With Josh Jacobs out, the Green Bay backfield belongs to a three-man committee. The trouble is that the Packers have been unable to run the ball at all, and Johnson isn’t always first in line for the work that does exist. Find out whether you should start or sit Kaleb Johnson in Week 4.
Kaleb Johnson Start or Sit Advice for Week 4
The opportunity is technically there. Johnson has 13 touches across the two games he has played, which puts him at 25.0% of Green Bay’s carries, and no back in this room has separated from the group. MarShawn Lloyd leads with 27 touches and Chris Brooks has 13, so the committee is genuinely open rather than settled.
He has also shown a flash of the ability to create. Johnson forced two broken tackles on eight carries at the Jets and generated 19 yards after contact in that game, which is the one piece of tape suggesting he can produce without much blocking help.
Tampa Bay is a reasonable matchup on paper. The Buccaneers have allowed 17.8 PPR points per game to running backs and 2.89 yards per carry, which sits in the middle of the league. That figure comes with a caveat, though. Tampa Bay has faced Cleveland, Minnesota and Cincinnati, rushing attacks gaining 32% fewer yards than the league average, so the defense has not been tested by anyone competent on the ground.
The Biggest Fantasy Risk for Kaleb Johnson in Week 4
Green Bay cannot run the football, and that caps everything. The Packers are averaging 48.7 rushing yards per game on 16.0 attempts with 3.04 yards per carry, and they have not scored a rushing touchdown all season. Johnson’s own line reads 38 yards on 12 carries at 3.2 yards per attempt. There is no version of this backfield that produces a useful fantasy week while the offense runs like this.
The deeper problem is that he has no role near the end zone. Johnson has zero red zone carries and zero red zone targets on the season. Lloyd has six red zone carries and Brooks four, so Green Bay has made a choice about who gets the ball in scoring position, and Johnson is not in that conversation. Any touchdown would have to come from distance behind a line yielding 3.04 yards per carry.
Game script is the third strike. Against Atlanta in Week 3 the Packers attempted nine rushes in the entire game while losing 35-14. Green Bay is at 18.7 points per game and has trailed frequently, and when they trail the carries evaporate. Johnson offers no receiving role to fall back on either, with one catch on three targets for 10 yards.
Fantasy Outlook for Kaleb Johnson in Week 4
Sit Johnson in Week 4. He is in a committee attached to a rushing attack that cannot move the ball, with no work in scoring position and no receiving role to cushion a quiet afternoon. The matchup being neutral does not change any of that, especially when Tampa Bay’s numbers come from facing rushing attacks that could not move the ball either.
The reason to keep him on a roster is positional, not weekly. Lloyd has not locked down this job, and an injury ahead of Johnson would hand him a real workload on a team that still has Jordan Love throwing. That makes him a speculative hold and nothing more. Leave him on your bench and look elsewhere for a flex play.
Find more Week 4 fantasy football start/sit coverage here!