Fantasy football Week 4 panic meter - USA Today
Last week, we were panicking about two top running backs, De'Von Achane and Travis Etienne Jr. Unfortunately for them, and their fantasy managers, they both suffered injuries in Week 3. Rashee Rice and Terry McLaurin both bounced back, which was great to see.
Meanwhile, on the breakout meter side of things, Denzel Boston and TreVeyon Henderson came back down to earth, while Tre Tucker took a hit with Brock Bowers back in the Raiders' lineup. Now it's time to look ahead to Week 4.
This article will highlight the duds from the previous week. I'll provide a score (0-5) on the panic meter. Zero means no panic whatsoever, while five means alarm bells are going off.
The bad news: Barkley hasn't scored in double figures in any of his first three games to begin the 2026 campaign. He left early with a stinger in Week 2, but he's yet to find the end zone this season.
The good news: he's still the workhorse in Philadelphia. In Week 1, Barkley had an 81% RB opportunity share. In Week 3, coming off a game he left early, that number remained high (85%). Jalen Hurts will be a nuisance around the goal line and Barkley won't be used much in the passing game, but better days are ahead for a guy averaging 82.5 rushing yards and 5.5 yards per carry in two full games this season.
Two tough matchups vs. the Rams and Jaguars await, but after that, Barkley gets four straight favorable matchups against the Panthers, Cowboys, Commanders, and Giants.
I highlighted Loveland after Week 1 and gave him a zero out of five on the Panic Meter. But after two more games, I'm upping the score to a three. He was used "more" in Week 3, but still trailed Luther Burden III, Kalif Raymond, and Rome Odunze in targets. Through three games, it appears as if this Bears passing attack runs through Burden and Raymond.
Per Fantasy Points Data, Loveland ranks fourth in both target share (8.2%) and first-read target share (11.5%). He's running a lot of routes and nearly scored a touchdown in Weeks 1 and 3, but we'd certainly like to see a higher percentage of targets for the sophomore tight end. We knew Burden and Odunze could be impediments to Loveland's target share this season, but Raymond? Nobody, outside of probably Ben Johnson, saw that coming.
McConkey looked great in Week 1, producing 19.2 fantasy points before suffering a rib injury that forced him to leave the game early. Before that, he was targeted on an elite 41% of his routes. He didn't miss a game, but McConkey clearly hasn't looked himself. He played about half of the snaps in Week 2 before returning to a full-time role in Week 3. Despite the full complement of snaps last week, McConkey earned just five targets, less than Tre' Harris and Quentin Johnston.
Despite the lower target share, McConkey is still the most important piece of this Chargers offense. Per Fantasy Points Data, Justin Herbert has a 139.7 Passer Rating when targeting McConkey this season compared to a 59.4 Passer Rating when targeting everyone else. McConkey is also second among all wide receivers in EPA per target this season (+1.128) behind only Mike Evans. Once he's fully healthy, which should be very soon, it's wheels up so long as the Chargers offense cooperates.
After a monster Week 1, Jeanty has produced 10.3 and 12.3 fantasy points in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively. That's not terrible, but it's also not what we expect from a bell cow back on an undefeated team. That's what Jeanty has been in the early going. However, he's been highly inefficient with his touches, while rookie Mike Washington Jr. has looked explosive. Through three weeks, Washington ranks second among RBs in rush yards expected per attempt (2.19), behind only Kenneth Walker, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
Jeanty owns the goal line role, but he's left a lot to be desired as a runner. Through three weeks, he has just one explosive run (15+ yards) on 63 attempts. Per Fantasy Points Data, he ranks 41st (of 51 RBs with at least 15 carries) in rushing success rate and 46th in yards before contact per attempt. Despite the inefficient rushing, Jeanty still ranks third in expected fantasy points per game. Klint Kubiak said after Week 3 that Washington has earned more opportunities, but will it be enough to strip Jeanty of his "bell cow" role? I'm not panicking too much just yet.
McMillan put up a dud in Week 3. He turned five targets into just two catches for 17 yards en route to 3.7 fantasy points. That comes after two straight games with five catches and at least 75 yards. Jalen Coker suffered a quad injury that forced him to miss most of last week's game, which forced Browns CB Denzel Ward onto McMillan for 25 coverage snaps. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Bryce Young went McMillan's way just twice during those snaps, completing one pass for 12 yards. On the season, Ward has the second highest coverage grade among cornerbacks, per PFF.
On the season, McMillan ranks 17th among wide receivers in expected fantasy points per game (14.3), per Fantasy Points Data. He leads the Panthers in air yards share (29.2%) and has four red zone (and three end zone) targets in three games. Coker heads into Week 4 with an injury, while McMillan heads into a matchup fully healthy against the Lions' league-worst pass defense.
