Sit/Start Week 11: Reviewing All the Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Chiefs@Chargers

 

Game Info

Kickoff: Monday, November 18 at 8:15 pm EST

Location: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Betting Odds: KC -3.5, 52.5 Total via Oddsshark

Network: ESPN

Sleeper Spotlight: Andre Patton

 

Kansas City Chiefs

 

Quarterback:

• Patrick Mahomes (Start/QB1)

 

Patrick Mahomes returned from his two-week absence and reminded us why he was drafted as the QB1. This game will be played in Mexico City in the same field that the Chiefs and Rams declined to play in a game that ended up being moved to Los Angeles due to poor field conditions in 2018. A word from both teams is that the field conditions are much improved and ready to go.

 

Running Backs:

• Damien Williams (Start/RB1)
• Darrell Williams (Sit)
• LeSean McCoy (Sit)

 

With LeSean McCoy being a healthy scratch last week, we saw Damien Williams play the most snaps he’s seen this season and handle the heaviest workload. Hopefully, that continues to be the case and his workload isn’t affected by his costly fumble last week that was returned for a touchdown. As long as things are trending in that direction again this week, I’m excited to get Williams back into my lineup. Darrell Williams served as Damien’s primary backup with McCoy out. Darrell played on just 17 snaps and touched the ball just three times. 

 

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends:

• Tyreek Hill (Start/WR1)
• Travis Kelce (Start/TE1)
• Sammy Watkins (Start/Flex)
• Demarcus Robinson (Sit)
• Mecole Hardman (Sit)

 

Mahomes’ return was certainly welcomed by Tyreek Hill, who saw an incredible 19 targets in Week 10. Hill should see some coverage from Casey Hayward this week, but he’s a WR1 every week. Travis Kelce got off the touchdown schnide in Week 10 and would’ve had two if it weren’t for an offensive pass interference penalty on Hill. Despite disappointing fantasy owners that drafted him in the first round, Kelce leads all tight ends in targets and Air Yards. He remains a TE1 regardless of matchups. Despite a healthy workload in a good offense, Sammy Watkins’ weekly productivity has forced me to lower my expectations. Ignoring his Week1 explosion, Watkins has averaged nine targets in the six games he’s played in and yet has failed to exceed 64 yards and hasn’t found the end zone. Like Watkins, Demarcus Robinson had one spike week in Week 2 but has been pretty meh since. While he’s seen 14 targets over the last four weeks, they come along with just a 6.2 aDOT, which limits his upside. Mecole Hardman is so fast, as demonstrated by his 63-yard touchdown in Week 10. Unfortunately, for fantasy purposes, he’s seen just six targets over the last four weeks.

 

Los Angeles Chargers

 

Quarterback:

• Philip Rivers (Start/QB1)

 

It’s very difficult to take my personal feelings out of this, but Philip Rivers is startable as a backend QB1 this week. I don’t want to blame Melvin Gordon, because he’s come on, but since his return, the passing offense has just been a disaster. The Chiefs have allowed the tenth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on the year. If this game goes into shootout mode, Rivers could finish as a top 5 quarterback. 

 

Running Backs:

• Melvin Gordon (Start/RB1)
• Austin Ekeler (Start/Flex)

 

Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen Melvin Gordon take over as the lead back, and focal point of the offense. During that time, Gordon has touched the ball 46 times versus Austin Ekeler’s 23 touches. For the year, the Chiefs have allowed the most fantasy points per game to running backs, making Gordon a backend RB1. Even with Gordon reemerging, Ekeler has still seen 40% of the Chargers’ snaps, making him flex worthy. 

 

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends:

• Keenan Allen (Start/WR1)
• Hunter Henry (Start/TE1)
• Mike Williams (Sit)
• Andre Patton (Sit)

 

As I noted in Philip Rivers’ writeup, the passing offense has seemed off since Melvin Gordon’s return and that’s no more apparent than in Keenan Allen’s productivity. Allen has 36 targets over the last four games and has even seen a higher aDOT than earlier in the year, but he hasn’t exceeded 68 yards in any of those games. One of these weeks, it’s all going to come together for Allen and he comes in as a backend WR1 this week. Since his return from injury in Week 6, Hunter Henry has a 24% target share and has seen just two targets less than Allen. He’s quickly solidified himself as a TE1 moving forward. Since Henry’s return, Mike Williams has seen his targets drop every week, seeing just three in Weeks 9 and 10. Until we see his workload increase, I can’t see starting Williams. Just file this under interesting, but Andre Patton has played on at least 81% of the offensive snaps over the last three weeks. He also saw four targets in the Chargers’ Week 10 game, with an aDOT of 20.5. Don’t be surprised if we see Patton make a couple of big plays in the coming weeks. 

-Rich Holman