Thursday Night Fantasy Football Preview Week 2

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You made it! You survived week one whether you won or lost. You can take some pressure off your back, relax a little, and start to look at the direction your team could go in fantasy football. Waivers have ran, and you probably saw one of your league mates spend too much FAAB on a player that’ll fizzle out by mid-season. You’ll be on the deposit side of a nice cashing of a big time waiver signing when they’re all out of budget to help get you to the playoffs. But that’s not here nor there, this is a Thursday Night Football Preview for Week 2.

The Chargers of Los Angeles thunder into Arrowhead to take on the Chiefs in their first of two divisional bouts of the season. What looks like it could shape up to be the best and most fun division to watch in football, those fireworks should start now. The last time these two met they put up a healthy 62 points in a game the Chiefs won by 6. That shouldn’t change, there is a lot of star power to go around, and the o/u sits at 54 points. Now lets take a look at the whole reason why you’re reading this, the players for fantasy football.

As always, at the end of each player, I will leave you their pricing for Draft Kings. Both their Flex and Captain pricing will be on there for the DFS match-up.

Patrick Mahomes (KC) – I’m not entirely sure I need to spend a terrible amount of time on Mahomes. You’re starting him. Mahomes finished as the QB1 last week as the Chiefs embarrassed a very poor defense in the Arizona Cardinals. They ended up giving up the most yards through the air to Mahomes (360), and the most TD’s (5). The Chargers gave up the 11th most passing yards last week, and I fully expect Mahomes to continue being pass happy in a divisional game that should see a ton of points. ($11,800 or $17,700 as Captain)

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Justin Herbert (LAC) – The same goes for Herbert too if I’m being honest. You’re starting him without hesitation. J Herb finished as the QB5 in a great performance against divisional foe Las Vegas. Herbert put up 279 yards and 3 TD’s against the Raiders. I expect him to do more or less the same as Mahomes really. This game should be full of points, and there just isn’t a reason to even ponder the thought of sitting Herbert, especially since the Chiefs actually did give up the 9th most passing yards last week in their blowout win. ($11,200 or $16,800 as Captain)

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (KC) – Clyde is a talent that has really gone unseen the last 2 years. He has continuously been drafted with high hopes and really hasn’t turned it on. In fact, he was a guy that I kind of wrote off personally. With a lot of mouths to feed in KC, and being on a pass heavy team, I just don’t know if I’m willing to start him over someone who is going to see the ball more. Yeah, Clyde had 2 receiving TD’s in week 1, but he only touched the ball a total of 10 times. He could very well end up being TD dependent, but in a game where there should be points aplenty, I would be willing to start him in a flex or RB2 position. ($8,600 or $12,900 as Captain)

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Austin Ekeler (LAC) – As with Mahomes and Herbert you’re starting your studs. One of those studs includes Ekeler. He’s just too good in all aspects to miss out on the points. Don’t be afraid of the RB28 finish last week, because you know damn well Ekeler has it in him to punch in 2 goal line TD’s and still catch 8 balls for 50 yards or more. In what should be a fast paced game, I’m expecting Ekeler to see a lot of targets, at least more than the 4 he saw last week. You can’t sit him down. He means too much to this offense and should be started in all formats. ($10,200 or $15,300 as Captain)

JuJu Smith-Schuster (KC) – JuJu is on a new team, and has new opportunities to show he still has it since leaving Pittsburgh. Last week he was very modest, finishing as the WR41. Had he not lost a fumble (he fumbled twice), his finish would have been slightly better. Among the wide receivers of KC he saw the second most snaps in 66%, ran the second most routes (32), and had the most targets (8). Having the most targets is something that is overlooked, but if your receiver is getting the ball thrown to them, the more opportunities they have to score. It’s simple math. I actually expect JuJu to have a much better game this week, and he could very well finish as a WR25 or better when it’s all said and done. ($8,000 or $12,000 as Captain)

Mike Williams (LAC) – The big story here is no Keenan Allen. Allen is sidelined with a pesky hammy injury and the Chargers are going to have to look to their newly paid (3 year/$60M/$40 Guaranteed) toy. “Big” Mike was quiet week 1, but that’s because Allen was generating targets before getting hurt. Williams had 4 targets, with only 2 catches for 10 yards last week and finished as the WR102 while playing 93% of snaps. Not something that will be duplicated for a player that just got handed the bag. Allen’s vacated targets will need to go somewhere, and why not to the big bodied, newly paid, athletic wide receiver that can out jump anyone else on the field. Look for Mike Williams to have a big game. ($9,000 or $13,500 as Captain)

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Marquez Valdes-Scantling (KC) – MVS comes over from Green Bay to quite possibly be the WR1 for the Chiefs. You saw it last week, while MVS saw the highest percentage of snaps (73%). He also had the highest number of routes run for the Chiefs (33). MVS was also pretty modest, finishing as the WR57 and largely in part to Mahomes hyper targeting Travis Kelce. Mahomes will most likely need to spread the ball around again, and there is a chance the Chargers double up on Kelce. So where is he going to throw? Odds are good that MVS sees another uptick in targets, and possibly a deep bomb at some point in the game from Mahomes. If I’m rolling out a KC receiver, I think I’m most comfortable with MVS merely for the potential upside of a big play being made. ($6,400 or $9,600 as Captain)

Joshua Palmer (LAC) – We go back to the Chargers where again we look at the possibility of vacated targets needed to be picked up by someone in the receiving core. Palmer ran the second most routes (26) behind Mike Williams, and played the second most snaps in 75%. As the WR3 on the Chargers, turned WR2 for this week, I absolutely love Palmer as a smash play in your flex. The game script as noted, should be high flying and fast. Herbert is going to be throwing the ball, and Palmer could be in store for a great game. Not to mention his DFS pricing is extremely juicy. ($5,000 or $7,500 as Captain)

Mecole Hardman (KC) – Hardman is one of the hardest players to analyze in the NFL at wide receiver. He is the definition of “Boom/Bust,” and he ran the least amount of routes and saw the least amount of snaps for the KC receivers. I’m not saying that he will bust, as he did finish last week as the highest KC receiver at WR38. But the only reason why is because he scored a touchdown. If it wasn’t for that, his stat line reads: 6 targets/3 receptions/16 yards. The 16 yards is concerning, and if you’re rolling out Hardman in the flex you better have an extremely solid WR1 and WR2 playing on your team. I’m avoiding him until I see those yardage numbers increase and not be touchdown dependent. ($5,600 or $8,400 as Captain)

Gerald Everett (LAC) – Everett was one of my favorite late round tight ends to draft this season, and last week proved why. Last week Everett finished as the TE4 and had a solid stat line. His line read: 4 targets/3 receptions/54 yards/1 touchdown. A solid effort for the tight ends of today’s NFL. Hopefully you read my article last night and scooped him up off waivers because he was pretty minimally owned in most leagues. Again, with Allen gone this week at least, and his targets up for grabs, why not use a tight end who saw 66% of snaps and ran 23 routes? You can do FAR worse at the tight end position this week, and I think you shouldn’t hesitate at all to start Everett on TNF. ($4,800 or $7,200 as Captain)

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Travis Kelce (KC) – This should be short and sweet, Kelce finished in one of his normal positions as the TE1 last week. It’s simple really, the connection between Mahomes and Kelce is one that may just be unmatched in football. He was targeted 9 times, played in 64% of snaps, and ran a staggering 31 routes. He is going to get his, and maybe the Chargers try to eliminate him, but a lot of teams have done that over the years and been unsuccessful. Oh, and don’t forget this fun fact. The last time they played in December 2021, Kelce went off for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. SMASH IT. ($11,000 or $16,500 as Captain)

Good Luck on Thursday Night Football, and be sure to check back later this week for my full breakdown of the games on Sunday!

SKOL

- JD