Hello to the loyal Five Lists audience, as well as any new readers tuning in for the first time. We’re back once more to deliver your one-stop shop with all the fantasy football content you need to crush Week 4 of the NFL regular season. Whether it’s must-starts, breakouts, sleepers or stashes, it’s all here in this lovely column typically produced by our very own Dan Johnson. This ship’s captain is out of office at the moment (and will be back next week, so don’t worry), but in the meantime I’m taking the helm to guide us through the stormy seas of the fantasy landscape. To put your mind at ease — I bring the same sicko love for fantasy football and dedication to helping you win your week, just a slightly different voice. You’re in good hands!
It’s a pleasure to meet you all, but you didn’t click into this article to hear about me. You want the goods to win your fantasy matchups and I’ve got exactly what you’re looking for. See below for the top five breakout running backs for fantasy football Week 4. It’s basically rookie RB week as several names from this class see positive matchups and potential for increased workloads, so there’s lots to like here.
Here are the other offerings from my 2025 Fantasy Football Five Lists of Five: Week 4 edition:
- Top five must-start players for Week 4 of 2025 fantasy football
- Top five WR/CB matchups to target for Week 4 fantasy football
- Top five breakout wide receivers for 2025 fantasy football Week 4
- Top five players to stash for Week 4 of 2025 fantasy football
- BONUS LIST! Dynasty Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Top risers and fallers after Week 3
Follow my handle @keagreport for all of my fantasy football content.
Top five breakout RBs to target for Week 4 of 2025 fantasy football
Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers (@ Giants)
Okay look, maybe putting a first-round pick who just tallied 24.9 PPR points on this list feels like cheating a little bit. Honestly, it might be! Still, Omarion Hampton deserves a spot here due to his own performance in Week 3 as well as a slight uptick in opportunities coming his way going into Week 4.
Unfortunately, the latter factor comes up as a result of a season-ending Achilles injury to veteran Najee Harris, who was playing second fiddle in this offense with snap counts of 18% and 32% over the first two weeks as he worked his way back into game shape following a weird offseason eye injury. He went down with a non-contact injury last week, which paved the way to a 79% snap share and 25 total touches for Hampton. The rookie turned 19 carries into 70 yards (3.7 YPC) and a touchdown, and he notably saw seven targets in the receiving game, hauling in six of those looks for 59 yards as well. It was a very nice breakout showing for Hampton after an ugly first couple of weeks with just 8.1 and 3.5 fantasy points, so there are some signs of encouragement here.
His underlying stats aren’t great, which may come as a result of a banged-up offensive line that shifted personnel around just before the season’s start. However, Hampton does have four explosive carries of 10+ yards, the fourth-most forced missed tackles with 13, and his six carries inside the 10-yard line rank fifth among running backs. As a clear-cut lead back in a high-powered offense, he should post performances more akin to Week 3’s moving forward, and a date against a Giants defense that falls 29th in defensive EPA/rush brings a tasty matchup. It may be Hampton week more often than not moving forward, so pencil him in as a low-end RB1.
Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders (vs. Bears)
At some point, the Ashton Jeanty breakout game will come. I wish I could predict when exactly that fateful day may arrive, but in the meantime, I’ll keep expecting it each week until I’m proven right. Against a soft Bears defense, we could be on the verge of greatness.
You all know by now exactly how talented the Boise State product is. Stupid-high draft capital, record-breaking collegiate production, unbelievable highlights, yada yada. The fantasy production hasn’t yet come at the professional level as he slots in as the PPR RB33 with 8.6 FPPG, but the numbers assure us it’s not the Jeanty’s fault. Through three games, he’s been hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 57% of his rush attempts, leading an an absurd 145 yards YAC despite rushing for 144 total yards. The play of this horrendous Raiders offensive line does help contextualize the 3.1 YPC and -43 RYOE. Despite the lack of help from his blockers, Jeanty does have five explosive runs as well as 13 missed tackles forced, good for a 33.3% rate.
The one knock on Jeanty’s profile so far isn’t even really under his control. Instead, it’s the competition for snaps with Dylan Laube and Zamir White, who clearly aren’t anywhere near the same level of talent but have still played a combined 47% and 40% of snaps behind Jeanty over the last two games. A slight uptick in snap share for the first-rounder would be nice to see, and at some point the Raiders need to realize that he’s also a great pass-catcher. Jeanty does lead the backfield in routes run but has just six targets to his name. Even if that doesn’t come yet, he faces a Bears unit ranked 17th in defensive EPA/rush, 26th in rushing yards allowed and 23rd in ground touchdowns conceded. The rookie is just biding his time before he breaks a couple of big ones.
TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots (vs. Panthers)
It was a butterfingers type of day for the Patriots in Week 3 as the team coughed up five turnovers and eventually lost to the Steelers in a game that realistically shouldn’t have even been close. Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled twice and didn’t return to the field, Antonio Gibson fumbled for the second straight game, and even Drake Maye lost the pigskin at one point. That opened additional opportunities for rookie TreVeyon Henderson, a rookie third-rounder just waiting in the wings to take over the backfield.
In that contest, Henderson handled a career-high 46% of snaps with 11 rush attempts, another high mark, plus three targets. Now, he produced just 47 total yards with an average of 2.5 YPC on the ground, far from a notable stat line. On the flip side though, the uptick in usage and his teammates’ costly mistakes does indicate we may see much more of the Ohio State product in the very near future. He flashed PPR appeal with six catches in his professional debut and obviously was one of the most efficient players in college football throughout his NCAA career, so much like Jeanty, it feels like just a matter of time until Henderson puts forth his own breakout effort. He averages 8.3 FPPG to this point and hasn’t yet scored a touchdown, so if he even sees 50% of snaps with around 15 touches, his speed and hands create chances to make a significant impact.
Of course, the matchup provides even more appeal this week, particularly if Henderson really does get the starting nod. If he performs, he may not look back, either. Here’s what I wrote earlier in the week:
Week 4 brings a soft matchup with a notoriously vulnerable Panthers rush defense allowing 137.7 yards per game on the ground with the 26th-ranked defensive EPA/rush at 0.08. If Henderson gets the start, he brings smash-start potential in all fantasy football formats and may earn a much larger role moving forward, especially given the high draft capital invested in him.
RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos (vs. Bengals)
A second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, RJ Harvey hasn’t yet paid off for the Broncos as anticipated. Plenty of pundits expected him to slot in as the starting running back from the jump, but the acquisition (and excellent play) of J.K. Dobbins put a damper on those hopes thus far. However, this week presents a solid chance for the rookie to see the field.
Harvey averages just 5.3 FPPG to begin his career and all but 10 of his 80 rushing yards came in Week 1 largely thanks to a massive breakaway run. However, he’s played around 30% of snaps in each game thus far and while he’s only rushed 13 times, he does have two forced missed tackles and an explosive in that tiny sample. He also has 35 routes run and five receptions on six targets to his name. In Week 3, Harvey hauled in all three passes that came his way, so while it’s early, I like the odds of his receiving workload growing over coming weeks. When the ball does end up in his hands, he brings 4.40 40-yard speed with some wiggle to his game to create big plays as we saw in his debut. Harvey just needs the opportunities to succeed — even if Dobbins won’t get out of the way, Tyler Badie saw just 4% of snaps last week and could potentially end up losing his role entirely. That would certainly help Harvey’s case.
In Week 4, the Broncos host the Bengals. I probably don’t need to give a breakdown of just how bad that defense has been over the lats couple of seasons, but to put things into perspective, here are a couple of numbers for you. Cincy allows 30.3 points and 119 rushing yards per contest, both bottom-10 marks this year. The Bengals also rank 19th in defensive EPA/rush and 22nd in total defensive EPA/play, so this unit should get stomped by Denver on Monday Night Football. With positive game script against Jake Browning, I think Harvey can actually get in the game a bit more than usual if his team builds up a nice little lead. I expect a respectable performance, even without a starter’s workload.
Woody Marks, Houston Texans (vs. Titans)
Basically every factor which could go wrong for the Texans’ offense has taken a nosedive. Offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s offense doesn’t spark much confidence with a league-low 12.7 points per game, the trench play on that side of the ball remains unserious, C.J. Stroud seems to run for his life on every play and hasn’t thrown the ball well, and there’s not much of a ground attack to even set up the pass since Joe Mixon remains sidelined with a foot issue. At 0-3, what’s there to like?
There are two bright spots on this offense and their names are Nico Collins and Woody Marks. We’ll focus on the latter since the running back very quietly ticked upwards from 11% of snaps in Week 1 to 27% in Week 2 before playing 48% last Sunday. That trend aligns with a career-high six rush attempts and two targets in Week 3 as the Texans put the ball in his hands in some key spots. Sure, the rookie has just 44 yards on his 12 career runs, but he’s also forced four missed tackles and popped with a 37-yard reception on his lone target in his second game. Houston notably traded future draft capital to move up in the 2025 NFL Draft and select Marks, and he’s one of the most prolific pass-catching backs to come out of the collegiate game in recent years. At 5-foot-10 and 208 pounds, he’s not a home-run hitter but seems well-built to handle a professional workload.
A soft matchup and apparent increase in trust paves the way for Marks to potentially steal some more work in this barren backfield. After all, competing with the ghost of Nick Chubb doesn’t exactly pave the toughest pathway to snaps. Against a Titans defense ranked fourth-worst with 145.7 rushing yards allowed per contest and sixth-worst in defensive EPA/rush at 0.08, I like Marks’ odds of earning an even larger role this week with a nice outing despite operating within a struggling unit (and to be honest, I think he could easily become RB1 here depending on Mixon’s health). Surely the Texans can bounce back with some points and first win of the season against Tennessee… right?
