Michael Mayer scored 12.2 PPR points in Week 3 on three targets, which sounds like efficiency until you notice what else happened in that game. Brock Bowers returned from his absence and took 13 targets, and Mayer’s role shrank the moment he did. Find out whether you should start or sit Michael Mayer in Week 4.
Michael Mayer Start or Sit Advice for Week 4
Mayer’s season numbers look respectable in isolation. He has caught 12 of 14 targets with no drops, picked up seven first downs on those 12 catches, and found the end zone once. He has also generated 56 YAC out of 87 total yards, so he does something useful once the ball arrives.
The offense around him is working. Las Vegas is scoring 29.3 points per game, Kirk Cousins is at a 106.9 passer rating, and the Raiders send 31.8% of their targets to tight ends, which is a strong rate for the position. Kansas City is a middling matchup rather than a bad one, having allowed 14.0 PPR points per game to tight ends with a 73.9% catch rate and four red zone targets conceded.
That is the entire positive case, and none of it is about Mayer’s current role.
The Biggest Fantasy Risk for Michael Mayer in Week 4
Brock Bowers is the risk, and he is not a small one. Mayer drew seven targets in Week 1 and four in Week 2 with Bowers unavailable. Bowers came back in Week 3 and immediately commanded 13 targets for 116 yards and a touchdown, taking three red zone looks along the way. Mayer dropped to three targets in that same game.
His season target share of 15.9% is therefore a number to distrust. It averages two games as the clear starter with one as the backup. In the only game that reflects his actual job going forward, he held 10.9% of the Raiders targets, and the tight end share that makes this offense attractive belongs to Bowers.
The Week 3 scoring line makes this worse rather than better. Those 12.2 PPR points came from a touchdown on one of three targets. Strip the score and he had three catches for 32 yards. He has two red zone targets across three games against Bowers’s three in a single appearance, so he is not the option Las Vegas turns to near the end zone. At 7.2 yards per reception he needs volume to produce, and the volume is gone.
Fantasy Outlook for Michael Mayer in Week 4
Sit Mayer in Week 4. He is a backup tight end on a team with one of the position’s genuine stars healthy and in front of him, and the touchdown that made his Week 3 look respectable is not a repeatable workload. Three targets is the realistic expectation, which does not belong in a lineup.
Hold him if your roster has the room, because the situation behind him is genuinely good. Las Vegas scores points and throws to tight ends at a high rate, so if Bowers ever misses time Mayer steps into a usable role immediately, as the first two weeks of this season demonstrated. That makes him a worthwhile stash. It does not make him a Week 4 start with Bowers healthy and carrying no designation on the injury report.
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