Fantasy Football Player Notes

In a game that produced 82 points, the odds of Hill not exploding seem quite small, right? Well, he finished last week with just 45 total yards and no touchdowns while seeing just four targets and losing a fumble. It's a blip on the radar, as it's possible the big hit he took early-on in the game affected him. Looking forward to the matchup against the Titans, he's likely going to cause them issues. They have Logan Ryan covering the slot, who's solid in coverage, but not when he's asked to cover speed. There have been multiple touchdowns he's allowed this year where he's just been outrun and there was nothing he could do about it due to physical limitations (ran a 4.56-second 40-yard-dash when he came into the league back in 2013). He covers the slot for the Titans and that's where Hill lines up about 45 percent of the time. It should come as no surprise that Hill tagged the Tennessee secondary for 11 receptions, 157 yards, and a touchdown back in Week 10. The only player in this secondary who has the speed to compete with Hill is Adoree Jackson, who doesn't shadow (and also wasn't great in shadow coverage). Hill is likely the best wide receiver on the slate this week and worth playing in cash games.

The good news: Watkins finished last week with 11.0 PPR points, which was his highest total since Week 9. The bad news: he saw just two targets for the second game in a row. Those are back-to-back season-lows for him (aside from the game he had to leave in the first quarter). He's still a full-time player in the offense and maybe it helps that Demarcus Robinson dropped, like, 20 passes last week. There was a two-game stretch earlier this year where Watkins had back-to-back three-target games, then bounced back to eight targets after that, so it's possible you're getting a full-time receiver who'll be targeted by Mahomes at a major discount. The Chiefs flip-flop Watkins with Tyreek Hill in the slot, so Watkins will also see a lot of Logan Ryan as well, but he'll more than likely face a mix of the Titans' cornerbacks. As a whole, they did allow a solid 8.59 yards per target to wide receivers, ninth-most in the league. The issue is that Watkins didn't take advantage in the first matchup despite seeing nine targets, finishing with just five catches for 39 yards. At his price, we'd take that performance again, though nine targets appears unlikely with his current role. I wouldn't say you're crazy to play him in cash given the uncertainty around wide receivers on the slate, but he's far from a sure thing. Still, you're going to need some cheaper options.

After the week that Robinson just had, it should be a given that Hardman plays ahead of him. Sadly, that's unlikely. The Chiefs have continually run Robinson ahead of Hardman despite what the Chiefs have done with Hardman on the field, averaging 8.73 yards per attempt compared to 7.85 yards per attempt with him off the field. Hardman played just 10 snaps in the divisional round, which gives you no confidence to start him in anything other than tournaments. The Titans did allow 55 pass plays of 20-plus yards this year, so he makes sense in a few tournament lineups if you're someone who's setting 10-plus lineups. As for Robinson, I'm okay fading him altogether.

After the week that Robinson just had, it should be a given that Hardman plays ahead of him. Sadly, that's unlikely. The Chiefs have continually run Robinson ahead of Hardman despite what the Chiefs have done with Hardman on the field, averaging 8.73 yards per attempt compared to 7.85 yards per attempt with him off the field. Hardman played just 10 snaps in the divisional round, which gives you no confidence to start him in anything other than tournaments. The Titans did allow 55 pass plays of 20-plus yards this year, so he makes sense in a few tournament lineups if you're someone who's setting 10-plus lineups. As for Robinson, I'm okay fading him altogether.