Thursday Night Football features a showdown between the QB4 (Jordan Love) and the QB7 (Jared Goff) overall in fantasy football when the Green Bay Packers take on the Detroit Lions.
Which quarterback should you trust as the starter for your fantasy team in Week 4? Let’s take a closer look.
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Jordan Love’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
Through the first three quarters of the Packers’ matchup against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3, it finally looked like Love was going to put forth his first dud of a fantasy performance of the 2023 season.
LOVE TO DOUBS. Packers take the lead!
📺: #NOvsGB on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UQdQ05hqXN pic.twitter.com/SviCfU3AT2— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2023
Well, after a rushing score and this dime of a touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs in the fourth quarter, Love managed to post his third top-10 finish at the quarterback position in as many weeks to keep his great start to the season rolling.
Sure, the numbers haven’t been earth-shattering, but Love has managed to throw seven touchdown passes in his first three games as the Packers unquestioned starting quarterback.
When you keep in mind that he has generated this type of production without Christian Watson, it becomes really hard to dismiss his fast start.
The Lions defense has been respectable through the first three games but has been giving up 225 yards through the air per contest.
If Watson is able to make his first start of the 2023 season on Thursday, Love has a matchup that should be favorable enough for him to continue his high level of production in Week 4.
Jared Goff’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
Many fantasy managers were a bit skeptical about Goff’s 2022 campaign, which saw him finish as the QB10 overall with 4,438 yards and 29 passing touchdowns.
Well, through the first three games of the 2023 season, Goff appears to have picked up where he left off.
The Lions are generating 24 points per game and have done so without wide receiver Jameson Williams in the lineup.
Add in the fact that Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, and David Montgomery have all been a bit banged up, and you can argue that Goff has been playing even better than his numbers suggest.
While the Packers defense is technically a top-10 unit against opposing passing attacks to start the season, the numbers require some context. Two of their first three games were against the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons, who currently ranked 31st and 29th in the league in passing offense.
Regardless, the unit has been off to a quality start against opposing signal-callers this season.
Which QB Should You Start?
If we knew Watson was going to make his 2023 debut, my starting choice would be Love.
Love currently has an intended air yards per attempt — which is the average depth of target whether the pass is completed or not — of 10.6, which leads all NFL quarterbacks.
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If Watson were to return, some of those shots downfield may see a higher hit rate, which makes Love’s ceiling even a bit higher.
But even if Watson is unavailable, Love has proven very capable of producing through the air and has seen his production climb in three consecutive weeks.
I’d start Love over Goff in Week 4.