When building your Showdown lineups for Super Bowl Sunday, you likely have a number of players you want to jam in. With the total sitting at 54 points, according to the DraftKings Sportsbook, the prospect of a high scoring game seems obtainable. With that being said, we do have some players that you’re likely best to keep on the board and out of your lineup. This piece will focus on some of those players and why taking them could end up being the detriment of your lineup.
Tevin Coleman, RB San Francisco 49ers, $6,400
For the first half of the season, Coleman was the guy in this Niners offense when it came to logging touches. When healthy, Coleman was seeing double-digit carries and a handful of targets. However, since the switch has been made to Raheem Mostert, Coleman has essentially fallen out of anything useful in terms of touches. His salary reflects that with a $6,400 price tag, as he’s slightly more expensive than the backup quarterbacks on both teams. While he is a way to save you some salary, it feels safer to go even lower in salary to do so.
Since Mostert has taken over as the solidified starter, Coleman is rarely used in the red zone. Yes, he did log eight carries in the Divisional Round against the Vikings but a calf injury to Mostert limited his carries. In the past five games, excluding the Divisional Round, Coleman has six total red zone carries. In that same span, once again excluding the Divisional Round, Mostert has 17. Quite the difference, right? While it’s certainly not impossible for Coleman to vulture a touchdown, Mostert has a stranglehold on this role and should see the lion share of carries and red zone work. Coleman would be more useful if you’re expecting a Chiefs blowout and thus the need for Coleman in passing down plays would be necessary. Aside from that, however, I think Coleman is best left on the board.
Sammy Watkins, WR Kansas City Chiefs, $7,000
People will look at the ten targets for Watkins against the Titans in the Conference Championship and likely become interested. Those ten targets were turned into seven receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown, which was his first score since Week 1. That’s right, Watkins HAD NOT scored since he did so three times in the first week of the season against the Jaguars. That’s part of the danger with taking someone like Watkins, he simply doesn’t get used in the red zone. Coming into this game, Watkins owns a 9% target share in the red zone, which is a massive difference from someone like Travis Kelce ($9,600) who leads the team at 30%.
Watkins is also drawing some tough coverage against CB K’Waun Williams. Sure, he has allowed a 74.3% catch rate on 70 targets but they don’t go very far. Williams has allowed an average of just 7.7 YPR and was only scored upon once this season. Watkins has been extremely boom-or-bust all season long and hasn’t really been a huge part of the Chiefs’ game plan throughout the season. With guys like Kelce, Tyreek Hill ($11,000) and Damien Williams ($9,800) in the mix, I don’t see Watkins doing enough to justify paying $7K for.
49ers D/ST $3,600
One way to try and save some salary could potentially come from the D/ST position. At just $3,600, the 49ers D/ST seems like an interesting way to save some salary and jam in some of the high priced players. However, they’ll be facing a quarterback that rarely turns over the ball and doesn’t get sacked often. Thus far in the playoffs, the 49ers have played Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers. Cousins is no stranger to throwing interceptions and hovered around league average in sacks taken. Rodgers was one of the league-leaders in sacks taken and took three in the Conference Championship loss while throwing two picks. Mahomes has only thrown five picks during the season and has been sacked 19 times, one of the lowest in the league.
While points are inevitable in this one, I don’t see a ton of upside here by rostering the 49ers D/ST. The nine sacks in their two playoff games is very impressive but they could struggle to generate them in this game. The Chiefs offensive line has held up very well and protecting Mahomes has been a strength. Coupled that with the lack of interceptions he throws and it’s hard to see how this team can score double-digit fantasy points for the third straight game. If you’re looking to pick up some really cheap value, the Chiefs D/ST at $3,000 could be an option instead. Jimmy Garoppolo has taken 39 sacks on the season, putting him just outside the top 10 in the league in that category.