Week 4 Reactions: Here Come the Breakouts

Deshaun Watson won the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship in his final season at Clemson, a year that also saw him win numerous awards for being the best quarterback in college football (he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, with Louisville sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson taking home the award). As a result of his collegiate accomplishments, which included throwing for 420 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 43 yards and another score in the title game against Alabama, the Texans traded up from the 25th pick to the 12th (giving up a 2018 first-rounder) to bring Watson to Houston. He was expected to be the long-term answer to their quarterback struggles, which saw them eventually turn to Tom Savage last season when Brock Osweiler played himself out of the job.

Despite the pedigree, the Texans decided they were not going to rush Watson into the starting job, with head coach Bill O'Brien deciding that Savage was the team's best option under center to start the season. That plan lasted all of one half, as Watson took over after halftime of their Week 1 game against the Jaguars due to Savage's struggles. O'Brien was still not satisfied with the decision, taking as long as possible to name Watson as the Week 2 starter. Neither performance was particularly noteworthy, but that ended in Week 3 when Watson threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns in a surprising 36-33 loss to the Patriots in New England (the surprising loss was almost a shocking win if not for some classic Tom Brady heroics). Either way, Watson showed he belonged as the starter, and it's a complete wonder why there was ever a though Savage was better.

Watson took it even further Sunday, completing 25 of 34 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing four times for 24 yards and another score in a 57-14 shellacking of the Titans. Finally getting wideout Will Fuller back from injury, Watson threw half of his four touchdowns to Fuller while also connecting with DeAndre Hopkins 10 times on 12 throws for 107 yards and a score, and running back Lamar Miller chipped in with four catches on five targets for 56 yards and a touchdowns. Watson showed great poise in the pocket and he looks like a legitimate QB1 in many fantasy leagues after being an afterthought by O'Brien when the season started. Not only did Watson become the first rookie in the past 15 years to throw for three touchdowns and rush for another in a single game (joining Cam Newton and Marcus Mariota), he became the third rookie in NFL history to have four passing touchdowns and one rushing score in the same game, a feat only Charlie Conerly and Fran Tarkenton had accomplished. And in a bit of history he shares with no one, Watson became the first rookie in league history with at least seven passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in his team's first four games of a season. Needless to say, some are questioning the decision of having Watson start the season with a clipboard:

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton looked like a shell of himself in the first three games of the season, with many speculating his surgically repaired shoulder still wasn't 100 percent. It still may not be, but it certainly didn't show Sunday as he completed 22 of 29 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns while also adding eight rushes for 44 yards and another scoring in a huge 33-30 win over the Patriots in Foxboro. Newton's rushing touchdown was the 50th of his career, a feat no other quarterback has accomplished in the Super Bowl era. Remarkably, Newton's 50 rushing touchdowns since entering the league in 2011 are the second most of any player over that span, trailing only Marshawn Lynch's 52 (that figure is also pretty remarkable given that Lynch played only seven games in 2015 and didn't play at all last year). The Panthers may continue to reduce Newton's carries (we can ignore that his eight Sunday were a season-high), but there is no question he's their top option near the goal line.

Fantasy owners of Le'Veon Bell have been getting significantly less than they expected from a player many grabbed with the first or second pick in their drafts this year, but the breakout finally came Sunday against the Ravens as the Steelers' lead back rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns while also catching four of six targets for 42 receiving yards. His huge game was the highest-scoring fantasy output in PPR leagues, which finally delivered on the high cost it took to get him in most formats. And the good news gets even better, as he'll face off against the Jaguars in Week 5.

Why is that good news? Because the Jets (yes, the Jets!) racked up an incredible 256 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against the Jags on Sunday. With Matt Forte ruled out because of a toe injury, the Jets got fantastic production out of Bilal Powell, who rushed 21 times for 163 yards and a touchdown and caught four of five targets for 27 receiving yards, making him the third-most valuable running back in PPR formats. While it's worth pointing out that a lot of his production came on a 75-yard touchdown run, he still averaged a decent 4.2 yards per carry even without that run. Another big positive for the Jets is that rookie Elijah Maguire looked great as well, rushing 10 times for 93 yards and a touchdown while catching both of his targets for 38 receiving yards, making him the eighth-highest scoring running back in PPR leagues. Like Powell, Maguire got a lot of his fantasy production from a single run (a 69-yard touchdown), and while Bell may not have the same breakaway speed as the Jets' running backs, he has the benefit of being significantly better at playing football.

And while fantasy owners of Newton, Bell, Powell and a few others (Hi, Andy Dalton!) had to wait for their dividends, those who took Todd Gurley have cashed checks each week this season, with Sunday's one of the biggest of the season. Rushing 23 times for 121 yards and catching seven of eight targets for 94 receiving yards and a touchdown, Gurley became the second player in franchise history with at least 100 rushing yards and 90 receiving yards in a game (Steven Jackson 2006). If you're wondering, the closest Marshall Faulk ever got was 133 rushing yards and 87 receiving yards against the Jets in Week 14 of the 1997 season (hooray for arbitrary thresholds!). Gurley's performance Sunday just continued his early season dominance, as he became just the third player in league history with at least 575 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns in the first four games of the season. The others: Jim Brown (1958, 1963) and Emmitt Smith (1995). If there's an aspect of Gurley's game that has been a real game-changer this year is that he's producing more in the passing game, now scoring a receiving touchdown in three consecutive games after not scoring a single one in his career before this run. Gurley isn't the most consistent runner, but there continues to be more than enough volume to make up for any YPC struggles, not to mention his ability to now produce as a pass catcher.

One team with the opposite problem is the Giants, whose backfield situation has been a mess since Ahmad Bradshaw left after the 2012 season. Since then, Andre Brown (492 yards), Andre Williams (721), Rashad Jennings (863) and Jennings again (593) have led the team in rushing yards, respectively, and this year may be the worst of the five-year run. Week 1 starter Paul Perkins hasn't eclipsed 25 rushing yards in any game this season, while Shane Vereen had the highest rushing total of the year when he racked up 28 yards in Week 2 against the Lions. And if that wasn't bad enough, Eli Manning ran for a score Sunday and became the first Giant to score a rushing touchdown this season. However, the Giants may have found their new starter in rookie Wayne Gallman, who rushed 11 times for 42 yards and caught both of his targets for eight yards and a touchdown. Oh, and it was his birthday. Was it a dominant performance that would immediately vault him to the top of the depth chart? Heavens, no. But with Perkins getting knocked out with a rib injury, Darkwa managing a back issue and Vereen more of a pass-catching back, there's certainly an opportunity for Gallman to get more reps.

One player who likely won't be getting any more reps this season is Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who suffered a suspected torn ACL in Sunday's loss to the Lions. Cook's absence is a massive blow to the Vikings, as he came into the week with the second-most yards among rookie running backs (Kareem Hunt is unsurprisingly ahead of him, though not by much). Neither Latavius Murray nor Jerick McKinnon have been able to do much as Cook's backups, but one of them is probably headed for many more touches.