{"id":73410,"date":"2019-09-20T06:33:51","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T10:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=73410"},"modified":"2019-09-21T11:05:08","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T15:05:08","slug":"darwin-thompson-fantasy-football-outlook-lesean-mccoy-damien-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/09\/20\/darwin-thompson-fantasy-football-outlook-lesean-mccoy-damien-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"Darwin Thompson Fantasy Football Outlook With, Without LeSean McCoy, Damien Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rookie running back <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/ThomDa06.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darwin Thompson<\/a> <\/strong>was one of the biggest stars of the preseason and looked ready for a sizable role in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/chiefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> offense. He usurped <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HydeCa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Hyde<\/a><\/strong> on the depth chart and appeared to be the primary backup to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WillDa05.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damien Williams<\/a><\/strong>. However, the Chiefs signed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/McCoLe01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeSean McCoy<\/a><\/strong>, making Thompson third-string and effectively ruining his fantasy football value. However, both McCoy and Williams are banged up and might not play in Week 3. Thompson is widely unowned in fantasy leagues, so let\u2019s take a look at what the rookie can do with and without Williams and McCoy in the lineup.<\/p>\n<p>First let\u2019s note that if both McCoy and Williams play, you shouldn\u2019t even think about starting Thompson. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/ThomDa06.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">So far on the season<\/a>, Thompson has recorded just one catch and one carry. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/ReidAn20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Reid<\/a><\/strong> doesn\u2019t like to rotate his running backs, so Thompson is nothing more than an afterthought if McCoy and Williams both play. That said, having both players seems unlikely, so let\u2019s take a look at Thompson\u2019s possible outcomes for Week 3.<\/p>\n<p><em>Update: Damien Williams has been ruled OUT for Week 3<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Fantasy Football: Darwin Thompson Outlook With, Without LeSean McCoy, Damien Williams<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3>If Damien Williams, LeSean McCoy Both Sit<\/h3>\n<p>This is the best-case scenario for the Darwin Thompson owner. If McCoy and Williams are both unable to suit up, then Darwin Thompson is a must-start in all fantasy formats. Andy Reid is an absolute wizard and excels at taking running backs and making them fantasy-relevant. Talent doesn\u2019t matter, as Reid\u2019s schemes are simply unmatched around the league. Nobody\u2019s better at drawing up wide-open receptions, and history shows that every running back succeeds with Reid.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And no &#8211; it does not seem to matter which Chiefs RB is doing the catching <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LeFdaeToLG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LeFdaeToLG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ethan Douglas (@EthanCDouglas) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EthanCDouglas\/status\/1164674029455859712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 22, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While you don\u2019t need talent to succeed under Reid, it doesn\u2019t hurt. Despite his sixth-round draft pedigree, Thompson proved to be a talented player throughout the offseason. He <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/2019\/05\/31\/darwin-thompson-kansas-city-chiefs-ota-takeaways\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reportedly impressed<\/a> the coaches during OTA\u2019s and lit up the preseason to the tune of 60 yards on 12 preseason carries to go along with three receptions for 38 yards and one touchdown. While he was going up against subpar competition, Thompson still demonstrated NFL-caliber athleticism every time he touches the ball.<\/p>\n<p>The Kansas City Chiefs have the best offense in football, and any running back seeing snaps in that offense is going to have some fantasy value. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WillDa10.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darrel Williams<\/a><\/strong> will see some work, but Thompson should see the majority of the touches. If Thompson is the top name on the depth chart, he has RB1 upside with a high-RB2 floor.<\/p>\n<h3>Darwin Thompson Value if One Plays<\/h3>\n<p>The most likely outcome is that one of Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy suits up against the Baltimore Ravens. Having one player active obviously cuts into Thompson\u2019s fantasy value, but it doesn\u2019t make him completely worthless.<\/p>\n<p>Both Williams and McCoy have missed practices throughout the week. If one suits up, chances are they won\u2019t be physically capable of handling a full workload. Even when both McCoy and Williams were healthy, head coach Andy Reid split the workload for these two players. Through two games, McCoy has recorded 25 touches to Williams\u2019 31. Andy Reid prefers to use one three-down running back, but neither McCoy nor Williams are capable of handling that type of workload even when healthy. Darwin Thompson is going to see the field, and he should make the most of his opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>The Chiefs are going up against a good defense in the Baltimore Ravens, but Baltimore isn\u2019t capable of stopping this high-powered machine. Kansas City dropped 40 points on the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1, and Baltimore isn\u2019t as talented as that unit. Even if he\u2019s only seeing 50% of the snaps, Darwin Thompson is going to be an RB2 with RB1 upside if he finds the endzone.<\/p>\n<p>If Darwin Thompson is available in your league, make sure to put in a claim. While there is a chance he won\u2019t have any value this week, he\u2019s a great play if McCoy and\/or Williams can\u2019t go in Week 3. His upside easily outweighs the burden of holding him on your bench.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"yr2z-U_gRzRpd2kI46FohA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1160880733\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'yr2z-U_gRzRpd2kI46FohA',sig:'euMgX5fOlGCN6dHjZNoG-tLbPanQicW29TLQQe6np7g=',w:'594px',h:'424px',items:'1160880733',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Darwin Thompson could be poised for a huge fantasy football performance if LeSean McCoy or Damien Williams miss Week 3 with injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":73412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,54,16],"tags":[188,5695,5031,294,61,122,831,40],"class_list":["post-73410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-editorials","category-chiefs","tag-andy-reid","tag-darrel-williams","tag-darwin-thompson","tag-fantasy-football","tag-football","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-lesean-mccoy","tag-nfl"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}