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    Chiefs vs. Panthers Start-Sit: Week 12 Advice for Travis Kelce, Chuba Hubbard, DeAndre Hopkins, and Others

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    Here's fantasy football start-sit advice for every Chiefs and Panthers skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.

    The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Carolina Panthers in Week 12. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Chiefs and Panthers skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.

    Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 12 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.

    Check out the FREE Start/Sit Optimizer from Pro Football Network to ensure you are making the right decisions for your fantasy lineup every week!
    Check out the FREE Start/Sit Optimizer from Pro Football Network to ensure you are making the right decisions for your fantasy lineup every week!

    Kansas City Chiefs Start-Sit Advice

    Patrick Mahomes, QB

    Patrick Mahomes can be the most feared quarterback in real life while also being an afterthought in our game, and that is the space in which he is currently living. What do these quarterbacks have in common?

    Yes, they’ve all been benched this season, that’s factually accurate. But they all also have more top-10 finishes this season than Mahomes, how crazy is that?

    It goes without saying that nothing about this matchup is intimidating, but the flaws that have presented themselves all season long could be magnified on Sunday — the need for big numbers. With Kansas City a double-digit road favorite, there’s even more risk than normal that No. 15 won’t be relied on at the rate we need. I have Mahomes ranked as my QB12 this week, putting him right on the fringe.

    Kareem Hunt, RB

    Volume has been the name of the game for Kareem Hunt this season, a calling card that has been safe since he joined the team.

    NFL rush attempt leaders, Weeks 4-11:

    1. Derrick Henry: 141 (6.4 yards per carry)
    2. Kareem Hunt: 139 (3.7)
    3. Kyren Williams: 137 (4.3)
    4. Saquon Barkley: 134 (5.9)

    The inefficiency hasn’t been a damning thing for fantasy managers up to this point, but with Isiah Pacheco expected back, we could be looking at this house of cards collapsing in short order.

    I have Hunt ranked over Pacheco this week as the presumed starter works his way back to game shape, but my intention is to flip that next week, with Hunt at risk of falling outside of my top 30.

    With the Chiefs more focused on late January than late November, I’d be shocked if we saw Pacheco come back the same way as Christian McCaffrey. You can squeeze one, maybe two if you’re lucky, more week out of Hunt — he’s my RB20 for Week 12 against the second-worst defense in terms of running back rushing rate (4.9% of carries).

    DeAndre Hopkins, WR

    The Chiefs went out of their way to feature DeAndre Hopkins against the Buccaneers in Week 9 (nine targets on 34 routes), but some of the shine has worn off of the veteran WR since (nine targets on 49 routes). Hopkins’ slot role has declined in consecutive weeks, and while I’d like that to reverse course, he’s still the unquestioned WR1 for a team that is labeled a double-digit road favorite this week.

    The Panthers own the worst defense at creating pressure without the courtesy of a blitz. You either let Mahomes pick you apart or bring an extra defender and leave a player like Hopkins in advantageous coverage situations. I’m fine with betting on that projected offensive setting and have Nuk ranked as a WR2 in PPR formats.

    JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR

    JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) is coming off a “good week” of practice ahead of Week 11 and is tentatively expecting to return to action this week.

    We saw one good game from the slot receiver (7-130-0 against the Saints over a month ago) and got excited about what he could be in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense, but those days seem to be behind us.

    Not only has DeAndre Hopkins shown comfort, but Isiah Pacheco is due back as well, leaving a low-volume role at best for a banged-up receiver who hasn’t produced viable fantasy numbers in 1.5 years.

    If you’re holding onto Smith-Schuster as a way to be tied to this Kansas City offense, you have one more week. Maybe he can exploit this matchup and prove worthy of a roster spot, but the slot is the one spot where the Panthers have been above average (ninth-lowest touchdown rate and fourth-fewest yards per completion).

    Smith-Schuster is off my Week 12 radar, though I’m open to the idea of him hanging onto the back end of PPR rosters.

    Xavier Worthy, WR

    Counting on Xavier Worthy at this point is a good way to make Sunday less fun. He has all the potential in the world, and yet, things are never easy. Even in a week in which he was ultimately productive (68 yards and a touchdown), you get plays like this that have the potential to swing fantasy matchups.

    The optimist will point out that he is in a position to make these errors — with experience, hopefully, they get solved. But it’s been a maddening year. Nothing about this matchup, obviously, scares you, as the Panthers allow the third-highest opponent passer rating on deep passes (124.1 with an 11.3% touchdown rate). That puts the Kansas City burner on Flex radars, but we’ve learned through 11 weeks that it won’t be easy.

    The path to playing Worthy is your roster construction. If you have star players with an elevated floor (Derrick Henry, Amon-Ra St. Brown, etc.), you can afford to take a shot like this. If you’re relying on options like Zay Flowers or Malik Nabers, I’d rather use this starring spot for a little more stability. Worthy posted a sub-60% snap share last week, just the third time he has done that, and a potential clue that these types of plays are wearing down the Chiefs as well.

    Play him for the splash-play potential but proceed with caution.

    Travis Kelce, TE

    After three straight top-three TE finishes and sucking us back in, Travis Kelce laid an egg that could have easily cost you a critical matchup. In the game of the week, the veteran turned a 78.8% snap share into two catches and eight yards, being outgained through the air by everyone’s favorite No. 88 in recent memory … Peyton Hendershot!

    The fantasy performance was Kelce’s second-worst of his career when seeing at least four targets. On the bright side, he has followed each of his past two single-digit games with a TE3 finish.

    It’s OK to be frustrated, but I’d encourage you to avoid making any rage-based decisions.

    Carolina Panthers Start-Sit Advice

    Bryce Young, QB

    To say it’s been rough sledding for Bryce Young up to this point in his career would be undershooting things, but at least fantasy managers haven’t been tempted to invest in him or the pieces attached to him. Through 21 career starts, Young stacks up with some…names.

    • Young through start No. 21: 72 passer rating, 15 TDs, 16 INTs, and 5.4 yards/attempt
    • Zach Wilson through start No. 21: 71.8 passer rating, 15 TDs, 17 INTs, and 6.5 yards/attempt
    • JaMarcus Russell through start No. 21: 70.9 passer rating, 15 TDs, 13 INTs, and 6.3 yards/attempt
    • Brandon Weeden through start No. 21: 70.7 passer rating, 22 TDs, 27 INTs, and 6.4 yards/attempt

    I have more optimism for Young long-term than the three others, but that’s obviously setting a low bar.

    This is a brutal matchup, and while we’ve seen some minor forward steps over the past month, Young is a ways away from viable in standard formats. With six teams on a bye, Superflex managers aren’t going to have a better QB2 option, and I’d still prefer him to an RB3/WR3 type, given that our game is more friendly toward signal-callers and that the Panthers are motivated to let him work through struggles.

    Chuba Hubbard, RB

    From Weeks 4-10, Chuba Hubbard was the only running back in the NFL to run for 95 yards and a touchdown while averaging 5.0 yards per carry in three separate games (Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Tyrone Tracy Jr. were the other backs to have multiple such games over that stretch). Say what you will about the organization extending him, but there is no denying that he has earned it on the field.

    The debut for Jonathon Brooks looms, and any downtick in volume is a concern against the second-best success rate run defense in the league. That said, I need to see it before I fear it. Hubbard is averaging 19.1 touches per game this season, and even if that number falls to 16, he’ll still profile as a reasonable starter in all formats.

    Jonathon Brooks, RB

    The expectation is for Jonathon Brooks to make his NFL debut on Sunday, and that gives us something to monitor, but this is pretty clearly a read-and-react situation. The Panthers have no motivation to push the rookie during this lost season: their goal over the final seven weeks of 2024 is to set themselves up for 2025.

    The Chiefs own the best per-carry rush defense in the league (3.1 yards per carry to running backs), so Carolina is in a bind to return any viable running numbers, let alone from a kid returning from a knee injury that sidelined him from game action for over a year.

    Adam Thielen, WR

    Dave Canales fully expects Adam Thielen (hamstring) to be active this week for the first time since September. That might help facilitate Bryce Young’s growth down the stretch of 2024 but is unlikely to matter in a fantasy sense.

    Thielen had the magical run early last season, but he’s managed just 54 catches for 542 yards and a single score over his past 13 games. The Panthers are pretty clearly looking well beyond 2024, and they’ve invested in a handful of younger options who project to be a part of that big picture.

    If you’ve held Thielen in your IR slot, you can now cut ties.

    Jalen Coker, WR

    If you’re looking for a gross DFS option, Jalen Coker is your Soppe Special of Week 12 (he’s penciled into a lineup that is built around a Kyler Murray-Trey McBride-DK Metcalf game stack).

    It’s easy to forget that we saw Coker earn a season-high eight targets the last time we saw him (against the Giants in Germany) and even easier to overlook anyone on a double-digit home underdog. But that’s what separates us from the field, something that DFS managers are going to need to do more than normal with six teams on a bye and plenty of firepower in the prime-time slots.

    For the season, Coker has run 71.8% of his routes from the slot, something I like for two reasons. The first is simple: in a low-octane offense with an unproven signal-caller, I’m happy to roster the “easy button” option. The second is this matchup — the Chiefs rank in the bottom quarter of the league in completion percentage allowed to the slot and top-quarter on perimeter passes.

    I know I’m not alone in thinking this game is one-sided, and we know that Carolina’s objective is to develop their young talent. This looks like a good chance to do just that for the interesting prospect out of Holy Cross.

    Xavier Legette, WR

    I remain intrigued by the direction of things in Carolina, and Xavier Legette is a piece of that puzzle. He’s out-produced expectations in all three games with Bryce Young back under center, something that I think will be interesting to take a deep dive into this summer. But it’s not something I’m trusting down the stretch of this fantasy season, understanding that every matchup takes on increased importance.

    Legette caught 5+ passes just once this season. While four touchdowns on 29 receptions is a fun rate to extend for a full season of regular looks, it’s not a rate I’m labeling as sustainable in this offense, and certainly not against the eighth-best scoring defense in the NFL.

    Legette sits outside of my top 40 at the position this week, though I am keeping him rostered — a Cowboys-Cardinals-Buccaneers finish to the fantasy season is enough to have me holding onto my shares.

    Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE

    The Panthers are in the business of developing their young talent and Ja’Tavion Sanders certainly qualifies as such. The rookie averaged 13.1 yards per catch during his collegiate career (99-catch sample size), and for redraft purposes in a bottom-tier offense, I love that Carolina is leaning into his athleticism.

    • Weeks 1-5: 1.5-yard aDOT
    • Weeks 6-11: 6.6-yard aDOT

    The inconsistent volume and lack of red-zone snaps are stopping Sanders from cracking my top 12, but by catching 13 of his last 14 targets, he’s a viable streamer for me — especially when you consider that Carolina will be operating in a pass-heavy script with regularity.

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