Fantasy Football Player Notes

Travis Kelce has registered at least 60 receiving yards in five of his last six games. However, he has been overshadowed in the touchdown department by fellow Chiefs tight end Noah Gray in recent weeks. Kelce has not scored in three straight games, while Gray has scored four times in that span. Kansas City hosts the Los Angeles Chargers this week, which appears to be a difficult matchup for both tight ends. Los Angeles has given up just one touchdown to opposing tight ends this year. Kelce managed a TE5 finish during the last meeting with Los Angeles. However, it should be noted that Derwin James missed that game. Kelce should get enough volume to keep him afloat, but his Week 14 ceiling may be a bit lower than normal.

Last week, Hopkins saw his usage improve with a 63.5% route share, a 19.6% target share, 2.73 YPRR (90 receiving yards), and a 24% first-read share (second behind only Travis Kelce). He also saw an end-zone target. Hopkins has seven red zone targets across his last five games played in a Chiefs uniform. He faces a Chargers' secondary that has had some issues since Week 8, allowing the 12th-most receiving yards per game and the ninth-most PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers.

Last week, Pacheco played 37% of the snaps and finished with eight touches and 49 total yards. He split the rushing play snaps evenly with Kareem Hunt (46.7%) while only seeing 25% of the red zone snaps. I expect him to get more work this week for the rushing snaps to tilt in his favor and for the red zone usage to also flip in his favor. Pacheco looked like a player returning from injury. Outside of his 14.3% explosive run rate, he didn't force a missed tackle and had only 1.86 yards after contact per attempt. He could be a low-end RB2 this week if he gets into the end zone with the rushing matchup he is staring at. Since Week 8, the Chargers' run defense has fallen apart as they have allowed the 12th-most rushing yards per game, the 11th-highest explosive run rate, and the second-highest yards after contact per attempt.

Since Week 9, Worthy has finished higher than WR41 in weekly fantasy scoring only once. He has drawn three red zone targets in that span, so that's mildly encouraging. Across his last five games, he has only an 11.9% target share, a 23.4% air-yard share, 1.07 YPRR, and a 13.6% first-read share. He's a dart throw flex with a good matchup this week. He faces a Chargers' secondary that has had some issues since Week 8, allowing the 12th-most receiving yards per game and the ninth-most PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers.

Last week, Hunt's grip on this backfield loosened. He played only 38% of the snaps, with nine touches and 15 total yards. He split the rushing down snaps evenly with Isiah Pacheco (46.7% each) while holding a lead in the red zone (50% of the snaps). I expect Pacheco to eat into Hunt's workload further this week as he reclaims the backfield. That makes Hunt a volatile flex play at best. The entire thesis behind Hunt's value has been volume and not efficiency. With the volume drying up quickly, his fantasy value could quickly go to zero as soon as this week. At least working in his favor this week is that he has a wonderful matchup on the ground. Since Week 8, the Chargers' run defense has fallen apart as they have allowed the 12th-most rushing yards per game, the 11th-highest explosive run rate, and the second-highest yards after contact per attempt.