Fantasy Week 4 RB Start/Sit: Top Options Include Najee Harris, Joe Mixon, and Others

Making lineup decisions can be the most frustrating or most rewarding part of fantasy football. Here to help you make those decisions are our positional start ’em and sit ’em picks. Fantasy decisions will only get more difficult from here on out, so let’s take a look at our Week 4 start/sit plays for the RB position.

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Which RBs Should You Start in Fantasy This Week?

Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers (at HOU)

No, I’m not here to tell you Najee Harris is suddenly a great running back. Yes, he’s likely heading down the Trent Richardson path. Yes, the Steelers offense has been boring and predictable, as evidenced by Harris getting stuffed on 41% of rushing attempts on first down this season — the worst of 33 qualified NFL RBs (according to Inside Edge).

MORE: Other Positional Week 4 Start/Sits — WR | QB/TE

But it’s the Houston Texans. Everyone runs on the Texans.

Through three weeks, the Texans are allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to running backs. Last week, Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne ran for 88 yards on 19 carries against them.

Harris may still be in his split with RB Jaylen Warren, but Harris just saw 19 carries last week. The snap share doesn’t seem to be impacting his rushing volume. The receiving role is completely gone, but for one week, that’s okay. I like Harris to be a bit more efficient this week. He might even find the end zone.

Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos (at CHI)

It has been a remarkable recovery for Javonte Williams. He suffered a devastating knee injury, yet he looks almost 100%. Unfortunately, Williams hasn’t done much for fantasy managers because he hasn’t found the end zone.

Of the Denver Broncos’ seven offensive touchdowns, QB Russell Wilson has thrown for six of them. Williams didn’t even score the lone rushing touchdown. That will change, perhaps (and hopefully) as soon as this week.

If the Chicago Bears do have a run defense, I haven’t seen it. They’ve allowed the second-most fantasy points to the position through three weeks. In Week 2, they somehow made Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Rachaad White look efficient. That’s hard to do.

This is the Williams breakout week. Look for him to go over 100 total yards and finally find the end zone. Get him in fantasy lineups.

Which RBs Should You Sit in Fantasy This Week?

Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals (at TEN)

I’m well aware you probably can’t actually sit Joe Mixon. Instead, take this as a warning to temper expectations considerably.

Mixon hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire to start the season. He scored his first touchdown on Monday night in what was a nice 13-yard run. While he has surpassed 10 fantasy points in all three games, he’s yet to post anything resembling a ceiling game. Don’t expect it this week.

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Look for running backs facing the Tennessee Titans to appear here a lot this season — it’s just a bad matchup. It’s one thing to be an elite run defense, but it’s actually worse for running backs when the elite run-stopping team is horrible against the pass.

The Cincinnati Bengals should go very pass-heavy this week against the Titans’ defense. Through three weeks, they’re allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points to running backs and the fourth-most to wide receivers.

Mixon is going to have nowhere to run this week. I’m expecting something like 14 carries for 42 yards and no touchdowns. Unless Mixon catches a bunch of passes, he’s going to disappoint in Week 4.

Joshua Kelley, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. LV)

I am reasonably confident Joshua Kelley is making another start in place of an injured Austin Ekeler, but I just don’t care anymore.

Kelley’s role as Ekeler’s replacement is awesome. He’s played over 70% of the snaps in both games so far. He, unsurprisingly, struggled against the Titans in Week 2, but what was his excuse last week? Against the Minnesota Vikings, who do not possess an elite run-stopping unit, Kelley ran the ball 11 times for 12 yards.

With just three targets in three games, there’s clearly no passing game upside for Kelley. His only hope is falling into the end zone.

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This one has nothing to do with the opponent. The Raiders are not exactly an imposing foe. This is more about the player. Kelley appeared on my cut list this week for a reason. If he can’t thrive in ideal circumstances without Ekeler, there will never be a time to use him. Those ideal circumstances remain in place this week. He’s just not good enough to take advantage.

I was fooled twice. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again. I got fooled again. It won’t happen a third time.

Trending Searches for RB Start/Sit

Did you know that we have a Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network?! It’s completely free to use, and it allows you to enter up to six players to find the best option to plug into your starting lineup!

It also allows us to see the most popular trending searches, some of which we’ve jotted down here to help provide some clarity on!

Should You Start Najee Harris or De’Von Achane?

What a time to be alive. Najee Harris was drafted mostly in the third round, while De’Von Achane was just picked up off waivers in most leagues. Yet, this is a legitimate question.

Achane is coming off a 200-yard, four-touchdown performance against the Denver Broncos. He’s obviously not going to do that again, but it’s hard to deny him a spot in your lineup after displaying that sort of upside.

If this were any other opponent, I would probably just say to start Achane. But the Steelers are playing the Texans. Everyone runs on the Texans.

While Harris remains mired in a timeshare with Jaylen Warren, I still think it will be Harris getting the goal-line carries. The Start/Sit Optimizer says this about Harris, and I agree.

Bank on Harris finding the end zone this week and putting up RB2 numbers, while we give Achane one more week on the bench to see how legit last week was.

Should You Start Joshua Kelley or Jaylen Warren?

If I’m recommending starting Harris, could the answer to this one also be Jaylen Warren? Yes. Yes, it can.

Warren is consistently playing 40-45% of the snaps. He’s seen 12 opportunities (carries + targets) in each of his past two games. There is enough work here for Warren to produce if he can be efficient. Against the Texans, I believe he can be.

Meanwhile, Joshua Kelley just plain looks terrible. For the reasons explained above, he’s proven incapable of producing even in the most ideal of circumstances. The matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders was nice, but so was the matchup against the Vikings, where he was completely shut down.

The start/sit optimizer says to start Warren. I say to not only bench Kelley but drop him altogether.