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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ARZ@ATL | MIA@NE | NO@PHI | IND@NYG | CAR@TB
DEN@KC | CHI@DET | CLE@WSH | JAX@HOU
SF@LVR | NYJ@SEA | MIN@GB | LAR@LAC | PIT@BAL

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.