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Washington Commanders @ Kansas City Chiefs
Rashee Rice‘s snap rate returns to 2024 levels: Rice returned from suspension last week but played a limited role.
Rashee Rice was suspended for the first six weeks of the season. He returned last week but played just 40.7% of offensive snaps (50% excluding garbage time). Even in limited action, he was targeted on 52.9% of his routes, indicating an effective return. This week, his snap rate rose closer to 80%, similar to his workload through the first three games of 2024 and the end of the 2023 regular season. The only times he exceeded 80% on snaps were during the 2023 AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl.
Rice had an outstanding performance, catching nine passes for 93 yards and a touchdown, while adding 12 rushing yards. He narrowly missed two additional touchdowns. Most fantasy managers already signed him last week, but now that his role is back at full strength, Rice is a clear option to start.
Xavier Worthy also saw an increase in playing time, while Hollywood Brown’s numbers were lower than his season average but higher than last week. As a result, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton played smaller roles. Brown, meanwhile, has become expendable in most fantasy leagues. After recording 10 receptions for 99 yards in Week 1 without Rice or Worthy, he was held under 50 yards in seven straight games — a streak that shows no signs of ending.
The commanders are closer to 100% at wide receiver: Both Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel were back in the Commanders’ starting lineup after missing last week.
Terry McLaurin (quadriceps) had missed four straight games, while Curtis Samuel (heel) sat out last week. Both were full participants in the training all week. That left Noah Brown as the only injured wide receiver for Washington; he hasn’t played since Week 2 and remains on injured reserve with a groin injury. The Commanders did not sign Robbie Chosen from the practice squad despite his team-leading four receptions last week.
Samuel’s playing time returned to normal. When healthy, he played between 77% and 88% of the Commanders’ offensive snaps, and this week he was back in that range. That included more than 90% of snaps across 11 personnel and the majority of the two-wide receiver sets. At the start of the season he was mainly in the starting line-up, but has since been part of a wider rotation. While his rushing stock remains steady, this marks his second straight game with limited offensive involvement. Samuel was a must-start option earlier this season, but fantasy managers could consider benching him if this trend continues.
McLaurin’s snap stock fell below his usual workload. He averaged 85% and 80% in 2023 and 2024, respectively, before Washington started rotating its wide receivers more heavily. His usage dropped to around 70% during that period, but rebounded late last season as the games took on more weight. He started the year around 85% again but saw a further decline this week, trading more often than he ever did last season. McLaurin still saw action in key passing situations and was able to find the end zone despite limited snaps.
McLaurin was assessed on the sideline in the fourth quarter and did not play late after the outcome was decided.
Luke McCaffrey was the primary third receiver in three-wide sets, while Jaylin Lane and Chris Moore rotated frequently. Moore typically lined up at X when replacing McLaurin, while Lane took most of his snaps in the slot. Lane has played more offensive snaps overall than McCaffrey this season, so it was notable that McCaffrey was higher on the depth chart this week. None of the three have consistent fantasy value as long as McLaurin and Samuel remain healthy.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt‘s role is an enduring one: Croskey-Merritt received his third straight start for Washington.
Washington opened the season with Austin Ekeler as the third-down back, shrinking the lead on the first two drives and the primary early-down backup for the remainder of the games. Jacory Croskey-Merritt handled the early duties, usually starting on the third drive. After Ekeler’s season-ending injury, Jeremy McNichols took over the third-down role, while Chris Rodriguez Jr. handled the first two drives and then served as backup.
Leading up to Week 6, Rodriguez missed all practices with a calf injury and was listed as questionable. He played just one offensive snap, allowing Croskey-Merritt to function as the full-time early-down back. Rodriguez reappeared on the injury report before Week 7 and did not practice early in the week.
This week, Rodriguez was absent from the injury report, indicating he is fully healthy. However, Croskey-Merritt still started and handled the vast majority of early-down snaps. As long as Washington enters the games as a favorite or faces a favorable rushing matchup, Croskey-Merritt remains a viable fantasy starter. Given the unfavorable game script, his limited workload was expected this week.
Various comments
- Isiah Pacheco left the game with four minutes left after being tackled and his leg bent awkwardly. He was checked out on the sidelines and was visibly in good spirits after his check-up, so he appears to be doing well. The Chiefs were up by three scores, so he understandably did not return to the game. Either way, it will be worth seeing if he shows up on the injury report on Wednesday.
- Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt did not practice Thursday, was limited on Friday and was upgraded to full on Saturday with ankle and knee injuries.
- Brashard Smith has been a popular waiver wire target over the past month, but he has only played double-digit snaps in big wins. At no point last season has there been any sign of his role expanding Kansas The city’s transgression.
- Rookie fourth-round wide receiver Jalen Royals was a healthy inactive for the first time this season. He missed the first three weeks due to an injury. He played 35 offensive snaps and 36 special teams snaps over the past four weeks, with no targets and one kick return. He will likely remain a healthy inactive going forward unless there is an injury to a wide receiver.
- Kansas City running back Elijah Mitchell and tight end Jared Wiley have been healthy inactives for eight weeks.
- Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels did not practice all week due to a hamstring injury. He was ruled out on Saturday. This left Marcus Mariota as the starter, while Josh Johnson was active.
- Zach Ertz played noticeably less in 11-man on early downs. He played 70% of those snaps through the first seven weeks, but this week it was John Bates who consistently played in those situations. Ertz continued to consistently play 11-man on third downs, as well as about half of the two-tight end snaps.
- Kicker Matt Gay did not train on Saturday with a back injury. He was listed as doubtful on Saturday but did not play. Matthew Wright was signed to the practice squad and was lifted from the practice squad on Monday to replace him.
Table notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
- Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
- Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.
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