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Kansas City Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon is a rising free agent add since the end of last week.
McKinnon is 31 years old, past the prime for the average running back, but he had a career-year last season, setting career-highs in receptions, receiving yards, and total touchdowns, while gaining the second-most yards from scrimmage in a single season in his career.
Can McKinnon recreate what he did last year? Should you add him from the waiver wire to your fantasy football team?
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What Did Jerick McKinnon Accomplish In Week 3?
McKinnon caught three passes for 19 yards and two touchdowns. With such touchdown-scoring prowess, he finished as the RB8 in both PPR leagues and in standard scoring. His backfield mate, Isiah Pacheco, finished as RB9, as gained more yards (78 total) but only scored one touchdown.
McKinnon had initially been picked up by some last week after the Chiefs' injury report showed Pacheco as a "did not practice" on Wednesday and "limited" on Thursday and Friday.
Pacheco is reportedly dealing with a hamstring injury that caught many by surprise. That led some managers to stash McKinnon early in the event that he would be ruled out. In the end, the injury didn't affect the Chiefs' starter, as he had 15 carries, but McKinnon ended up having an RB1-caliber game anyway.
Is Jerick McKinnon A Good Fantasy Football Pickup for Week 4?
McKinnon has shown himself to be a touchdown machine last season, as he scored 10 total touchdowns. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes does seem to like tossing it to McKinnon near the end zone. But to start a running back who relies so heavily on touchdowns for the bulk of their fantasy points is risky.
Week 3 was a particularly favorable matchup for the Chiefs to thrive. They were facing the incompetent Chicago Bears, who rank No. 29 in total defense and No. 31 in scoring defense. (Only the Denver Broncos have allowed more points than the Bears.)
The Chiefs scored four touchdowns in the first half and one in the second half and could have scored more if they tried. All three of the Chiefs main running backs scored touchdowns, even Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Not ever Chiefs matchup is going to be this conductive to high-scoring. (Kansas City's two divisional matchups against the Broncos are in Weeks 6 and 8.)
So far, McKinnon has less of a role in the offense than he did last season. While he averaged more than four carries per game in 2022, he has only had three carries in three games this season. He also is only averaging 17.7 receiving yards per game, including last week.
Jerick McKinnon is only a viable waiver wire addition in extremely deep leagues.
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