The Madden 20 cover boy, is the darling of the NFL right now…And rightfully so. Completing 66% of his passes for over 5,000 yards and 50, yes FIFTY touchdowns is nothing short of remarkable. 2018 was Mahome’s first season as the Chief’s starter, and he added to those gaudy numbers by rushing for an additional 270 yards and two more touchdowns. That type of performance unsurprisingly was good enough to lead everyone in fantasy production. He was so good, that he could’ve passed for 15 less touchdowns (4pt passing TD), and still would have been the #1 fantasy scorer. So why am I “down” on Mahomes for 2019? Well, I’m not exactly down on him, I just don’t think he finishes as the number one fantasy quarterback. In fact, I’m only one of a handful of analysts that do not have him ranked as the clear-cut #1 quarterback, according to FantasyPros ECR.
I’m not going to argue with anyone that does believe he’s the #1 fantasy quarterback. After all, as mentioned above, if he “regresses” to 35 touchdowns, he could very well still lead the league in points. However, the Chiefs do have the toughest schedule in the NFL for quarterbacks. Based on last season, and the additions made to defensive units, the only team they are scheduled to face that is predicted to be a bottom 10 defense are the Raiders. In addition to the Raiders, the Lions are the only bottom 15 (#15) defense, which leaves 13 games against middle of -to- back end defenses. Could Mahomes be match-up proof? Sure. However, he is still someone that only has 1 year of starting experience under his belt, and the last time a quarterback finished as the #1 quarterback in back-to-back years was Daunte Culpepper in 2003 & 2004.
Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Damien Williams is another Kansas City Chief that I’m not all on board with. According to Fantasy football calculator, Williams is still being drafted as the #12 running back off the board, at 2.06. That is most likely going to change based on the fact that he’s dealing with a hamstring, and coach Andy Reid seemed to be disappointed in his “starting” running back for the amount of time he has missed. However, that isn’t why I have him ranked more than 8 spots behind where he his currently being drafted for the position.
Williams is entering his 6th year in the NFL and has been nothing more than a career backup. He wasn’t asked to ever carry the full load at Oklahoma either. His career high in NFL carries is 50, which occurred last season during his remarkable run. Granted, he has always had a nose for the end-zone, but we can’t expect him to score 10 touchdowns in six games at a consistent clip. That was the production he gave us in the final 4 regular season games and their two playoff games. He was brilliant for the Chiefs, and exactly what they needed after releasing Kareem Hunt. In reality, if you got the Chiefs coaching staff alone, they would secretly tell you that they too, couldn’t believe what Williams was doing both on the ground and in the passing game. Williams had to do that last season, and even if he struggled, who else were they going to go to? That isn’t the case this season. Carlos Hyde, someone I believe is a more talented runner, is right behind Williams, and I don’t think the Chiefs would hesitate making a switch if they had. It already doesn’t help Williams that while he can’t get on the field in camp, other guys such as Hyde and rookie Darwin Thompson, make the most of their opportunity. Third-year man Darrel Williams is also getting more looks, and the team even switched Tremon Smith from corner-back to running back this past week according to Yahoo! Sports. The tune has changed from earlier in the spring when offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said that Damien Williams was the starting to running back: “One thing with all of our backs is that we are coaching all of them to be the starter”. The vote of confidence to Damien Williams seems to be slipping away, and I’m just not comfortable using a second round pick on a 6 -year career backup that ran the ball 50 times last season. I love the Chief’s system for the running back position, and I’m just not so sure that Damien Williams is going to be that guy in the offense over the course of the year, and based on where his ADP is right now, for the those reasons….”I’m out” .
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