It is unbelievable that we are already about a fourth of the way through the entire NFL regular season. Seems like just yesterday that we were getting hyped up for opening weekend. However, now that we have four weeks of experts picks and results we can start to see who is rising to the top of the overall leaderboard and one expert site has raced out to a big early lead with DailyFantasyNerd posting a huge Week 4 DailyOverlay score on their way to their second straight top finish by just using the selections from their free “one time” optimized lineup generator. We’ll see if they can continue to hold onto the top spot over the next 13 weeks of regular season action.
Be sure to come back each week for a review of the Industry Consensus picks highlighting the top (and bottom) grades for the week and season from the experts we are tracking. For Week 4 we tracked and graded 23 sets of experts picks including the Industry Consensus list. You can view all expert’s overall rankings on the Expert Grading page.
On to the Week 4 grades, class is in session!
Consensus Recap – Week 4
The Industry Consensus picks had the worst week of the season in Week 4 finishing 18th out of 23 experts graded.
QB (Score: 2.33 / Rank 5th out of 23) – It was a rough week predicting the breakout quarterbacks this week for the experts as, despite just a 2.33 DailyOverlay score, the Consensus list was still able to finish with a solid fifth place showing with picks that included highly touted Philip Rivers and a great pick of Ben Roethlisberger by a handful of experts.
RB (Score: 5.14 / Rank 16th out of 23) – The chalk running backs did what was expected of them with the top three recommended picks, Jordan Howard, Melvin Gordon and Carlos Hyde all producing “A+” grades this week in addition to other top plays at the position such as DeMarco Murray, Ezekiel Elliott and Isaiah Crowell also making the list.
WR (Score: 1.76 / Rank 10th out of 23) – The wide receiver position proved to be tricky for many of the experts this week with the top wideout Julio Jones not on the list (although we did mention him as a player not on the list to look at near end of our Consensus Podcast). Strong plays that did make the list included Steve Smith, Will Fuller, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown.
TE (Score: 5.25 / Rank 16th out of 23) – Tight end was another position where the chalk picks by the experts paid dividends with “A+” grades from half of the players on the consensus list including Zach Miller, Hunter Henry, Jordan Reed and Greg Olsen.
D/ST (Score: 2.50 / Rank 10th out of 23) – Poor week for the consensus list of defenses with only the Broncos and Texans finishing in the top 10 at the position to make the list.
Head of the Class – Week 4
Each week I will highlight a few of the top experts for the week. Here are the experts that deserve a “gold star” for Week 4 based on their cumulative grades for all players they touted this week.
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (Score: 7.13) blew away the competition this week for their second straight week at the top of the leaderboard. They recorded five “A+” picks and zero “F” grades out of the eight selections from the optimizer. They hit it big with consensus plays, Jordan Howard, Steve Smith, Philip Rivers, Hunter Henry and Antonio Brown and with a big off the list plays of Julio Jones and Mark Ingram.
#2) Rotoballer (Score: 5.67) comes in second place for the second straight week with five “A+” grades out of their nine selections including Greg Olsen, Jordan Reed, Steve Smith, Jordan Howard and deep sleeper in John Brown.
#3) DailyOverlay – Value Index (Score: 5.33) pulls into third place this week with four “A+” picks out of nine selections. Key selections included Jordan Howard, Carlos Hyde, Jordan Reed and Greg Olsen.
Head of the Class – Week 4 (By Position)
Sometimes there is just that one class that you excel in. In this section, I will highlight who the top experts were at each position for Week 4.
QB –ScoutFantasy (10.00) received an “A+” from their QB pick of Ben Roethlisberger
RB – FantasyTeamAdvice (10.00) received “A+” grades from all three of their selections including Le’Veon Bell, Melvin Gordon and Jordan Howard
WR – DailyFantasyNerd (7.67) tops the WR position this week with two “A+” grades from Julio Jones and Steve Smith
TE – DailyFantasyCafe, Rotowire, ProFootballFocus, DailyFantasyNerd and RotoGrinders – Lineup Builder (10.00) all hit with their only TE selection of either Zach Miller or Hunter Henry
DST – ProFootballFocus (10.00) leads the experts at the position with their “A+” selection of the Broncos defense
Study Time – Week 4
If we are going to give a gold star to the top experts of the week, we also need to determine which experts might need to put in some extra study time to pull up those grades. Here are the Week 4 experts that didn’t make the grade this week.
- GoingFor2 (Score: 2.53) finished at the bottom this week with seven “F” grades out of their 15 selections after a few strong weeks to start the season. They were let down this week by players such as Dwayne Washington, DeAndre Hopkins, Dennis Pitta and Mike Evans.
- SportsBlog (Score: 2.64) had 12 of their 28 selection receive an “F” this week including players like DeAndre Hopkins, Carson Palmer, Jacoby Brissett, LeGarrette Blount and Tyrell Williams.
Extra Credit – Week 4
In this section, I will look to give some extra credit to experts that received an A+ grade for a player that they recommended when very few other experts did. Week 4 extra credit goes to the following…
A+ – Mark Ingram (DailyFantasyNerd)
A+ – Julio Jones (RotoGrinders Consensus, DailyFantasyNerd)
A+ – Michael Crabtree (FantasyAlarm)
A+ – John Brown (Rotoballer)
A+ – Jimmy Graham (ESPN – Love/Hate)
A+ – Cameron Brate (ESPN – Love/Hate)
A+ – Rams D/ST (DailyRoto-Mayo, ESPN – Love/Hate)
Head of the Class – Season
Here are the top experts in the Overall Standings after Week 4 of the season, including which site has provided the top DrafKings points per $1000 of salary.
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (Score: 5.82) remains in first place overall by a huge margin with the top score of Week 4. Be sure to give them a look each week.
#2) DailyOverlay – Value Index (Score: 4.19) also remains in their same position overall with a strong 3rd place showing in Week 4.
#3) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 3.89) holds onto third place in the overall standings with a solid 6th place finish in the Week 4 standings.
#4) Rotoballer (Score: 3.68) strengthens their hold on the fourth spot in the overall standings with their second straight 2nd place weekly finish in Week 4.
#5) ProFootballFocus (Score: 3.25) uses a strong 5th place finish in Week4 to move into the top five in the overall standings.
Top Value – DailyFantasyNerd (3.87 DK Pts/$1000)
The DailyOverlay Industry Consensus took a step backwards in Week 4 dropping four spots in the overall standing back to 12th place out of 25 experts graded.
Head of the Class – Season (By Position)
Sometimes there is just that one class that you excel in. Here are the top experts at each position through the first two weeks of the season including which site has provided the top DrafKings points per $1000 of salary.
QB
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (6.00)
#2) FakePigskin (3.88)
Top Value – DailyFantasyNerd (3.93 DK Pts/$1000)
RB
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (5.83)
#2) DK Playbook and RotoGrinders – Lineup Builder (5.50)
Top Value – DailyOverlay – Value Index (3.74 DK Pts/$1000)
WR
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (6.00)
#2) DailyFantasySportsRankings (3.47)
Top Value – DailyFantasyNerd (4.18 DK Pts/$1000)
TE
#1) DailyOverlay – Value Index (7.17)
#2) ProFootballFocus and RotoGrinders – Lineup Builder (5.50)
Top Value – DailyOverlay – Value Index (4.12 DK Pts/$1000)
DST
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (5.50)
#2) FakePigskin (3.75)
Top Value – DailyFantasyNerd (4.14 DK Pts/$1000)
Ownership Percentages by Position
Ownership percentage review by position will be moved to a separate article to be released on Wednesday each week.
Let’s see who can make the grade in Week 5!
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