Week 5 Monday Night Fantasy Football Takeaways: JuJu Smith-Schuster Steps Up in Chiefs Win | Rashid Shaheed the Lone Bright Spot for Saints

Discussing some fantasy football takeaways from the Monday night game between the Chiefs and Saints.

Week 5 of the NFL regular season is now in the books. Before we turn our attention fully to week 6, let’s go over some fantasy football takeaways from Monday’s game between the Chiefs and Saints.

Also be sure to check out the takeaway story from Sunday’s games, along with some IDP standouts and injury news.

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Team Stats

Kansas City stayed perfect with a 26-13 home win over New Orleans.

The Chiefs racked up 460 total yards of offense, while holding the Saints to 220. KC passed for 331 yards and ran for 139, while New Orleans had 182 passing yards and just 46 rushing yards.

Each team turned the ball over once. The hosts nearly held the ball for twice as long.

JuJu Smith-Schuster Emerges

With Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice down, the Chiefs really didn’t have any proven wideouts going into the game. The veteran Smith-Schuster stepped up and gave KC some reason for optimism.

Smith-Schuster went for 130 yards on seven catches and eight targets. He had a long reception of 50 yards and also had a 31-yard grab. 

Rookie Xavier Worthy has been the team’s deep threat, but was held to just 25 yards on three catches and six targets - he did rush for a three-yard score. 

I don’t envision Smith-Schuster performing to this level every week, but his emergence should take some of the pressure off Worthy at least. Smith-Schuster will be a big-time waiver wire target this week, and very likely to be in start/sit decisions before the team’s next game in week 7. 

Because the Chiefs have a bye this coming week, fantasy owners might wait to add Smith-Schuster. If you are in need of streaming help at WR, tag Smith-Schuster in your league for week 7 so you don’t forget about him.

Travis Kelce Back to Being Top Target

Although it was Smith-Schuster that stole the headlines, Kelce was the No. 1 target in the passing game again.

The veteran tight end caught nine of his 10 passes for 70 yards. He had a long reception of 21 yards, and only one other reception was for 10 or more yards. While there weren’t many splash plays for Kelce on the night, he was a good fantasy option in whatever type of league you are in.

Kelce might not be the fantasy star he used to be, but he’s back to being a weekly starter you can be confident in. We should expect him to serve as the team’s No. 1 passing target pretty much every game, while also being one of the best fantasy TEs in the game.

Kareem Hunt the Clear Leader in Chiefs’ Backfield

The Chiefs ran 84 offensive plays on the night, and Hunt was on the field for 53 of them. Samaje Perine played 21 snaps, while Carson Steele saw the field for 16 snaps. 

With Isiah Pacheco still out several more weeks, Hunt appears to be the workhorse back for Kansas City. There’s also Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who is working back from injury, but he seems more likely to take away snaps from Perine and Steele than split snaps with Hunt.

Hunt was also great with his touches, rushing for 102 yards and a score on 27 attempts. He added a 15-yard reception on his lone target.

That’s back-to-back solid fantasy weeks for Hunt, and being the clear No. 1 back on a high-flying offense, that makes Hunt a good fantasy option every week. Until Pacheco returns, Hunt will remain a good starting option in all league types.

Patrick Mahomes Finishes with Mixed Results

Mahomes has underperformed (by his lofty standards) to this point of the season. He passed for 331 yards and completed 28 of his 39 passes on Monday night, but he also didn’t throw a touchdown and tossed another pick.

It was his first time over 250 passing yards since the opening game of the season, so that’s a positive for the fantasy owners relying on him. But the touchdown-to-interception ratio was still not good, and he has six TDs to six picks for the season now.

Some of the interceptions aren’t on Mahomes, but they all count the same in fantasy, and the lack of touchdown passes hold him back from being an elite fantasy option. Down a couple pass catchers and without his top back there, Mahomes might not be a top-end fantasy talent every week like we’re accustomed to. 

I still think you need to be starting him every week, unless you have an option like Jayden Daniels on your bench, but I also wouldn’t be relying on him to power my fantasy team. If you are in that situation, maybe flipping Mahomes for another quarterback and flex option would be the best thing for your fantasy team. Fantasy owners will still pay a good deal to land Mahomes, and getting a startable QB and then a flex possibility could actually improve your team. This might be a larger topic FantasySP covers at some point, so check back for that.

Rashid Shaheed a Lone Bright Star for New Orleans

There weren’t too many good fantasy performances turned in by New Orleans players on Monday night, but Shaheed stood out.

He made just four grabs on his nine targets, but the catches went for 86 yards and a touchdown. Shaheed caught a 43-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

That’s now back-to-back good fantasy showings for Shaheed, who really has four solid fantasy performances and only one dud. He’s scored in three of his five games played and gone for at least 70 yards in the four games he’s recorded yards in.

There’s still some boom or bust to his game, but Shaheed is becoming a safer starter with each passing week. As long as Derek Carr is playing QB, Shaheed can be a starting fantasy option in all league types.

Speaking of Carr…

Carr completed 18 of his 28 passes on the night, going for 165 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He left in the fourth quarter with an oblique injury.

Since the Saints played on Monday night, he’s got a shorter turnaround before week 6 kicks off. His status will be one to watch as the week progresses. Carr has come down to earth the past three weeks after a crazy hot start in weeks 1-2, and against the right defenses, is a pretty solid streaming option.

Jake Haener replaced Carr and went 2-for-7, with the completions going for 17 yards. He rushed for 11 yards on two scrambles.

Expect Haener to get the start in week 6 if Carr cannot play, although rookie Spencer Rattler is also on the active roster and could be an option. Both Haener and Rattler are listed as the top backup on the team’s depth chart.

Other Saints Struggle

Outside Shaheed, most of the Saints best fantasy assets struggled.

Chris Olave was held to 10 yards on two catches and four targets. He had gone for at least 80 yards in three straight games, but put up a similar statline to week 1. It’s just two bad showings, but there’s definitely a little concern for the fantasy owners who roster Olave, especially if Carr is banged up going forward.

Running back Alvin Kamara was held to 26 rushing yards on 11 attempts, while adding 40 receiving yards on six catches and eight targets. The matchup against the Chiefs’ defense was a tough one, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising to see Kamara struggle on the ground. He showed why he’s so valuable in PPR leagues, and remains a must-start fantasy option every week on his big workload alone.

Tight end Foster Moreau caught a seven-yard touchdown, but had just 13 yards on two catches and targets overall. Fellow TE Juwan Johnson went for 31 yards on five catches and targets. Both guys had respectable fantasy showings in PPR leagues, but didn’t do enough to ease the mind of fantasy owners when it comes to starting either one going forward.

IDP Standouts

New Orleans’ Demario Davis had 11 combined tackles in the contest. He recorded his most tackles on the season and has 29 through four games played, showing he should be started in a lot of IDP leagues.

Kansas City’s Nick Bolton had 11 total tackles on Monday. It was a season high for him in tackles as well. Bolton has 38 total tackles through five games, making him another good IDP option.

Saints’ Anfernee Orji finished with 10 combined tackles. The first-year player only had eight tackles coming into the game, so while he’s now an IDP option in deeper leagues, I’d need to see more before considering him in a standard setup.

New Orleans’ Khalen Saunders had seven total tackles and a 37-yard interception return. The defensive tackle was playing in just his second game of the season and definitely caught the attention of a lot of people with his play. He’s a deep league option after racking up a bunch of tackles, but unless he can start getting some sacks, he’s unlikely to ever be a starting option in fairly standard IDP setups.

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