Patrick Mahomes told us before the season it would be a different Chiefs wide receiver every week. While JuJu Smith-Schuster's emergence has changed that a little bit, there has been a mysterious element to this Chiefs offense, that's the red zone touchdowns.
Early in the season Clyde Edwards-Helaire was used in a variety of unique ways in the red zone and scored five touchdowns in the first four weeks of the season despite averaging just 13 touches per game. Edwards-Helaire fell out of favor in Week 5 and it's been Mecold Hardman, not a running back, who has benefitted.
Hardman has scored four touchdowns in the past three Chiefs games, including two on rush attempts in Week 7. In that stretch he only has one game with more than 42 receiving yards and only one game with more than four touches. In other words, it seems unsustainable, but the red zone usage along makes him a No. 3 wide receiver....if he plays.
Hardman missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday with an abdominal injury, which could open the door for the Chiefs newest addition, Kadarius Toney.
Toney is a former first round pick who never meshed with Brian Daboll and was dealt to the Chiefs at the deadline. He also happens to be exxactly the type of player you'd like to get in space in Andy Reid's system. Toney only played nine snaps in his Week 9 debut, but the Chiefs plan on using him more moving forward. If Hardman is out in Week 10, they may use him a lot more this week.
Toney remains more of a stash and a DFS lottery play this week, but the difference between him and Hardman is that he could actually become a feature receiver in some point in the future. While we're hopeful he inherits the red zone role, by the time the playoffs role around he could simply be the Chiefs' No. 3 option.
Here is the rest of the Week 10 WR Preview:
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4.2 -- DeVonta Smith has just as many games under 4.2 Fantasy points as he does over 15 Fantasy points. That's an epitome of a boom-bust wide receiver.
Terrace Marshall has earned 15 targets in two games since the Panthers traded away Robbie Anderson and Christian McCaffrey. He's averaged 13.5 PPR Fantasy points in those two games and faces a Falcons defense that has allowed the most FPPG to opposing wide receivers this season.
There's little doubt that Robinson is the Giants' most talented pass catcher and it's very common to see rookies get a boost in opportunity after the team's bye. A role worth seven-to-nine targets a week is still possible if everything clicks in the second half with Daniel Jones.
Waddle and Tyreek Hill are both top-six wide receivers for me this week and you'll get a much better price on Waddle quite possibly with a lower roster rate. Just don't mistake that for lower upside. Waddle has twice as many touchdowns from Tua Tagovailoa as Hill does.
As you should know by now, I'm a big fan of betting on touchdown regression. I also love the fact that Johnson looks to be locked in as a double-digit target guy now that Chase Claypool has been shipped off to Chicago. There's a chance Johnson is a top-20 wide receiver from this point forward. Buy the dip.
