We’re only a quarter of the way into the 2026 NFL season, but there’s already one player who’s starting to shine among his peers.
As we reveal our all-star team for Week 4, a returning star has made our weekly list for the third time this season. Can you take a guess who it is? We’ll give you a hint: He was a valuable offseason acquisition.
And since we have a potential mainstay on our weekly All-Star Team, we welcome back a star quarterback who made the list on several occasions last season. We also had a lot of big performances at wide receiver this weekend, making it one of the toughest calls we’ve had to make so far this season.
Here are my week four stars.
Drake Maye had one touchdown against six tackles in the first three weeks, but bounced back well in the New England Patriots’ decisive win over the Buffalo Bills. He threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining. Don’t discount his eight carries for 54 yards either. Three of the Patriots’ next four are against the Las Vegas Raiders, Jets and Dolphins, so New England has a chance to get back into the thick of things.
Maye was an easy choice at quarterback this week. The top four players in passing yards all lost and had two carries or less. Some weeks, a performance like Maye’s is barely in the top five, but is the winner in Week 4.
Much tougher call here! Kenneth Walker was an easy pick for the top spot, continuing his dominant start with 177 yards and two touchdowns as the Kansas City Chiefs held off the Las Vegas Raiders. He had two big runs in the fourth quarter, going for a 76-yard gain to help give them the lead before rushing for a 22-yard touchdown that served as the game’s decisive score. This is Walker’s third time making our weekly list.
Indianapolis Colts star Jonathan Taylor (95 rushing yards, two touchdowns) and Dallas Cowboys standout Javonte Williams (62 rushing yards, three touchdowns) had good weeks, but it came down to Chicago Bears Kyle Monangai (146 rushing yards, two punt returns) for Williams Rams for Los Angeles. Williams rushed for 80 yards and two scores and caught 10 more passes for 67 yards, helping the Rams get a much-needed win against the Eagles.
A day like Monangai’s is what allows a team to win with three different QBs in four weeks, but we’ll give the nod to Williams, whose two late touchdowns capped the Rams’ comeback win against the Eagles to move them to 2-2 after a rocky start.
There were some monster plays at wide receiver on Sunday. CeeDee Lamb had 17 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys’ win over the Houston Texans. There have only been three plays in NFL history with more catches and more yards, doing so on “only” 21 targets. Lamb is on pace for 2,115 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns this season.
And just as we’re sweating over who the No. 2 pick is here (Romeo Doubs’ two catches for the Patriots? Tyquan Thornton for 111 yards and two touchdowns in the Chiefs’ win over the Raiders?), Tetairoa McMillan blew everyone out of the water with his performance Sunday night. McMillan recorded the second-best rushing yards in Carolina Panthers history, getting 192 on 14 catches and two scores in a win over the Detroit Lions.
We heard a lot from Raiders fans upset that Brock Bowers didn’t get the nod last week, and we’re ignoring it again. His 86 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs were convincing, but TJ Hockenson fumbled at the 1-yard line, giving up a touchdown to help the Minnesota Vikings close out a close win over the Miami Dolphins. Hockenson still had 13 catches for 119 yards, matching the second-most catches by a tight end in the last five years. This wasn’t the record-breaking week for tight ends that Week 3 was, but Hockenson was the best of the bunch.
OL: San Francisco 49ers
Some like the Denver Broncos’ front as the best offensive line in the league, but the 49ers’ line passed them as San Francisco improved to 4-0. The 49ers allowed zero sacks against the Broncos, giving them four straight games with zero sacks allowed to start the season. They had 30 carries for Brock Purdy, and a running game that gained 140 yards on 35 carries.
The starting five (lr) of Trent Williams, Connor Colby, Jake Brendel, Dominick Puni and Colton McKivitz has a future Hall of Famer, yes, but Colby is a 2025 seventh rounder and Brendel is making $4 million a year, so it’s a blue-collar line to make. Puni, a 2024 third baseman, is going to pay well very soon, and McKivitz just got his extension last year.
All the talk for the Rams has been Aaron Donald and the absence of Myles Garrett, but Young came up big with 2.5 sacks in their comeback win over the Eagles. Two of his sacks came in the final minutes to thwart a final Eagles rally.
Turner returned to form with two sacks in the Vikings’ defense-driven win over the Dolphins. His 5.5 sacks are half shy of Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau for the NFL lead. Minnesota has relied heavily on its defense in its 4-0 start, and Turner is leading that offense.
Dallas Turner recorded two sacks in the Vikings’ league-leading win over the Dolphins. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
I thought strongly of Seattle’s Ernest Jones, who had 12 tackles, a sack and an interception in the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
However, Reese was all over the Giants’ win, with one interception, one pass deflection, nine tackles and three passes defensed. He’s an explosive linebacker, and with Brian Burns sidelined, Reese becomes an even more important part of New York’s defensive front, already establishing himself as a physical tackler in his first month in the league.
There were some crazy hits this week as well, with Dolphins rookie Jacob Rodriguez getting 18 tackles in a loss.
It was tempting to give safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to end the New York Jets’ interception drought going back to 2024, but they lost. It also wasn’t as important as Deonte Banks’ 98-yard interception return on the final play of the game as the Arizona Cardinals threatened to score the game-winner in the New York Giants’ victory. Banks is a former first baseman who hasn’t had an interception since his rookie year in 2023, but his play is a big reason why the Giants are 3-1 and in sole possession of the NFC East standings.
Dave Toub is a special teams legend and he got as much as he could from punter Matt Araiza in a close win over the Raiders. Araiza converted a fake fourth-and-9 with a 12-yard run, but he also averaged 46.8 yards on the day, with all five of his punts inside the 20.
Chef’s kick was a clutch punt, three up and 1:26 left, and he came up with a 52-yarder that was downed at the 1-yard line. It took the Raiders eight rushing snaps to get past their own 20, where they would have started with a punt.
