The Chiefs are coming off their bye, but the team remains beat up at receiver heading into this Sunday’s matchup vs. the Chargers. Rashee Rice ($6,400, hamstring) won’t practice Wednesday after he got hurt in Week 4 vs. the Raiders and Tyquan Thornton (ankle) was just placed on IR after getting hurt in that same game.
Rice exited after just six snaps in Week 4 and Thornton stepped up with Rice missing, hauling in 5-of-8 targets for 111 yards and two touchdowns (31.1 FPTS) before Thornton got hurt himself in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Xavier Worthy ($4,600) caught 4-of-7 targets for 70 yards in the game (11 FPTS). Worthy will be the Chiefs’ No. 1 receiver if both Rice and Thornton are inactive, and there is a clear opportunity for Worthy to have a big performance, but how confident should fantasy owners be in that happening for the veteran?
Xavier Worthy’s Fantasy Outlook for Week 6
Worthy has had a frustrating career and he has been subpar this season. Among the 89 players who have seen 20+ targets, Worthy ranks 68th in catch rate (63.6%) and 82nd in YPPR (1.2). Still, Worthy is handling a healthy 17.2% target share and that rate almost certainly will rise significantly if Rice joins Thornton on the sidelines this weekend.
Worthy has played 20 snaps with both Rice and Thornton off the field this season and he is leading the Chiefs with a mammoth 37.5% target share in this situation.
Worthy seeing double-digit targets is realistic and while the Chargers’ defense has been solid through the air, giving up the 13th-most yards per pass (6.8), Los Angeles ranks 12th in pace and the Chiefs’ implied team total is 25.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook.
So, while Worthy’s inefficiencies this season are worrisome, he will be in a very ideal situation if Rice sits and likely have a season-best outing. Worthy will be a compelling WR3/FLEX play for season-long leagues and a terrific DFS target at only $4,600 on DraftKings, regardless that he will likely see heavy ownership.
