, and the biggest surprises of the fantasy season so far.

 

Trade Targets:
As always, there is no way to know for sure how a player will perform the rest of the season. Most of these targets are players who may not have done well so far, but have a chance to turn it around later in the season. These trade recommendations are simply predictions that, albeit risky, could help you win your league if they pan out.

 

With Malik Nabers out for the season with a torn ACL, Robinson has the chance to step into the WR1 role on the Giants. He only scored 4.4 points in week four, but has had productive weeks in the past, especially his 28.2 points in week two. The Giants benched QB Russell Wilson for Jaxson Dart, who led them to a victory against the undefeated Chargers in week four. If Dart can continue playing at a high level and Robinson finds a way to contribute to the offense, he could become a low-end WR2.

TE – George Kittle:
George Kittle sustained a hamstring injury in week one and was placed on IR soon after. However, he was not expected to miss more than four weeks and should be back on the starting roster in the coming weeks. In the time he’s been gone, essentially every 49ers skill position player has gotten injured in some capacity, leaving him in a prime position to possibly contribute once off of IR. It may take him a couple of weeks to acclimate, but trading for him may be enticing to managers who are getting impatient.

RB – Jaylen Warren:
Jaylen Warren was dealing with a knee injury prior to week four and was surprisingly listed as inactive before the Steelers’ game against the Vikings in Dublin. His backup, Kenneth Gainwell, exceeded all expectations, scoring 31 points through 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Fantasy managers may be concerned that Gainwell will begin to eat into Warren’s workload, but even if he does, Warren will still maintain value through his receiving work. Trading for him would likely be cheap and would likely give you a consistent RB2.

Waiver Wire Adds:

RB – Woody Marks:
The preseason article also highlighted Woody Marks as a waiver wire pickup, but mentioned that he had the lowest chance to actually produce, considering he had never truly impressed in college and was behind multiple established names on the depth chart. If you actually chose to pick him up and sit through three weeks of zero points on your bench, then congratulations, you now have the Texans’ RB1. In week four, Marks rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts, along with four receptions for 50 yards and another touchdown, for a total of 27.6 fantasy points. The stats speak for themselves: Woody Marks has arrived.

TE – Darren Waller:
Who expected Darren Waller to be relevant in 2025? Literally nobody. He retired before last season after spending the 2023 season with the Giants, but then chose to come out of retirement and sign with the Dolphins this year. Still, most people just expected him to play a minor role in Miami’s offense. Week four was his first game of the season, and he was an immediate contributor for the Dolphins, catching two touchdowns. What’s crucial about these stats, though, is that he managed to put up those numbers on only ten routes, meaning he was targeted on 30% of routes and caught a touchdown on 20%. He will likely play more snaps and run more routes as the season goes on, so for him to produce at this level with only 28 snaps is extremely promising. WR Tyreek Hill also suffered a season-ending knee injury, which will likely give Waller an even bigger role on the team.

QB – Jaxson Dart:
“The Giants beat the Chargers in 2025” is a sentence that nobody expected to be able to say, yet it’s true. The Giants pulled out a narrow victory against the Chargers in week four, and Jaxson Dart was one of the main driving forces behind the win. After replacing Russell Wilson midweek, Dart put up 111 passing yards and a passing touchdown on 20 attempts against a stout Chargers defense. He also added 54 yards on the ground and ran in for a touchdown. With 19.7 points against one of the best defenses in the league, Dart has the chance to be a startable fantasy QB as long as he can maintain his performance.

Surprises and Disappointments:

WR – Brian Thomas Jr:
Brian Thomas Jr. (BTJ) was a rookie last season, selected 23rd overall by the Jaguars in the 2024 NFL Draft. He immediately emerged as a top receiver with 1282 yards and ten touchdowns by the end of the season. He was a fantasy steal in 2024, but his ADP rose massively this year, usually being drafted in the second round. Unfortunately, between drops and quarterback issues, BTJ has been unable to live up to his second-round status. His most disappointing outing came in week two, where he was targeted 12 times but only caught four passes. Week four was promising, as he didn’t drop any of his seven targets, but his season so far has been irritating for fantasy managers.

Chargers’ WRs:
Before the season started, everyone assumed that sophomore WR Ladd McConkey would remain the team’s first option in the passing game. Even with the addition of veteran Keenan Allen, McConkey was being drafted in the second round of most fantasy drafts. However, what nobody expected was for Quentin Johnston to turn into one of the best receivers in the league and cause all of McConkey’s production to be eclipsed. Johnston has struggled badly with drops after being selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, but it seems like he’s managed to put it all together this season. Between the fall of McConkey and the rise of Johnston, the Chargers’ receiving room is nothing like what people expected.

 

Every Eagles Skill Position:
Don’t get it twisted: the Eagles players are playing well in real life, especially considering they currently have an undefeated record. In terms of fantasy, though, nobody on the offense has produced as they were expected to, apart from Dallas Goedert and Jalen Hurts. Saquon Barkley is doing okay, but his 12.2 points per game are nothing like what fantasy managers expected when drafting him at the top of the first round. DeVonta Smith has been even worse, with only one game above 10 points so far. The positive about Smith is that he was being drafted in the 5th or 6th round, so managers likely did not spend much to draft him. The real letdown, as Eagles fans are already well too familiar with, is star receiver A.J. Brown. He had one good game in week three, but apart from that, it’s been extremely lackluster. 1.8, 7.7, and 2.7 points in all three other weeks. Both fantasy managers and Eagles fans are probably hoping things will turn around for the Philadelphia offense.