The Read Option, Week 6: Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs

The Read-Option is Adam Pfeifer’s weekly fantasy football game-by-game breakdown, covering everything a fantasy manager needs to know before setting or building lineups for the week. Below, check out his breakdown of the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs game for Week 6.

Week 6 Fantasy Football Breakdown: Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs

KC -10.5, O/U 47.5
Pace: DEN: 27.8 sec/snap (25th), KC: 27.3 sec/snap (20th)

FTN Data Breakdown

• 13.9% of the runs against the Broncos have gained 10-plus yards (fifth-highest rate).
• Isiah Pacheco ranks fourth in the league with five carries from inside the 5-yard line.
• Jaleel McLaughlin is averaging 1.57 fantasy points per touch this season.
• Russell Wilson is averaging 10.0 yards per attempt against the blitz this season.
• The Chiefs are blitzing 33.3% of the time so far this year (seventh).

Quarterback

Russell Wilson threw two more touchdown passes Sunday, giving him multiple touchdowns in four of five games this season. And dating back to the end of last season, Wilson has scored multiple touchdowns in six of seven games since the Broncos moved on from Nathaniel Hackett. He’s finished as a QB1 in fantasy in all but one game this year, while also providing 24 rushing yards per game. Wilson should remain on the QB1/QB2 borderline against a Kansas City defense that continues to play a ton of man coverage and blitz. Wilson is averaging 10.0 yards per attempt against the blitz so far this season, while completing 63.6% of his passes against man coverage (10th-best). 

Running Back

With Javonte Williams sidelined with a hip injury last week, the Broncos turned to Samaje Perine and waiver-wire darling Jaleel McLaughlin against the Jets. Perine got the start, logging 63% of the snaps, while McLaughlin played 34% of the snaps but handled 56% of the rush attempts, compared to 38% for Perine. McLaughlin remained efficient, rushing for 68 yards on nine attempts, while adding three catches for 21 yards and a touchdown in the passing game. It was McLaughlin’s second consecutive game with a receiving score, as he is now averaging a gaudy 1.57 fantasy points per touch on the year, one of the highest rates in football. Perine, meanwhile, played all nine of the Broncos snaps in the two-minute drill and ended up leading the team in receiving (4-73 on five targets). As expected, the running backs have been a huge part of the passing game in Sean Payton’s offense, as Denver is targeting the position 28.4% of the time, the highest rate in the league. If Williams plays, I honestly might avoid this entire backfield, especially considering how highly Payton has spoken of McLaughlin. But if he remains sidelined, both Perine and McLaughlin are viable flex plays.

Wide Receiver

Jerry Jeudy saw the most playing time of the season last week, playing 86% of the snaps, while running a route on a season-high 95% of Denver’s dropbacks. He caught a season-high six passes for 50 yards, while seeing a solid seven targets. While the stat line certainly won’t blow you away, it is good to see Jeudy finally get full-time usage. He continues to primarily play from the slot, lining up there just under 70% of the time. I definitely prefer him to Courtland Sutton in this matchup. The Chiefs are coughing up around eight targets per game to opposing pass-catchers from the slot, the fifth-most in the league. Meanwhile, Sutton should see primary coverage from L’Jarius Sneed, who has emerged as one of the better man-to-man defensive backs in the league as of late. Sneed is allowing a completion rate under 50% in coverage this season and has really limited Calvin Ridley and Justin Jefferson. Meanwhile, opposing No. 1 wide receivers are averaging just 47.9 receiving yards per game against the Chiefs this season, the second-fewest in the league. 

Tight End

Greg Dulcich could return this weekend, though even if he does, I’m sure he will be limited in some capacity. In his absence, Adam Trautman has been operating as the lead tight end for the Broncos, though it has led to TE43 production in fantasy. Feel free to look elsewhere at tight end this week.

Quarterback

Patrick Mahomes hasn’t really had that massive, vintage Mahomes game just yet, but it could easily be this week. He gets to return home to host Denver’s league-worst defense that is surrendering 3.23 points (most), 42.5 yards (most) and 6.3 plays per drive (eighth-most). Meanwhile, opposing offenses are scoring points on 54.7% of drives against Denver this year, the second-highest rate in football. No team is allowing a higher completion percentage (77.3%), more yards per attempt (9.1) or a higher passing touchdown rate (8.4%) than the Broncos. That seems like a recipe for disaster ahead of a game with the best quarterback on the planet.

Running Back

Isiah Pacheco has now found the end zone in each of his last three games and gets arguably the best matchup in all of fantasy football. The Broncos run defense is comically bad, coughing up 5.9 yards per attempt and 187.6 rushing yards per game. Meanwhile, 13.9% of the runs against the Broncos have gained 10-plus yards this season, the fifth-highest rate in football. While Pacheco still isn’t playing much in two-minute situations, he is starting to take more and more of the early-down work. Over the last three games, Pacheco has handled 44%, 65% and 76% of the team’s total rushing attempts, averaging a healthy 19 touches per game during that span. That volume makes him a low-end RB1, especially against a Broncos defense that has allowed five top-10 fantasy running backs over the last four weeks, including four running backs to finish inside the top-three.

Wide Receiver

Rashee Rice has been targeted on 35% of his routes run this season. That is tied with Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams for the highest rate among all wide receivers. We just need him to play more and run more routes and we could finally have a Kansas City wide receiver worth starting in fantasy. Rice found the end zone last week and has seen at least five targets in all but one game so far during his rookie year. Unfortunately, he has only run a route on 32% of Kansas City’s dropbacks. Rice needs to be added in all formats, and if you are really hurting at wideout, he could be worth a look, especially in this matchup.

Meanwhile, if you are playing DFS contests for this game, I’d consider giving Justin Watson a look. He is second among Chiefs wideouts in route participation, and when he sees targets, they come deep down the field. Watson leads qualified wideouts in aDOT (23.3 yards) and now faces a Broncos defense that is allowing a 57.1% completion rate on passes 20-plus air yards to go along with five touchdowns. 

Tight End

Travis Kelce suffered an ankle injury last week but returned to the game and scored a touchdown. He should be good to go for Thursday’s contest. Despite missing one game (and some snaps), Kelce still ranks fourth in the league with five targets from inside the 10-yard line. Not only are the Broncos terrible at defending running backs, they are also coughing up the fifth-most fantasy points (15.1) and third-most receiving yards (63.2) per game to opposing tight ends this season.