XFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Week 4

We're through three weeks of XFL action, and the 2020 season is already bringing plenty of surprises. A QB that wasn't receiving much pre-season hype has taken the league by storm, and the lone remaining undefeated team, the Houston Roughnecks, had opened the year with only the sixth-best odds to win the championship, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

With Week 3 behind us, though, patterns are starting to emerge, even if they aren't in line with what was expected coming into the season. We're getting a larger sample size to draw on, and the top fantasy options are really starting to separate from the pack.

With that in mind, here are the top XFL start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 4.

Week 4 XFL Fantasy Football Picks

Start Cardale Jones, QB, DC Defenders: Don't let one bad showing from the DC Defenders scare you off of Cardale Jones. DC still has the second-best odds (+350) to become XFL champs, and Jones has still eclipsed 230 yards and 2 touchdowns in two of his first three games. He's positioned perfectly for a bounce-back week, as the Defenders are up against the Tampa Bay Vipers, who have allowed an XFL-high 24.7 points per game through three weeks.

Sit Taylor Cornelius and Quinton Flowers, QB, Tampa Bay Vipers: Marc Trestman refuses to settle on one quarterback, and that means you should avoid this situation entirely. Aaron Murray may be returning to action this week, but recent reports suggest Taylor Cornelius could be getting the start here. Quinton Flowers still figures to mix in and likely lead at least a few drives of his own. You're not likely to get a full game from any of these signal-callers.

Start Christine Michael, RB, St. Louis BattleHawks: Christine Michael may not be the St. Louis BattleHawks' top RB, but they run the ball enough to get him plenty of volume anyway. Michael racked up 13 carries and a touchdown in Week 3, bringing him to 28 rush attempts and 2 targets over his last two games. The BattleHawks are heavy favorites against the Dragons, and there should be plenty of rushing volume to go around again in this one.

Sit James Butler, RB, Houston Roughnecks: Usually the lead RB in the league's highest-scoring offense would be a no-brainer top fantasy play, but that's not the case with the Roughnecks. They've been incredibly pass-heavy, and while Butler has led the team in rush attempts in all three games, that's been with totals of 9, 7 and 7 carries. There aren't many backs getting huge workloads in the XFL, but even by those standards Butler has been an afterthought in this offense.

Start Tre McBride, WR, Los Angeles Wildcats: Nelson Spruce is expected to miss this week's matchup against the New York Guardians, vacating plenty of targets. Spruce was the XFL's target leader through two weeks before getting banged up last week, and he's seen a total of 28 through three games. Tre McBride came out of nowhere to lead LA in both targets (6) and receptions (5) in Week 3, and now he gets a great matchup against a Guardians team that might be one of the worst in the XFL. McBride also got banged up last week, though. If both he and Spruce sit, look for Jordan Smallwood to get a potential uptick in volume instead.

Sit Mekale McKay, WR, New York Guardians: Mekale McKay has struggled to start the season, and while his target numbers through two games were encouraging, he ended up seeing only 2 targets in Week 3 — fewer than five of his teammates. The Guardians' offense is a mess, having gone through three quarterbacks last week, and limited volume in the XFL's lowest-scoring offense (10.7 points per game) is not a good recipe for fantasy production.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.