Tom Brady may not be the best quarterback to start in fantasy for Week 4.
At 2-1, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in first place in the NFC South 4. After falling on the road to the New Orleans Saints, they were able to get a pair of wins over the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. However, the Buccaneers may be without Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette in Week 4 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers. Should you start Tom Brady or pivot off him in fantasy?
The Fantasy Footballers are on the fence about this. Though Brady is not a sure-fire QB1 in every fantasy football league, he is the greatest quarterback of all time for a reason. He has been able to win six Super Bowls and get to another nine without having elite offensive weaponry around him. However, Tampa Bay is not the same football organization as the New England Patriots…yet.
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Even though the Chargers aren’t world beaters, they have a good defense that can be problematic for Brady in his first year in Bruce Arians‘ intricate, down-the-field passing offense. While the Chargers will be without two stars in the secondary in Chris Harris and Derwin James, the defensive backfield is a strength of this team because of defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
If you do start Tom Brady, maybe start a Buccaneers tight end, too?
So if you want to pivot off Brady in Week 4, it may not be the worst idea in the world. The Buccaneers have plenty of winnable games left on the schedule. That’s not to say they’ll drop this one at home to the Bolts, but we’ve seen the Buccaneers lose all sorts of games they should win over the years. Perhaps Brady’s championship pedigree can be an agent for change in Tampa Bay?
If you want to start Brady anyway because you don’t trust the Chargers, and why should you, it may be in your best interest to start one of the Buccaneers’ many tight ends this week. Brady will have to find someone to throw the ball to besides Mike Evans or Scott Miller, who is banged up heading into this game. Why not start Cameron Brate, Rob Gronkowski or O.J. Howard?
Ultimately, this game may be more about The Ronald Jones Show than anything. Keeping the ball in the offense’s hands by way of the running game is a great way to upend the Bolts at Raymond James. He’s a must-play if Fournette isn’t able to go. As for if you want to roll with Brady, having a Buccaneers tight end starting as well may help you offset a potentially down game for him.