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Week 6 Fantasy Football Advice Mailbag
The talk in Kansas City (besides who has the best BBQ) is the Royals’ play off run, Bobby Witt Jr., Taylor Swift, Khalen Saunders tackling Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, the team’s upcoming Hallmark Christmas movie and injuries.
Let’s discuss who will most benefit in fantasy football with the Rashee Rice injury.
The Chiefs’ Current Roster Without Rashee Rice
One of the biggest storylines in fantasy football is the Chiefs’ roster with Rashee Rice’s injury.
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is on Injured Reserve (IR) and will not play in the regular season with a shoulder injury. Isiah Pacheco injured his fibula against the Cincinnati Bengals and could return in six to eight weeks. Rice reportedly tore his LCL when Patrick Mahomes clashed with him while attempting to tackle a Los Angeles Chargers player after an interception.
It’s the next man up for the reigning champs, and, of course, they still have Travis Kelce, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kareem Hunt.
There are consistent trade scenarios and rumors of the Chiefs aiming to trade for a WR with names like DeAndre Hopkins or Davante Adams. While you cannot count out GM Brett Veach’s cooking in the front office, let’s be realistic. Unless you’re in a dynasty league, you have to focus on the short run in fantasy football.
Even with Rice, Kelce’s production has slowly picked up in recent weeks. He has had 19 targets in the past two weeks but has yet to score a touchdown despite recording 24 catches for 228 yards. Meanwhile, Hunt has made a decent comeback this season with 41 rushes for 171 yards and a touchdown. Clyde Edwards-Helaire could potentially return, too, but there is one player I want to dive into deeper: Smith-Schuster.
JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s Impact Without Rashee Rice
The USC product’s career has been a roller-coaster since his Pittsburgh Steelers days. His rookie season was solid, just fallling shy of 1000 receiving yards with seven touchdowns. The 2018 season was his best, where he put up 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns. However, he’s battled with injuries and a reduced role since then. It got to the point where he only put up 260 receiving yards and one touchdown before being written off from the New England Patriots. Now, he is back in Kansas City after contributing to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles two seasons ago.
Smith-Schuster may have only scored once this season, but it is apparent that his targets will pick up after the Chiefs’ win on “Monday Night Football” over the New Orleans Saints. He caught seven balls on eight targets for 130 yards.
Hunt’s return to the backfield has also opened things up in the air for Mahomes and company (as usual). Kelce is Kelce. Sure, the Chiefs have Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman, but they barely crack any contributions fantasy-wise.
Bottomline
The answer is simply Juju Smith-Schuster.
The question focuses on who benefits the most from Rice’s injury, not necessarily who will play the best. Despite his age and slow start, Kelce will have better numbers and production, but he is already a focal point of the offense anyway.
Then there’s Xavier Worthy, the rookie phenom from Texas. He has caught 12 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns in five games this season. He has also been involved in misdirection plays on the ground with six carries for 42 yards and two touchdowns, including one against the Baltimore Ravens that showed his speed as a fun welcome to the NFL moment.
However, with his speed comes some limitations. Worthy has only shown to be a deep threat and gadget player so far with a specific role in Andy Reid‘s offense. This could expand later, but I’m not betting on it now.
Am I saying Smith-Schuster will put up early Steelers numbers and 100+ receiving yards a game? Not necessarily, but he is clearly the Chiefs’ top pass-catcher behind Kelce. I also do not trust the run game overall outside of Hunt. I don’t see WR1 numbers, but the 27-year-old could be a solid flex option in leagues and maybe a TikTok or two.
Check out all of our Week 6 fantasy football content:
- PropKings: NFL Week 6 (2024)
- Week 6 In the Scope Targets (2024)
- Week 6 Shore Thing Sleepers (2024)
- Week 6 NFL DFS Picks & Lineup Advice (2024)
- Fantasy Football Trade Targets | Week 6 (2024)
- Week 6 Fantasy Football Advice Mailbag (2024)
- Fantasy Football Whiplash! | Week 6 News & Notes (2024)
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*Photo Credit: Brett Davis – USA TODAY Sports*
