Underdog Fantasy NFL Picks Week 6 TNF: Jerick McKinnon Among Top Plays for Broncos vs Chiefs
NFL Week 6 kicks off tonight with the Denver Broncos vs Kansas City Chiefs matchup on Thursday Night Football. Let's break down some NFL Underdog Fantasy picks for this Broncos vs Chiefs TNF game. Our top NFL picks today feature Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon and Broncos LB Josey Jewell. Enjoy these NFL Underdog top plays and Thursday Night Football picks as you watch tonight's game. As always, be sure to check out the latest NFL injury updates ahead of this TNF Bears vs Commanders showdown. If you're making more NFL picks tonight or making NFL DFS lineups, check out our NFL daily projections. Now, let's dive into the top NFL Week 6 picks on Underdog Fantasy for Thursday Night Football Broncos vs Chiefs.
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NFL Underdog Fantasy Top Picks
Week 6 Thursday Night Football Broncos vs Chiefs Picks
Jerick McKinnon, Kansas City Chiefs – HIGHER Than 13.5 Receiving Yards
Outside of his two-touchdown game in Week 3, Jerick McKinnon hasn’t been heavily involved in the Kansas City Chiefs offense this year. Even in that aforementioned “outburst” against the Bears, McKinnon only had five touches for 28 total yards despite scoring twice. The fantasy football vibes are low on McKinnon because he hasn’t done anything besides those two TDs and his snap share is around 30% in the Chiefs backfield. Isiah Pacheco is seeing the majority of snaps and Clyde Edwards-Helaire eats into McKinnon’s usage. Even so, this receiving yards line is a tad too low.
McKinnon has at least 18 receiving yards in three of the last four games with three targets in each of those three. He’s not getting a ton of early-down work, but the Chiefs are using him on third downs and obvious passing downs. Remember, this is a guy who had 56 receptions and 512 receiving yards last season as Kansas City’s top pass-catching back. He averaged 30 receiving yards per game in 2022 and had 15+ yards in 11 of 17 regular-season games. McKinnon also has gone over 13.5 yards in 23 of 35 career games with the Chiefs (65%), including the postseason.
Then there’s this very favorable matchup. If you weren’t aware, the Denver Broncos defense is terrible this season and it’s allowing 263 passing yards per game (4th-worst in NFL). The Broncos, who also have the league’s worst rush defense, have particularly had trouble covering running backs catching passes out of the backfield. Opposing RBs have totaled 256 receiving yards through the first five games vs Denver, for an average of 51.2 yards per game. Plus, at least one RB in every game has 14+ receiving yards against this defense – and eight total backs have hit the mark overall. This should be a matchup where Andy Reid can scheme McKinnon in the passing game, and he has the best chance of catching passes in the Chiefs backfield. For what it’s worth, check out McKinnon’s two stat lines vs Denver last year: 7 rec for 112 yards and 2 TDs; 5 rec for 52 yards and 2 TDs.
Josey Jewell, Denver Broncos – HIGHER Than 7.5 Tackles + Assists
We’ve hit on a few defensive player picks in these Underdog articles this season, so let’s go with another. Denver Broncos linebacker Josey Jewell should be in a prime spot to rack up tackles tonight. It’s usually how Kansas City Chiefs games go as the offense tends to run a lot of plays, string together long drives, and run it more with the lead late. Looking at the 10.5-point spread, we’ll probably see a similar game flow here vs Denver.
The Chiefs have now allowed multiple double-digit tacklers in four straight games. Coincidentally, KC has also won these past four contests. The Jets and Bears both had their two inside linebackers get 10+ total tackles against the Chiefs earlier this season. Considering the Broncos are on par with those teams and should be trailing tonight, we should see something similar. Alex Singleton is the top candidate to lead the Broncos in tackles as he usually does. Still, Jewell can also go for 10+ total tackles in this matchup as he and Singleton gobble everything up from their linebacker positions.
Jewell has been under 7.5 total tackles in three of four games played so far this season. However, he only logged 19 snaps in Week 3 before leaving early with a hip injury. Last year, though, Jewell had at least 8 tackles+assists in 10 of 13 games played and averaged 9.8 total tackles per game. Last year vs the Chiefs, Jewell had 10 and 7 total tackles in the two meetings.
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Other NFL Links:
- NFL Week 6 Thursday Night Football Showdown Playbook: Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs DFS Picks
- NFL DFS Player Projections
- Fantasy Football Weekly Matchups
- Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings