Fantasy football players have been waiting for a running back for the Chiefs to become a must-have starting option since they released Kareem Hunt in 2018. Clyde Edwards-Helaire never lived up to the hype of being a first-round pick, and it looks like the Chiefs gave up on him in Week 10, paving the way for not one, but two viable starting options could emerge on waivers from the Chiefs backfield.
Edwards-Helaire played just four of the team’s 49 snaps on Sunday, leaving Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon in the backfield in a two-split. And while this backfield was a mess for fantasy purposes when it was a three-way split, Edwards-Helaire stepping back left plenty of room for Pacheco and McKinnon to put together a decent fantasy production.
And, as you’d expect, it was McKinnon who took on the primary role of passing, catching six of eight passes thrown to him for 56 yards and actually leading the team in goals. Pacheco wasn’t used in the passing game, but he led the team with 82 rushing yards on 16 carries — and they stuck with him, even though Pacheco fumbled inside the Jaguars’ 10-yard line and the team’s first drive painfully finished.
However, Pacheco got 14 more carries, while McKinnon was the only other running back on the team to hit a carry on Sunday — he had one for 2 yards. It wasn’t a great fantasy day for either Pacheco or McKinnon, and both are unlikely to be much more than a low-end RB2 even if that split persists. However, they’re much more likely to have fantasy appeal in a two-way split than in a three-way split, and it looks like we may have that in the future.
If you’re looking for waivers this week, McKinnon is probably a better Week 11 option against the Chargers, but both he and Pacheco could be useful and will be worth adding across all leagues. For what it’s worth if you’re looking upside in the longer term, given Leonard Fournette’s departure from Sunday’s game, Rachaad White should be the top target, although the Bucs have a bye in Week 11 so there’s no guarantee that Fournette ends up missing time.
We also saw Cooper Kupp leave Sunday’s game with an ankle injury that looked like it could be a serious problem going forward. I’ve written about that injury and four young, talented wide receivers that could help you make up for Kupp’s loss here. However, those of you with Kupp aren’t the only fantasy players to keep an eye out for this group of young WR:
Week 11 Early Waiver Goals (Add/Delete)
Here’s who else we’d like to add ahead of week 11:
Week 11 Early Waiver Goals (Add/Delete)