Fantasy ballers: Bounce-back wide receivers dominate Week 4

After painfully slow starts to the 2024 NFL season, these wide receivers rewarded fantasy managers with big games in Week 3. We think they can do it again in Week 4.

Christian Kirk (WR) - Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville’s 27-year-old receiver had one catch for 30 yards against the Dolphins in Week 1 and another catch for negative yardage against the Browns in Week 2. Kirk earned 4.9 fantasy points for his efforts, a far cry from the 14.2 points he averaged per game as the team’s leading receiver just two years ago.

Week 3 was a different story as Jacksonville fell into an early hole against Buffalo, trailing 34-3 at the half before losing the game 47-10. With the team clearly in catch-up mode, Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence attempted a season-high 38 passes with 10 targets going to Kirk, who caught eight for 79 yards and 15.90 fantasy points.

Kirk is now tied with Brian Thomas Jr. for the team lead with 17 targets after three games. He should stay busy against a Texans team that is allowing the fourth-fewest yards (260.7) but 10th-most points per game (24.7) so far. Houston will look to start fast after losing to the Vikings 34-7 last week, which could mean garbage-time fantasy points for Kirk.

Diontae Johnson (WR) - Carolina Panthers

Like Kirk, Johnson stumbled out of the gate with five catches for 34 yards and 8.40 fantasy points in the first two games. Of course, all Panthers receivers struggled to catch passes from quarterback Bryce Young but did much better with Andy Dalton once Young was sent to the bench after two games.

Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns against the Raiders last week, finding Johnson eight times for 122 yards and a score, good enough for 26.2 fantasy points and third place among receivers in Week 3.

This week, he’ll face a Bengals defense allowing 26.7 points per game, the seventh most in the NFL. With Dalton on the field, Johnson could become a legitimate No. 1 receiver and finally put up numbers fantasy managers have been waiting for.

Rome Odunze (WR) - Chicago Bears

Thanks to a nagging heel injury, Keenan Allen has four catches for 29 yards in one game played for the Bears. Chicago hoped Odunze could make up for his absence, only to see the ninth overall pick in this year's draft gain 44 yards on three catches in his first two games.

Like Johnson, Odunze suffered from erratic quarterback play, but Caleb Williams, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, played much better in a 21-16 loss to the Colts last week, throwing for 363 yards and two touchdowns.

He also led the league with 52 attempts, while Odunze led the team with 18.7 yards per catch for 112 yards and a touchdown. Odunze finished the day with the fifth-most yards among wide receivers and 23.40 fantasy points.

This week, Odunze will look to keep things rolling against a Rams team that is allowing the fourth-most passing yards per game (248.7) and the third-most fantasy points (21.37) to wide receivers in 2024.