NFL Week 17 Fantasy Football Recap: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos

• Jerick McKinnon: 2 carries, 4 yards, 5 receptions, 52 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns

• Albert Okwuegbunam: 3 receptions, 45 yards, 1 touchdown

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Monitor Skyy Moore’s health: Moore suffered a hand injury late in the third quarter and didn’t return.

The second-round rookie played the third-most offensive snaps among the Chiefs’ wide receivers in the first half. This was a step in the right direction for him, as he had been finishing fourth or fifth.
Justin Watson had become the second player on the depth chart over Marquez Valdes-Scantling in recent weeks, but that trend sharply reversed for this game.
This put Watson and Moore in a three-man rotation with Kadarius Toney for third on the depth chart.
Toney played well on his limited snaps, posting four catches for a team-leading 71 yards.
Moore’s injury just left more playing time for Watson and Toney.
Mecole Hardman returned to practice recently but suffered a setback and wasn’t ready for this game. There is a chance Hardman could return next week to further complicate the receiving room, or he might not return at all this season.

Monitor Marlon Mack’s health: Mack suffered a hamstring injury, presumably on the opening kickoff, and didn’t return to the game.

He was already surpassed by Chase Edmonds on the depth chart last week, and this week’s injury meant more playing time for both Latavius Murray and Edmonds.
Denver also ran several plays where both backs lined up in the backfield with one player on either side of Russell Wilson.
Both averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry, serving as the Broncos' primary source of offense.
Expect this to be a two-man committee for one more week, but ideally Javonte Williams will be healthy by Week 1 of next season.

The Broncos are relatively healthy at wide receiver: The Broncos were the healthiest they’ve been at the position since Week 8.

Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy both missed some games over the past two months, but both were back to full-time roles last week.
Kendall Hinton missed the past two weeks with a hamstring injury. He was at times among the top two on the Broncos' depth chart, but he returned to being the third receiver in Week 17.
Freddie Swain served as the third receiver the past two weeks, but he was a healthy inactive with Hinton back.
Undrafted rookie Brandon Johnson saw significant playing time in the past two months due to injuries. He was a healthy inactive last week but returned to fourth on the depth chart for this game.
None of the receivers achieved more than 45 receiving yards in this game.
It’s possible all of these players return next season, as well as Tim Patrick and K.J. Hamler, leading to a lot of competition at the position.

The Broncos without Greg Dulcich: Dulcich landed on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring injury last week.

Dulcich had been the Broncos' primary tight end, playing significantly in both 11 personnel and two-tight end sets.
Albert Okwuegbunam has been a healthy inactive most weeks, but he took over as the Broncos’ starting tight end in 11 personnel, playing 26-of-33 snaps from that personnel grouping in this game.
He caught only three passes, but that included a touchdown. His 45 receiving yards led the team.
Denver stuck with Eric Saubert and Eric Tomlinson in two-tight end sets, so Okwuegbunam didn’t fully take Dulcich’s role.
Okwuegbunam is still under contract for 2023, making it unlikely he is fantasy relevant next season unless a team is willing to trade for him or a new coaching staff likes him more than Dulcich.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.