What to do with Kenny Golladay in Week 4 fantasy football

I know Kenny Golladay plays for Detroit, but let me start by saying the Lions face Kansas City this weekend, and the Chiefs have scored 101 points in three games. The Lions, on the other hand, have been able to put up just 67 in the same timeframe. What I’m trying to say is that if Detroit wants to keep its chances alive this week they better score in bunches. It is true that the Lions have a good — and widely used — running back in Kerryon Johnson. It is true that the Lions have other big-name receivers in Danny Amendola (although he could be limited in Week 4 due to injury) and Marvin Jones. But what is ultimately true, is that Golladay has been the most-fielded Detroit receiver through three weeks (91% of the offensive plays, a little over Marvin Jones’ 85%) and the one who has produced more fantasy points (43.6) in the three games played by the team combined.

The fact that Golladay has the most points is interesting because he racked up the majority of them during the first two weeks of the season. In Week 3 he couldn’t do much against the Eagles, finishing the game with just two receptions on eight targets for 17 yards. He was truly limited and Marvin Jones took advantage of it ending with a much more palatable 101 yards on six-of-nine targets. All in all, the fact that Golladay was still highly targeted by Matthew Stafford even in such a horrid performance (and the two weeks prior to it) speak volumes of Golladay’s role in the team’s offense.

Fantasy Impact: The Chiefs’ secondary, although not as bad that of Philadelphia, shouldn’t be reason of concern to Golladay’s owners entering Week 4. Yes, he put on a dud last week, but that seemed more like a fluke than a regular type of performance going forward. The Jaguars and the Ravens scored 26 and 28 points on Kansas City respectively, and the Chiefs only had a good defensive performance against Oakland limiting them to 10 points in Week 2. It is possible that Detroit tries to use the run-game as much as possible, as Kansas City is worst at spotting rushers than passers/receivers, but the game script will most probably force them to go through the air to play catch up to Patrick Mahomes’ abilities at scoring points. Pencil in Golladay as the go-to option for Stafford to look for every single snap.

Recommendation: Start