Now that's more like it. After seeing some of fantasy's new kids on the block (Jordan Knight was unavailable) find their way onto the Players of the Week list in the first few weeks of the season, Week 4 brought back some of our old favorites. Although there was certainly one surprise among this week's fantasy studs.
Points based on standard scoring in NFL.com fantasy football leagues
5. Roddy White, WR, Atlanta Falcons (28.90 fantasy points)
So far, the Falcons haven't been able to get both of their star wideouts untracked at the same time. Sunday was White's turn to shine. The veteran caught eight passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the Dirty Birds' 30-28 win over the Carolina Panthers. Next week, the Falcons fly to D.C. to take on the Washington Redskins, who gave up 100 receiving yards to both Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. There could be more of the same next week.
4. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints (29.84 fantasy points)
The New Orleans Saints might be 0-4, but it's hard to pin much of it on Drew Brees. The veteran gunslinger had his best game of the season, throwing for 446 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers. It marked the second-highest single-game yardage total of Brees' career and was also his first regular-season game without an interception since Week 15 of last season. Next week, Brees faces off with the San Diego Chargers, who have been a middle-of-the-road team against fantasy quarterbacks -- though they did intercept Matt Cassel three times on Sunday.
3. Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers (31.20 fantasy points)
Newton rebounded well from an awful performance in Week 3 against the New York Giants. Sunday, he threw for 215 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the loss to the Falcons. In addition, he looked like the 2011 edition of Cam Newton, running for 86 yards and a touchdown. Week 5 should be another tough matchup with the Panthers taking on a stingy Seattle Seahawks' defense.
2. Brian Hartline, WR, Miami Dolphins (31.30 fantasy points)
Hartline's huge game was easily the fantasy surprise of the day. The Ohio State product pulled in 12 passes for 253 yards and a touchdown in a 24-21 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Both the catches and yardage were career highs for a player who had never topped 100 yards receiving until two weeks ago. Miami visits Cincinnati in Week 5, and the Bengals have been just so-so against fantasy receivers.
1. Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots (32.00 fantasy points)
After three mediocre weeks, we saw a more familiar Tom Brady in Sunday's 52-28 win over the Buffalo Bills. The future Hall of Famer threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score (giving him one more rushing touchdown than Chris Johnson) to earn #KABOOM honors for the week. Next week, the Patriots host the Denver Broncos, who have been fairly malleable for opposing fantasy quarterbacks.
Follow Marcas Grant on Twitter @MarcasG
