Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch (12) scrambles away from Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah (38), defensive end William Gholston and linebacker Daryl Smith (51) during the second half of an NFL football game in Tampa, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. The Broncos won 27-7. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

It’s always better to be proactive in fantasy football. While other owners make moves because they have to, you make moves a week or two before you have to.

You pay attention to trends and adjust your rosters accordingly. Four games is a decent enough sample size for us to know what a player is and what he isn’t, what a team is good at doing and not and whether a player is going to produce or needs to be released for a better option.

This is the essence of ABW (Always Be Working).

Those owners who do not make moves and stick with the teams they drafted will in all probability not win their league championship. Sure, there are always exceptions, but they are few. The astute owner that practices ABW and stays ahead of the game will bring home the trophy, or at the very least have a chance to because they will make the playoffs.

Through four weeks, here are few things we have learned and need to proactive on moving forward.

 

1. If your superstar is going against the Denver Broncos or Minnesota Vikings, it might be time to sit that player.

The complaints will now flood in based on how amazing Julio Jones was last week (Atlanta is at Denver this week) or how you are not sitting DeAndre Hopkins because he was your first-round draft choice. Let’s get this straight. I am not advising you to sit either player, but I would drastically lower my expectations.

In the past three weeks, the Broncos secondary faced T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green and Mike Evans. Guess how many touchdowns those three top-tier receivers combined for? Zero.

The Vikings have faced Jordy Nelson, Kelvin Benjamin and Odell Beckham Jr. Only Nelson has a TD against Minnesota with the combined totals of the three superstar wideouts: 8 catches for 96 yards and a TD – 73 of that coming from Nelson. This week Minnesota faces Hopkins and I think you would be wise to adhere to this warning that it may be a difficult game for him.

 

2. Never ever draft a quarterback early – ever again.

Through four weeks, six of the top seven quarterbacks who lead the NFL and yardage were probably drafted after the sixth round: Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton, Matthew Stafford, Eli Manning, Kirk Cousins and Carson Palmer.

The quarterbacks taken in the first and second rounds, Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers, both have not given the kind of production up to this point that their draft positions warrant.

Matt Ryan currently leads the NFL in passing and is tied with Ben Roethlisberger in touchdowns. Ryan probably went undrafted in 8 and 10-team leagues and went very late in 12 and 14-team leagues.

 

3. Feel free to play everyone in a New Orleans Saints home game.

In fantasy baseball, especially for daily players, Coors Field in Colorado is a game they target every time the Rockies are at home because the percentages of high scoring is almost a given. That is kind of what the Superdome is now for the NFL. In Saints home games, the combined totals thus far were 71 and 79 points. That is gold for fantasy.

Let’s look at the visiting teams’ production first:

Week 1: Oakland Raiders – 167 rushing (3 TDs), QB Derek Carr 319 passing (1 TD). Raiders top two WRs (Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree) combined for 13 catches for 224 yards

Week 3: Atlanta Falcons – Devonta Freeman/Tevin Coleman combined for 217 rushing (3 TDs) and 102 receiving (1 TD), QB Matt Ryan 240 passing (2 TDs).

The Saints home production is just as gaudy with Brees passing for 423 yards and 4 TDs in Week 1 and 376 and 3 TDs in Week 3. In Week 1, WRs Willie Snead and Brandon Cooks combined for 15 catches for 315 yards and 3 TDs.

Next up in Week 6 (Saints on a bye in Week 5) – Carolina Panthers at the Superdome! This is called being pro-active. Now is the time to try and trade with that disappointed Cam Newton or Kelvin Benjamin owner because they are going to go off in Week 6.

 

4. Be mindful of bye weeks.

Those owners looking to ride WR Allen Robinson, QB Drew Brees, QB Russell Wilson, WR Jeremy Maclin or the Seahawks defense, need to find other options this week. The Jaguars, Chiefs, Saints and Seahawks are on byes.

This is a wonderful opportunity for a savvy owner to try and trade for Robinson, by the way. He has been underperforming and is not going to play this week, so he would be a terrific proactive trade.

FYI: Week 6 byes are Vikings and Buccaneers with Week 7 byes being Panthers and Cowboys.

 

Who to Add?

Running Backs: Baltimore’s backfield has been a dumpster fire so far this season, but things may be coming into focus. Terrance West rushed for 113 yards and scored a TD last week and could be the starter going forward with Kenneth Dixon finally healthy and could easily take the job from West. New York Giants’ Orleans Darkwa had a tough matchup against Minnesota, but looks like the main back while Rashad Jennings is out. Also for PPR league owners, look at Paul Perkins who will be the Giants receiving back now and had two catches for 72 yards last week.

Wide Receivers: San Diego Chargers Dontrelle Inman received 11 targets and finished with seven catches for 120 yards and a TD last week. A Chargers receiver still hasn’t solidified the vacancy left by Keenan Allen and Inman could be the guy. The ageless wonder knows as Eddie Royal is doing work for the Chicago Bears. The veteran is kind of like Steve Smith Sr. in that age is only a number. Royal finished with seven catches for 111 yards and a TD last week with Smith going for 8 catches for 111 and a TD for the Ravens. Robert Woods many not sound like a guy to run to the waiver wire and acquire, but he looks to be the No. 1 receiver in Buffalo and backed it up last week with seven catches for 89 yards on 10 targets.

Quarterbacks: The Denver Broncos began the Paxton Lynch era a little earlier than expected with an injury to Trevor Siemian, but an owner could do worse if Lynch starts this week. He is facing an Atlanta defense that is giving up the most fantasy points in the league to quarterbacks.

Tight Ends: San Diego Chargers’ Hunter Henry has picked up the slack in Antonio Gates’ injury absence. Last week he had seven targets and finished with four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. Cameron Brate from Tampa Bay is also one to grab after he delivered a second-straight week of solid play. Against Denver, Brate finished with five catches for 67 yards. Tyler Eifert has been injured all season, but is back and healthy and is one of Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton’s favorite targets.

 

Who Has Week 5 matchups to exploit?

Running Backs: Washington has been very good to running backs this season and that continued last week with Cleveland’s Isaiah Crowell rushing for 120 yards and a TD. The only difficulty here is whether it’s Terrance West or Kenneth Dixon or both. My guess is West. Another team that has struggled mightily in allowing rushing yardage is San Francisco, which gets David Johnson on Thursday. My slam dunk pick for this week is Jordan Howard of the Chicago Bears, who faces a Colts defense that has allowed 371 yards rushing and 4 TDs and 259 yards receiving and 2 TDs.

Wide Receivers: Kelvin Benjamin may produce his best scoring week of the season on Monday Night Football, regardless if its Cam Newton or Derek Anderson throwing the ball. The Panthers face a Tampa Bay defense that has allowed a league-worst nine touchdowns. Odell Beckham Jr. will find a lot more success against a Green Bay defense that has given up 227 yards to receivers this season. Jordan Matthews is also facing a defense he can exploit in the Lions, which have already given up 6 receiving TDs.

Quarterbacks: The Falcons may be 3-1, but quarterbacks have torched the Falcons this season and next up are Denver’s Paxton Lynch or Trevor Siemian. Play either Philip Rivers or Derek Carr in the San Diego at Oakland game because both pass defenses are among the worse in the league. The N.Y. Jets have also struggled against the pass this season, which is good news for Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger.

Tight Ends: Dallas has struggled to cover the tight end, allowing 325 yards and 3 TDs thus far, which is good news for Bengals’ Tyler Eifert. Not that you need any more reason to play Rob Gronkowski this week but the Patriots go against a Browns defense that have allowed 325 yards to tight ends. I’d wager Gronk could go for 150 and 2 TDs on Sunday.

 

How did my teams do?

It was another great week. I went 3-0 again, although I had to sweat out Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh on Monday Night Football. I began the night needing five points from him to win in my CBSSports.com PPR league, and was about to throw in the towel when Walsh missed a field goal, but he came through late. My other matchups were runaway victories because of A.J. Green in my Yahoo league and Julio Jones in my ESPN league. That leaves me 3-1 in two leagues and 4-0 in another. Not too shabby.

Good luck in Week 5.

 

Chris Parry is a staff writer for the Tyler Morning Telegraph and ETFinalScore.com, and an avid fantasy football player for nearly two decades. His weekly fantasy takeaway appears on Wednesdays. Feel free to email with any questions or comments to cparry@tylerpaper.com or you can tweet to @CParryETFS.