RADIO
Happy Monday RotoBallers! While you might be back at work and/or on the grind today, there's always some solace in knowing that Monday Night Football awaits. And if yesterday's Sunday slate was a preview of what's to come tonight, we should be in for a good one.
Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins travel to Kansas City to face the undefeated Chiefs on Monday night with the arrow pointing upward for the offense as a whole.
The Chiefs defense held both Tom Brady and Philip Rivers out of the end zone in Weeks 1 and 3, but did give up 333 yards and a pair of scores to Carson Wentz in Arrowhead in the Week 2 contest against the Eagles. Let's see who comes out ahead tonight.
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Washington Redskins @ Kansas City Chiefs
Date and Start Time: Monday, October 2 at 8:30 p.m. EST
Notable Injuries and Status:
- Jordan Reed, questionable
- Rob Kelley, questionable
- Jamison Crowder, questionable
- Mason Foster, questionable
- Cairo Santos, questionable
- Dee Ford, out
Offensive and Defensive Rankings (averages through Sunday):
| Redskins | Chiefs | |
| Passing Yards | 13th | 14th |
| Rushing Yards | 7th | 1st |
| Pass Defense | 23rd | 8th |
| Run Defense | 31st | 13th |
Redskins Monday Night Outlook
Cousins missed Friday’s practice this week to be with his wife for the birth of their first son and has a difficult test against a tough Chiefs team in a hostile environment, but should still be considered a fringe QB1, albeit one with some risk, in a passing game that finally found its bearings in a Week 3 win over the Oakland Raiders in which Cousins completed a surgical 25 of 30 passes for 365 yards and three TDs. Cousins will hope to parlay some of that new dad mojo into a second consecutive blowup spot in primetime, and still offers a high ceiling.
It is difficult to trust his ancillary weapons in the passing game as Ryan Grant still leads all of the Redskins wide receivers and tight ends through three weeks of play with a mere 16.3 fantasy points in standard formats, but one has to figure that better days are ahead for Jamison Crowder and Terrelle Pryor, both best viewed as risky WR3s for Week 4. Josh Doctson made a splash with a 52-yard touchdown catch in Week 3, but doesn’t have the volume to be worthy of consideration just yet except as an absolute desperation flex. Still, it will be interesting to see if Doctson can build on that highlight and justify some of the hype that has surrounded him since being selected with the 22nd overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft. Jordan Reed, ever a TE1 when healthy, is no sure bet to suit up despite late-week optimism. Owners need to have Vernon Davis at the ready who will be a solid streamer if Reed can’t go.
In the backfield, Chris Thompson is the headliner, as he looks to continue his white-hot start to the fantasy season in which he’s scored more fantasy points than any running back other than Kareem Hunt and Todd Gurley through the season’s first three weeks, albeit on a scant 27 total touches. I’ve given up pouring cold water on the Thompson hype for the moment, but one has to figure that without the promise of better volume, the bottom could drop out at any time. Still he’s entered borderline must-start territory, even in standard formats, and even in a tough matchup. Rob Kelley looks to give it a go after missing Week 3’s contest against Oakland with a rib injury, but offers a very low floor as a shaky flex as one of the most game-script dependent running backs in football this side of LeGarrette Blount. Even with a bye on tap for Week 5, fantasy owners should monitor the Redskins inactive list ahead of kickoff and consider adding Mack Brown if either Rob Kelley or Samaje Perine doesn’t dress. Brown has looked awfully good in an admittedly tiny sample size and is currently the healthiest early down runner.
Even though there’s a lot to like from the Redskins offense, the Chiefs defense has blowup potential at home in a prime time spot, especially with Washington’s lingering injury issues in the backfield likely to force them to throw the ball for most of the evening.
Chiefs Monday Night Outlook
Alex Smith enters Week 4 as a top-five fantasy QB on a points-per-game basis, admittedly largely buoyed by his 368--yard, four-touchdown shredding of the Pats in the Thursday opener, but he still offers a fairly comfortable floor at home and with the best set of weapons he’s ever had in the passing game. Fantasy owners who enter Monday’s action just needing a safe, double-digit outing from their signal caller might consider deploying Smith over Cousins, given the choice.
Always a threat to score a long touchdown, Tyreek Hill is an auto-start in all but the shallowest of formats even in a matchup against a Redskins team that has been brutal to opposing WRs. If you’ve waited until Monday night for a WR play, Hill is still easily the best wideout on the slate. Aside from that, Travis Kelce looks to rebound from a miserable one catch for one yard on one target performance at the Chargers in Week 3, but should find the sailing considerably smoother against Washington who have surrendered the fifth most points to the TE position overall. With no other pass catcher commanding more than 12 targets thus far on the young season, Hill and Kelce should do essentially all of the heavy lifting among non-running backs.
Kareem Hunt was the overall RB1 in fantasy through the season’s first three weeks, compiling 537 yards from scrimmage and seven total TDs including four scoring plays of at least 53 yards, so, I guess- start him? In all seriousness, Hunt looks like as good a bet as any to be the number one overall player in fantasy for 2017 as of this moment which means it’s probably time for his owners to consider handcuffing him with Charcandrick West. The latter would fall into a bellcow role if Hunt were to miss any time. If you have a spot on your roster entering tonight’s action, scouring the waiver wire for West could be a prudent exercise.
