Denver Broncos vs Kansas City Chiefs

Spread: Chiefs -8.5

Total: 47

Injuries

Melvin Gordon - OUT

DVOA Defensive Rankings

Broncos

vs Pass: 18th

vs Run: 26th

Chiefs

vs Pass: 21st

vs Run: 28th

**Please note that players not listed below are not necessarily a complete fade and any player listed can certainly be used as the MVP/Captain. These are merely suggestions for players to use when setting Showdown lineups.

MVP/CPT

Patrick Mahomes, QB KC - Most expensive player on the slate tonight and while Mahomes has certainly been more miss than hit of late, a player with his upside is also just too hard to ignore. Let's hope we get more of Mahomes against the Raiders tonight and not the Mahomes we saw in three of the last four where he scored 15 or less fantasy points.

Tyreek Hill, WR KC - Hill has gone for 20+ FP in three of the last four games. He also has two games which he went for 186 and 197 yards. He is the most explosive player on the field tonight at a skill position.

Travis Kelce, TE KC - Cheapest of the big three Chiefs plays for tonight's slate. Kelce will give steady production and is a big red zone threat for Mahomes. He needs those touchdowns to really explode, otherwise the ceiling is a bit capped.

Javonte Williams, RB DEN - Melvin Gordon has been ruled out which means the starting job is all Williams tonight. The Chiefs run defense ranks 28th per DVOA and we know Denver is going to look to control the clock tonight in an effort to keep this Chiefs offense off the field. Williams is also a very capable pass catcher which only adds to his value.

UTIL

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB KC - CEH returned to the Chiefs lineup before the bye and finished with 12 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown while adding two catches for 13 yards. The Broncos run defense has not been great with backs such as D'Ernest Johnson tearing them up this season. Just know that this game is expected to lean heavy towards the Chiefs could also lead to CEH getting some carries late to run out the clock.

Broncos WR's - Ok, so I am going to lump together Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick all into one section here. I think all three are playable tonight, especially with the idea that the Broncos are going to have to throw the football if they find themselves behind the Chiefs by multiple scores. Pricing wise, both Jeudy and Sutton are the more expensive plays with Patrick as the cheaper pivot. In the red zone, Patrick tends to be a popular red zone target so there is some upside there.

Noah Fant, TE DEN - The Broncos offense is really limited by Teddy Bridgewater but on a showdown slate you can take some shots and Fant does have a decent target share for this offense. If Denver is forced to air it out I would think Fant would be a popular target for Bridgewater who is much better with the intermediate passes than throwing downfield.

Kickers - Both kickers in this game have big legs that can knock 50-yarders. Harrison Butker would be my kicker of choice tonight but if you wanted to go with a Chiefs stack with a cheap Bronco coming back then McManus is certainly in play.

Dart Throws

Darrell Williams, RB KC - CEH was questionable coming into today with an illness and while he is expected to be active there is still the potential that he is not at full strength. Williams has a role in this team's offense as a pass catching back and will occasionally get red zone work as well.

Denver D/ST - Hey, the Chiefs offense hasn't exactly been firing on cylinders this season and with Mahomes being a bit turnover happy of late there is certainly a chance that trend continues tonight in a divisional matchup against the Broncos. Remember, it was only a few weeks ago that Denver went into Dallas and stomped the Cowboys on their home field.

Mecole Hardman, WR KC - Always a threat to get behind the defense for a big play. He also returns kicks which means he could take one to the house and you get those points as well.

Mike Boone, RB DEN - Boone is expected to be the backup running back to Williams tonight. Boone can do a little bit of everything but could see most of his work on third downs tonight which gives him some appeal in PPR formats.

Drew Lock, DEN QB - Yup, I am throwing the back-up QB out here. Listen, it's not that I think Drew Lock is going to play tonight, there is a good chance he doesn't, BUT we did see Bridgewater leave last game with an injury before returning and well the Broncos offense hasn't exctly been sharp. We have seen a few Showdown slates won by rosters with backup QB's this season and Lock does have a big enough arm that if he gets into the game they will have him chucking down field.