Fantasy Football Takeaways: Chiefs' Xavier Worthy and Ravens' Isaiah Likely Shine

The NFL regular season finally got underway on Thursday, September 5 with a great game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.

Most of us watched the game, but let’s discuss some of the things that took place and what it means from a fantasy football perspective moving forward.

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Some Overall Game Stats

Kansas City opened the season with a 27-20 win over Baltimore. The Chiefs scored a touchdown in the first, second and third quarters, while hitting two field goals in the second. Baltimore scored a touchdown in the first quarter, hit a field goal in the second and then scored a touchdown and field goal in the fourth.

Baltimore outgained Kansas City 452-353, and each team turned the ball over once. The Ravens had seven penalties for 64 yards, while the Chiefs had six flags for 45 yards. Baltimore registered two sacks, while Kansas City had one.

The Ravens were 7-of-14 on third down conversions and one-of-two on fourth down. The Chiefs were 4-of-9 on third down and didn’t attempt a fourth down conversion.

Patrick Mahomes has Average Outing

Mahomes had 291 passing yards and completed 20 of his 28 passes, but with one touchdown and one interception, ended up having just an average fantasy night. 

He attempted just two rushes, gaining three yards. Mahomes also caught one of his deflected passes for a two-yard gain.

It wasn’t a Mahomes’ masterclass performance, but he made some timely plays to help his team prevail. He completed passes to eight different players, and only one of them had over 40 receiving yards.

This wasn’t the easiest matchup to begin a season, and while he might not finish too highly amongst fantasy QBs in week 1, he also didn’t do anything to not be trusted as a starter going forward.

Rashee Rice Leads the Pass Catchers

It’s widely known that tight end Travis Kelce is Mahomes’ favorite passing target, but it sure didn’t look like it on Thursday.

Rice easily led the team with nine targets, catching seven of them for 103 yards. He had a long reception of 33 yards. Even without a touchdown, Rice performed well enough to maybe land in the top 10 at the position for the week.

Backup tight end Noah Gray also had a better night than Kelce, although it was just by a couple yards. Gray made three grabs on as many targets for 37 yards, with a long catch of 13 yards.

Kelce had three catches on four targets for 34 yards. His long reception went for 23 yards.

Justin Watson had just one target on the night, but he caught it for a 25-yard gain. JuJu Smith-Schuster had one target, dropping a possible touchdown.

Xavier Worthy Stars on Limited Touches

You might have noticed that I left out Worthy in the pass catcher section of things. That was by design, because the rookie deserved his own section after what he did.

Worthy had just three touches in the game, but two of them went for touchdowns. He had a 21-yard rushing touchdown on his first career touch. Worthy also had a 12-yard reception before not hauling in his next target. His night was capped by a 35-yard touchdown where he burned the defense.

I urged fantasy owners to sit Worthy in week 1 because I was worried about his usage. I was right about the rookie not getting a lot of touches, but because he scored twice, Worthy had a great fantasy night and made me look foolish.

Worthy might be the ultimate boom-or-bust fantasy option this season, especially when Marquise Brown is healthy enough to play. He’s going to be hard not to start because of his big-play potential though, and you can bet the Chiefs are going to try to get him more involved going forward.

Isiah Pacheco Scores to Save Lackluster Night

Pacecho had the other Kansas City touchdown, scoring on a one-yard run. 

Pacheco got 15 rushing attempts in the game, but was limited to 45 yards. His long run was five yards against a stingy Ravens’ defense.

Pacheco caught two of his three targets for 33 yards, including a 23-yard catch.

Samaje Perine and Carson Steele combined for just three touches, so Pacheco was indeed the workhorse. Perine had a catch on two targets for 10 yards, while Steele rushed twice for three yards.

Lamar Jackson does it all for Ravens

Jackson pretty much was the entire Baltimore offense on Thursday. The Ravens abandoned the running game pretty early, but Jackson ended up with 16 rushing attempts to make it look like the team had a good night on the ground.

Jackson was 26-of-41 as a passer, throwing for 273 yards, one touchdown and no picks. On the lone sack he took, he fumbled and lost the ball.

Jackson rushed for 122 yards, but no scores. He had a long rush of 16. 

That kind of dual-threat night is exactly why Jackson is a great fantasy QB. Jackson missed some throws (and timely ones late), but as long as he can run, he’s going to be one of the better fantasy options in the game.

Isaiah Likely an Unlikely Star

Mark Andrews is looked to as the go-to tight end in Baltimore, but it was Likely who dominated and looked like the top guy.

Likely led the team with nine catches on 12 targets for 111 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown came on a 49-yard play in the fourth quarter to cut the team’s deficit to three.

Andrews had just 14 yards on two catches and targets.

Likely is only rostered in 20% of leagues and was started in just 1% last night, according to FSP data. You can bet he’ll be a big waiver wire target going into week 2.

The fantasy owners who drafted Andrews are probably quite nervous after the opening game. It is just one game though, so while it wasn’t the greatest of starts for Andrews, you still have to trust in your early draft pick to get things going.

Zay Flowers Easily the Favorite Wideout

Flowers was targeted 10 times in the opener, making six grabs. He went for just 37 yards though, with a long of 19. Flowers got two rushing attempts, gaining 14 yards.

It wasn’t a great game from a yardage standpoint, but his eight touches and big target total is what I really noticed. The Ravens are going to try to get the ball in his hands a bunch this season, and the yards and scores will come.

Rashod Bateman was a distant second option, although he went for 53 yards after making a 38-yard reception. He caught two of his five targets.

Nelson Agholor was the only other receiver targeted. He caught his lone pass for six yards.

I think the wideout production distribution for the season is going to look very similar to Thursday’s game. Flowers is going to dominate the touches and looks, meaning Bateman and Agholor are going to need to consistently make big plays to be fantasy threats (and only starting in deep leagues).

Derrick Henry Scores in Ravens’ Debut; Justice Hill is Heavily Involved

Henry scored from five yards out on the team’s first possession of the game. He looked like he was on his way to a monster game, but ended with just 46 yards on 13 carries, with a long of nine. Henry failed to catch either of his targets.

I thought the Ravens bailed on the running game too early, and it hurt Henry’s overall numbers. This game did show that Henry could be a monster in the red zone, and showed he’s still worth starting even if he isn’t getting 20+ touches a game.

Hill only attempted one rush, gaining three yards, but he had six grabs on eight targets for 52 yards in the passing game. He had a long reception of 18 yards.

I didn’t expect Hill to get many touches at all, but he ended up producing more yardage than Henry. In PPR leagues, Hill (7% owned, 0% started) is going to be a waiver wire target, and might be startable even with Henry there, if he can keep things going.