Fantasy Football: How to Draft From the 4th Pick

Though not at the tippy top of the draft, the fourth overall pick gives you plenty to work with navigating closer toward the middle of each round.

This is no spot to pout about missing out on the 1.01. It still provides access to some of the best outlooks in fantasy football, and you can beat your buddies that roster Christian McCaffrey or CeeDee Lamb to the options at the turn. Per Fantasy Pros' historical average draft position (ADP) data, Amon-Ra St. Brown would have roughly gone in this range in the second round before his breakout 2023 season.

Though assigned this spot to tackle randomly, the fourth pick is one of my favorite spots to draft from for the 2024 season. You get a The Matrix-like choice of a top running back or wideout, and that funnels nicely to employ any type of strategy throughout the rest of the draft. "Zero RB", "Hero RB", and "RB Heavy" are all on the table.

After a few mocks to brush up on different sites' outlooks at this fourth spot, let's deep dive how most drafts look -- and how to use that information to win your league.

Fantasy Football 4th Pick Strategy

Round 1 and Round 2

I love the first-round choices at this pick.

Though CeeDee Lamb did slip to fourth in one mock, you're most often choosing between a pair of top-three running backs, Bijan Robinson and Breece Hall, or a top-five wideout besides Lamb. That can be Tyreek Hill, Amon-Ra St. Brown, or Ja'Marr Chase with a note that I just have a hard time taking Justin Jefferson's situation -- not talent -- at this high of a pick.

Having wrote a full fantasy football outlook for Bijan Robinson and for Ja'Marr Chase, they're my favorite first-round picks at their respective positions in the entire round, so choosing between children is difficult. Though making the case that stability at QB and a "CMC" type workload has Robinson -- not an already-injured McCaffrey after 400-plus touches in 2023 -- ranked as my overall RB1, I find myself selecting Chase more often because the alternatives in Round 2.

After all, Chase is no slouch after being 1.0 touchdowns below expectation (per Pro Football Focus) amid a down year in efficiency and availability from Joe Burrow. No Joe Mixon or Tyler Boyd in Cincinnati could swing a few more of those scores his way.

If I had more faith Chris Olave would make it to 21st overall in a 12-team league, Robinson might be the pick. He's going right around this area with a 23.7 ADP in half-PPR leagues. I'd prefer that tandem expecting a huge year from the New Orleans Saints wideout that's been another victim of poor touchdown variance after just five scores last year -- but also a second consecutive WR20 or better season to begin his career.

Going with Chase allows more margin for error to nab a running back with all of De'Von Achane, James Cook, and Isiah Pacheco flirting with availability.

Achane's impeccable 2.44 rushing yards over expectation per carry (RYOE/c) showed his talent in his rookie campaign, and he could become a fantasy monster with either an expanded workload or more of Raheem Mostert's 22 touchdowns last season in his column. Cook saw 24.8 adjusted opportunities per game (including playoffs) after Joe Brady started calling plays for the Buffalo Bills in Week 11. Pacheco is virtually unopposed in Patrick Mahomes' backfield after K.C. scored the fewest offensive touchdowns (24) in the Mahomes era during last year's outlier of a regular season.

Surging up draft boards, I've found Pacheco least available here in mocks despite writing him up last month as a third-rounder to target, yet he's my preference for a high-floor RB1 candidate to pair with Chase.

Round 3 and Round 4

Regardless of the first two picks, Achane and Cook are acceptable answers just eight picks later with varying rates of dropping to this point.

However, if you leaned into a full "Zero RB" start, now might be the time to grab a tailback before the dead zone. In the event both are gone, Joe Mixon absolutely works. My fantasy football outlook for Mixon proves I'm such a fan that I don't mind a third-round investment. The Houston Texans' receiving room is a crowded mess, but Mixon has proved to be a reliable three-down back that can handle the work. He's missed just three games in two years while playing at least 62.5% of the Cincinnati Bengals' snaps. We all want a connection to sophomore stud C.J. Stroud, and expect plenty of #28 behind him when Mixon's primary backups are Dameon Pierce and Cam Akers.

Though making me a defacto dinosaur in modern fantasy football circles, I'm comfortable even tripling down at RB if it's Robinson, Pacheco, and another to take a massive swing that Jaylen Waddle can be my WR1 and emerges as much more of a "1B" to Tyreek Hill, now 30 years old, than the definitive second option he was a year ago. Waddle's yards per route run (2.83 YPRR) were sixth in the NFL last year; a weird year of blowouts and injuries just held that number of routes down. A top-12 season out of him shouldn't be a gigantic surprise, which is why he's my favorite receiver in this round.

Down compared to others on Sam LaPorta after his touchdown-happy 2023 season, this doesn't seem like an appropriate spot to go tight end or quarterback. A Josh Allen selection -- while awesome -- is probably leaving too talented of a player on the board.

Allen or Jalen Hurts dropping to Round 4 is a bit more intriguing. Plus, Trey McBride and Mark Andrews are a solid tandem of candidates to secure one of the top-six tight ends before a dramatic drop-off. I'm much more willing to get creative having loaded up on skill players and only being drawn to one in this area: Malik Nabers.

The New York Giants' first-rounder is showing out at training camp, and the LSU Tigers alum with a similar athletic and production profile to Ja'Marr Chase could be a target hog in his rookie season. I think there's inherent value in drafting him here when Marvin Harrison Jr. is going around the turn at the end of Round 2, and McBride -- among others -- are far more notable mouths to feed than Nabers will navigate. That should offset most -- if not all -- of the gap between Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones as passers, right?

Round 5 and Round 6

I can't fathom Nabers dropping to this stage as he continues to shine on social media, so the key position I'm trying to address in the fifth or sixth round is tight end.

Though willing to take shots at Brock Bowers' talent or Pat Freiermuth's path to targets later, I'd prefer otherwise. McBride or Andrews are awesome answers if they somehow made it here, but I most often end up with Dalton Kincaid -- who is not just a consolation prize. As mentioned in my fantasy football outlook for Kincaid, he's got a path to be Josh Allen's top target-earner with an athletic and production profile that was selected over LaPorta and Michael Mayer in the 2023 NFL Draft. A tight end that could lead his team in targets at this stage would be sweet. From Josh Allen? Even sweeter.

It's possible -- though not probable -- that description also fits Kyle Pitts, but most expect Drake London to be the top dog for the Atlanta Falcons. That's fine; Pitts' new quarterback, Kirk Cousins, just produced a TE4 season on a points-per-game basis for T.J. Hockenson as a second option. Pitts' name makes many in fantasy circles shudder, but he's free from the prison that Arthur Smith and Desmond Ridder caused. FanDuel Research's Skyler Carlin made a compelling case for the former top-five overall pick who topped 1,000 yards with Matt Ryan in his rookie season.

Running backs in this range could include Rhamondre Stevenson, Zamir White, and Aaron Jones. They've all handled full workloads at one point, so the path is there despite a common theme of uncertain quarterback play. The New England Patriots' offense should be much improved with a new coordinator and quarterback this season, so I've warned all to not sleep on Stevenson -- who averaged 23.8 adjusted opportunities in his final six games amidst a small breakout -- as an RB2.

At wideout, George Pickens, Terry McLaurin, Zay Flowers, and Tee Higgins all have a claim for selections. Pickens and McLaurin were the fifth- and sixth-round WRs I identified as favorites given paths to a lion's share of the work from improved quarterbacks, but Flowers' WR1 status on the Baltimore Ravens and Higgins benefitting from plenty of the same benefits as Chase could also work. I would just advise against pairing them with teammates we've discussed due to upside rooted in outperforming the expected share of work.

It might require a sixth-round pick to potentially gobble up Joe Burrow or the rising stock that is Jordan Love, but from this draft slot, I often find myself waiting to access a high-upside quarterback like Dak Prescott or Jayden Daniels in the seventh round or later. Personally, this is not a draft slot that feels conducive to taking an early quarterback.

Takeaways

• The fourth overall pick is malleable to any preferred strategy with excellent "Zero RB", "Hero RB", and "RB Heavy" builds possible.
• Each of the first three picks lie in areas where value and ADP can be interchangeable. Get your guys!
• An early quarterback just doesn't seem to fit well from the fourth pick. The elite guys would be too early, and you're too late to the back half of the top five.
• It's easy to stack teammates from this draft slot, but some of them directly eat into each other's upside. A pair of Dolphins highlighted could also be a problem as they end three of their last six games in cold weather. I'm usually trying to avoid multiple players from the same team with these picks.
• Picking fourth creates a great advantage to close the run of a clear top-six tight ends, but starting it would be a reach.
• I prioritize getting running backs where possible from here in the first six rounds. Some of my favorite sleeper wideouts -- like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Christian Watson -- fall directly in line with an ADP around this spot in the next six rounds. I scooped them up in several mocks, and late-round darts at receiver seem better than some of the rookie RBs this season.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.