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The Chiefs-Texans game offers the highest Vegas total and plenty of big DFS names for the main slate in Week 6. The storylines are numerous from Patrick Mahomes II' ankle to the health status of Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins plus the monster game from Will Fuller in Week 5 and DeAndre Hopkins simmering without a big game since Week 1. What stands out for your DFS lineup building from this star-studded game? What stack is your favorite?
Phil Alexander
Houston at Kansas City has the potential to draw the most collective ownership of any game this season. You'll want to make sure you have some exposure to the usual suspects -- Mahomes, Kelce, Hill (assuming he plays), Watson, Hopkins, and Fuller -- across your entries. But due to the concentrated ownership, a chalky game stack has little chance of propelling you to first-place unless you get creative.
Kansas City's defense has obvious deficiencies, but they can still get feisty at Arrowhead and Deshaun Watson has been sacked 3.6 times per game this year. You can pair the Chiefs low-owned defense with Mecole Hardman, who won't be a popular play following Byron Pringle's emergence on Monday night, for a chance at double points on a Hardman kick return touchdown.
Another way to introduce some uniquity into a Chiefs stack is to pair Mahomes and Kelce/Hill with Damien Williams. Williams returned last week to lead Kansas City's committee with 80% of the team's backfield touches, including four targets. If at least one of Mahomes' touchdown throws go to Williams and he manages to run one in, you'll instantly lap a chunk of the field in tournaments.
Jason Wood
Mahomes' ankle situation has me shook, because the Chiefs just laid an offensive egg against the Colts. Pay close attention to practice reports this week, and be prepared to look elsewhere if Mahomes isn't a full go at least by Friday. Assuming Mahomes looks okay, the obvious cash game play is Travis Kelce, although his salary is fairly prohibitive particularly on FanDuel. With Watkins hurt, the other receivers are total GPP crapshoots. This week neither Demarcus Robinson nor Mecole Hardman were the play, it was instead Byron Pringle.
Tyreek Hill is an interesting case. One should assume the Chiefs won't clear him to play until he's 100%, there's no incentive to rush him back. So if he's cleared, Hill will probably be cheaper this week than any future week and should factor into your builds somehow.
As to the Texans, are we to believe last week's breakout and forget about the ineptitude we saw in prior weeks? Watson projects as my No. 3 quarterback this week, behind Lamar Jackson and Matt Ryan. Will Fuller is going to be over-owned this week because of last week's explosion, which opens the door for exposure to DeAndre Hopkins. You have to love Hopkins because of his slow start; too many people will let recency bias creep into their builds assuring you can get exposure to one of the best receivers of his generation without herd-like ownership levels.
James Brimacombe
My three biggest plays from this game will be Patrick Mahomes II paired with Travis Kelce and playing DeAndre Hopkins on the other side. This no doubt will be the chalkiest of the options, but I like the clear path for these three to have big games. Last weeks Will Fuller game was a thing of beauty, but I feel like the distribution of big plays will be shifted back to Hopkins in this game.
Will Grant
I think you have to approach Mahomes this week with a bit of skepticism, but not too much. The Chiefs are back home this week and the loss from last week is still stinging in their minds. New England is back in top form and they should roll over the Giants on Thursday night to a 6-0 start. The Chiefs need to be 5-1 after this weekend if they hope to keep pace or they'll be headed to New England again come January.
Assuming Mahomes is 100%, he should be close to the top of your cash game options. Houston's given up 300+ passing yards and 2+ passing touchdowns in three of their first five games. Mahomes should be #4. As to who he throw too, that becomes a tougher decision. Tyreek Hill practiced last week, but as of Tuesday, the news was murky at best. If he practices in full this week, he's going to be an attractive stack with Mahomes because of his pricetag. Adding Travis Kelce on the other end would make for a very chalky stack, but won't leave you many options outside of them. I like the idea of throwing a couple darts with Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman on one side and DeAndre Hopkins on the other.
The Chiefs are not as generous to opposing quarterbacks, so Watson might look attractive, but approach with caution. Matt Stafford lit the Chiefs up for 291 yards and three touchdowns, but Jacoby Brissett and Lamar Jackson had average games in week 5 and 3. Will everyone flocking to Will Fuller this week, I think Hopkins is the smart play in cash and tournaments.
I'd avoid the running game from either of these teams - there is no clear stand-out play and you could end up with minimal points if a different part of the committee takes over.
BJ VanderWoude
The top plays in this game have all seen their salaries rise over the last two weeks, as have the secondary plays like Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman, and Will Fuller. Fuller will be a popular play after last week's eruption, but I am looking at two very cheap options in Keke Coutee and Byron Pringle. Patrick Mahomes II has proven that he can make a fantasy star out of any skill position player that gets on the field, and last week Pringle was the latest to break out.
As long as Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill are out with injuries, Pringle has a great chance of hitting value as his salary is currently very low. Coutee had some success last year and Deshaun Watson clearly trusts him in the slot. Mahomes/Pringle and Watson/Coutee are nice GPP stacks that should slide under the radar, but I also like Travis Kelce and Deandre Hopkins stacked alongside their quarterbacks. Fuller will most likely be very high owned, but he's also someone you can stack alongside Watson if you choose to differentiate your roster elsewhere.
