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ANALYSIS: Kansas City Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon has found the end zone in each of the last two weeks, but his workload hasn't seen the anticipated increase. Despite opportunities arising in the backfield, he has maintained a limited role. Nevertheless, his usage in the red zone and pass-catching ability contribute to his fantasy value.
Isiah Pacheco was ruled out on Friday before Week 14, which meant it was McKinnon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire handling the backfield duties for the Chiefs. They ended up splitting the snaps pretty much 50/50. CEH had 32 and McKinnon had 30. Surprisingly, the routes run were relatively close. Most likely expected McKinnon to hold a significant advantage in this department, but McKinnon only had three more routes than CEH, 18-15.
McKinnon was out-carried by CEH, 11 to four. Despite CEH getting more carries than McKinnon and being bigger than him, head coach Andy Reid prefers to use McKinnon down near the end zone. It was McKinnon who ended up finding the end zone in Week 14.
This past weekend, McKinnon only played 22 of the team's 65 snaps. This time, CEH ran more routes than McKinnon, 18-14. He also out-targeted McKinnon, 4-3. McKinnon still managed to finish with 14.7 half-PPR points. He threw one touchdown pass and caught another. Everyone likely remembers McKinnon's epic surge late last season, which was propelled by a whole bunch of touchdowns, but his playing time was much higher than it was this past weekend.
Truth be told, based on his utilization, fantasy managers who started him this weekend got a bit lucky. Since Isiah Pacheco has missed the last two weeks, CEH's utilization has been far superior to McKinnon's. McKinnon is still worth adding just in case Pacheco is out another week, but since he wasn't placed on IR, Kansas City must be expecting him back this week or next.
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