Washington Commanders at Kansas City Chiefs Start Em’ Sit Em’| Week 8

Originally, the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Commanders was going to be a marquee matchup. Sadly, quarterback Jayden Daniels is injured and likely won’t play, making this a much easier game to prepare for from the Chiefs’ perspective. That being said, backup Marcus Mariota can still move the chains, so it may not be wise to completely write off the Commanders’ offense going into this game.

Lock of the Game

Despite all the talk about guys like Daniel Jones and Justin Herbert, the number one quarterback on the year so far this year has been Patrick Mahomes. He has thrown for over 250 yards in his last four games and has carried his team through a very rough stretch where most of their weapons were injured. It would be an overstatement to say that Washington has a bad defense, but they did just give up 44 to Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. Mahomes should be a lock to have success in this matchup.

Start ‘Em

Fantasy Football fans have been really split on Jacory “Bill” Croskey Merritt. He was highly praised after a great win over the Chargers, but hasn’t been able to match those numbers since. The Chiefs have the fourth-best pass defense in the league, but only the 15th-best run defense. It may be smarter for Washington to lean on the run here, especially with their starting quarterback out. In fact, Mariotta might benefit from running the football a lot, because that would open up opportunities in the RPO offense he likes to operate in.

It’s always difficult to figure out which receivers on the Chiefs are going to have a good day. Last week, it was Rashee Rice, who got two touchdowns but only with 42 yards. If he doesn’t get as many touchdowns in this game, Rice might not be worth the investment. Therefore, it might be better to back Xavier Worthy, who has had more time to work in that offense.

Sit ‘Em

McLaurin isn’t fully guaranteed to play just yet, but if he does, he’s not worth a start for DFS. His last game was the win against Las Vegas, where he had a decent 78 yards, but he hasn’t scored a touchdown the entire season. With Daniels on the sideline, McLaurin may not be able to flourish, especially if Washington focuses on running the ball. That being said, McLaurin is still a name to be aware of because he could very well have a bounce-back game later on.

Brown was able to make plenty of tough catches for the Chiefs at the beginning of their season. As more of their other receivers become healthy, though, Brown will get fewer targets. This is probably why he only had two catches for 14 yards last week. Now, Mahomes has Kelce, Rice, and Worthy to work with, so he shouldn’t need to target Brown more than a couple of times in this game.

Fade of the Game

If Jayden Daniels were able to play, McCaffrey might have greater potential in this matchup. With Mariota under center, though, McCaffrey’s targets might be limited. In the game against Dallas, McCaffrey had no catches with only two targets. He shouldn’t see too many targets this game either, so it’s better to wait on playing him until Daniels gets healthy.