News item yesterday that Kansas City has opened up Jerick McKinnon's practice window. He's been on IR for the past month due to a groin injury, and the team hasn't indicated during that time that he might play again this season. But now it looks possible.
McKinnon this year wasn't remotely close to last year's big season, when he scored 10 total touchdowns. But he was a factor, a drag on the value of Isiah Pacheco (and to a lesser extent Clyde Edwards-Helaire) when playing. So if you're in a playoff league where you're counting on Pacheco as a starter or CEH as a desperation No. 2 or Flex option (one of those leagues where you can only start each player once, and you've already used Pacheco or Christian McCaffrey), you're either hoping McKinnon stays on IR -- or maybe that you can use him in a lineup.
I was originally planning on using Pacheco and CEH. Now, I'm thinking I'll probably be pivoting to Pacheco and McKinnon. As noted McKinnon hasn't been great this year, but he's had a lot more good games than CEH, even while playing behind Pacheco.
In his last 10 games before being sidelined with the groin injury, he scored 4 touchdowns, and also had four games with double-digit points in PPR leagues. (Three of his last four contests, in fact.) Not a big factor as a runner, just like last year, but involved as a receiver and a big part of the red-zone offense.
| MCKINNON, LAST 10 GAMES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Result | Run | No | Rec | RRTD | PPR |
| Chi. | W 41-10 | 9 | 3 | 19 | 2 | 17.8 |
| at NYJ | W 23-20 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 |
| at Min. | W 27-20 | 7 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 4.5 |
| Den. | W 19-8 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 5.0 |
| LAC | W 31-17 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 4.6 |
| at Den. | L 9-24 | -2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 1.8 |
| Mia. | W 21-14 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 10.4 |
| Phi. | L 17-21 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3.5 |
| Buf. | L 17-20 | 19 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 12.7 |
| at N.E. | W 27-17 | 11 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 12.0 |
This week I'll be previewing the Super Bowl, with write-ups on Kansas City and San Francisco. Most likely, I'll be operating under the idea that McKinnon is playing, although that's far from certain. It's a negative for Pacheco, but a positive in that it gives us another viable option to use in lineups, if he's cleared to play.
--Andy Richardson