After four weeks of football, we start seeing the toll it takes on players as injuries have piled up. On top of that, we’re also now faced with bye weeks which no doubt affect our fantasy teams. Whether you’re trying to replace Gronk after being sidelined Thursday night, or needing to fill Devonta Freeman’s bye week shoes, getting quality production from either a waiver pickup or one of your bench players can be a huge asset.

The point is, sleeper candidates are exactly what can provide this relief in the time of need. Another contributing factor to success is starting the right players that are already on your roster. Sure, benching one of your studs doesn’t really make sense, but in certain cases or matchups, it might be for the best. With these topics in mind, we’ve asked our featured experts to name deep sleepers that have upside this week as well as which higher ranked players could disappoint.

If you don’t see any of your players listed below, be sure to check out our Who Should I Start? tool. You can also import your team into My Playbook for instant advice specific to your team.

Q1. Give us a player outside of our top 100 Flex that represents a deep sleeper start and tell us why you think he has upside this week.

Hunter Henry (TE – LAC): at NYG
“I’m all-in on Henry this week as someone who could legitimately finish as the No. 1 tight end of the week. The Giants have really struggled against tight ends this year, allowing five different tight ends to finish as a TE7 or better. Yes, you read that right. The Giants have allowed five top-seven tight ends through just four games. Antonio Gates is still there, but Henry is the one who gets the yardage and has seen his snaps increase recently. There are only so many ways to move the ball against the Giants, but this is the best way.”
– Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)

“This call is more about the opposing defense than the potential sleeper, though Chargers tight end Hunter Henry has game. Los Angeles plays Sunday on the road against a New York Giants that has allowed at least one touchdown to a tight end in all four games this season including two in Week 4. Henry only has nine receptions all season, but he scored his first TD of the season last week. With Jordan Reed and Coby Fleener on byes and Rob Gronkowski inactive, Henry makes for a strong fill-in.”
– Ben Standig (CSN Mid-Atlantic)

“Hunter Henry is finally out snapping Antonio Gates for the Chargers and this week, they have the #1 easiest matchup of the season when they travel to play the Giants. New York has been lit up by tight ends this season so if there is ever a time to play the youngster, it is this week. If that wasn’t enough, Phillip Rivers is on pace to throw 600 passes, Melvin Gordon is being underutilized, and the projected game script sets up well for plenty of throws in addition to the norm.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)

Jared Cook (TE – OAK): vs. BAL
“Baltimore has a lot of issues defending tight ends. With Carr out, the play calling for Manuel is likely to be fairly conservative. Mix in the fact that Crabtree and Cooper are both a bit dinged up and you have a recipe for some solid looks for Cook.”
– The FFGhost (Dynasty League Football)

J.D. McKissic (RB – SEA): at LAR
“With each passing day this week, J.D. McKissic appears to be a more favorable deep sleeper start option. With Chris Carson on IR for a broken leg and C.J. Prosise nursing an ankle injury that held him out of Week 4, McKissic finds himself in the mix to receive four quarters of volume as the third down back for the Seahawks’ Week 5 game at the Rams. While he is listed behind Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy, Pete Carroll and company may occasionally rely on the fresh legs and hands of McKissic to move the chains. Most notably, C.J. Prosise has not practiced this week and appears unlikely to be active. The Rams allowed Chris Thompson to score two touchdowns in Week 2, giving us hope that J.D. McKissic has the opportunity to do the same. If Prosise is inactive on Sunday, McKissic has a legitimate chance to flirt with RB4-worthy production.”
– Robert Waziak (Pyromaniac)

Q2. On the flip side, what player inside the top 40 Flex is likely to disappoint fantasy owners this week?

Joe Mixon (RB – CIN): vs. BUF
“Yes, Mixon has gotten 42 touches over the last two weeks since Bill Lazor took over as the offensive coordinator, but he’s done little with them. On top of that, the Bills have yet to allow a top-12 performance to a running back and that’s despite playing against Devonta Freeman, C.J. Anderson, and Christian McCaffrey over the last three weeks. The Bills should give the Bengals offensive line fits and Mixon hasn’t been heavily used in the passing game to this point. He’s just a flex-option in this game.”
– Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)

“I believe in Joe Mixon, but even with the uptick in workload last week, he wasn’t special and this week he gets to face a Bills team that is the 8th toughest vs. opposing RBs. I think there will be better days ahead for Mixon, I just do not think this week will be anything special for him.”
– Ken Zalis (Pressbox)

“Joe Mixon is a phenomenal talent that I’ve been raving about as a football player since before he was drafted. It hasn’t happened for him yet, and it will soon, but don’t bank on it this week. The Buffalo front seven has been terrific at stopping the run and should pulverize the weak Bengals offensive line. Mixon should get 15+ touches again, but unless he finds his way into the end-zone, expect him to leave fantasy owners disappointed.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)

DeMarco Murray (RB – TEN): at MIA
“Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (hamstring) isn’t looking like he’ll play Sunday, which makes the Titans offense dicey. DeMarco Murray will receive plenty of work, but there might not be much payoff in standard leagues with Matt Cassel at quarterback. The Dolphins are allowing only 3.24 yards per carry.”
– Ben Standig (CSN Mid-Atlantic)

Ameer Abdullah (RB – DET): vs. CAR
“Although he’s received favorable volume through four weeks, ranking 11th in carries among all running backs, Ameer Abdullah is a top 40 Flex option that I wouldn’t be comfortable playing this week. While the Lions are at home, the Panthers defense has been doing a good job of holding their own; allowing the 7th-fewest rushing yards, 5th-fewest rushing touchdowns, and 7th-fewest rushing first downs per game this season. They have only allowed a rushing touchdown to Alvin Kamara and Dion Lewis, and have yet to surrender a 100-yard rushing game. In a Flex tier riddled with several consistent wide receivers in better matchups, you could do better than Ameer Abdullah.”
– Robert Waziak (Pyromaniac)

Jordan Howard (RB – CHI): vs. MIN
“Tarik Cohen has been eating into Howard’s value in a big way this season. The Vikings team he’ll face this week are much improved while Chicago is headed in the opposite direction. I’d be looking to start better options if I’ve got them.”
– The FFGhost (Dynasty League Football)

Thank you to the experts for naming their sleeper starts and sits. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter if you’re not already doing so and check out our latest podcast below for more great advice.

Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS