The injury to Patrick Mahomes certainly starts Week 7 out on the wrong foot. Here are six items to think about on Friday.
- Patrick Mahomes – Suffered a dislocated right kneecap which is better than a torn ACL. He’ll undergo an MRI to determine if ligaments were damaged but he looked a lot better than expected after the game walking around the locker room without a crutch. Most sources agree that full recovery can take three to six weeks and he looked like he would be on the short side of that. But if he tore ligaments and needs surgery, it would likely require the full eight weeks or more. We’ll find out today. Matt Moore will take the start while he is out and the schedule calls for GB, MIN, @TEN, and @LAC before their Week 12 bye.
- Matt Moore – The Chiefs will hand the offense over to the 35-year-old Moore who spent three years with the Panthers and seven with the Dolphins. He was out of football in 2018 but returned to back-up Patrick Mahomes. In 2016, the Cowboys tried to lure him to Dallas to back-up Tony Romo. He stayed with Miami, Romo got hurt again and the fourth-round rookie Dak Prescott had to start instead. Moore has never been more than an adequate back-up and threw for 117 yards and a score in Denver last night. The downgrade for the offense will be significant and the next four games all face above-average defenses.
- Kenyan Drake / Mark Walton – The Dolphins are shopping Drake, knowing that they can get something for him before he becomes a free agent next season. He could find a fit with the Redskins, Giants, Jets, or Steelers as a No. 2 or No. 3 running back. If he does leave, Walton becomes the starter and will offer at least spot starts.
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Quarterbacks after six weeks – As of Week 6, the Top-10 quarterbacks are Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray, Tom Brady, Jameis Winston, and Carson Wentz. How reliable is that order for the next six weeks? Here are the last two seasons with how well their Top-10 ranked over their next six games.
There was a fair amount of shifting for those best quarterbacks in their next six weeks. Injuries cause the major drops in 2017 but also remember that most leagues only start 12 quarterbacks. Last year witnessed the position maintaining its value at least for the highest-ranked. -
Running Backs after six weeks – As of Week 6, the Top-10 running backs are Christian McCaffrey, Austin Ekeler, Dalvin Cook, Nick Chubb, Aaron Jones, David Johnson, Ezekiel Elliott, Alvin Kamara, Leonard Fournette, and Chris Carson. That’s a lot of names that were not Top-10 last year. Here are the last two seasons with how well they ranked over their next six games.
Other than T.J. Yeldon, the Top-10 running backs displayed amazing consistency in their next six games. In 2017, there was far more shifting. Hunt had a bye to drop him but just had a blazing start and then stopped scoring until Week 14. Fournette was injured and Howard just slowed down after a hot start. But only four of the Top-10 remained there for the next four weeks. -
Wide Receivers after six weeks – The Top-10 receivers are Chris Godwin, Michael Thomas, Cooper Kupp, Amari Cooper, DJ Chark, Keenan Allen, Julio Jones, Adam Thielen, Tyler Lockett, and Mike Evans. Here are the last two seasons with how well they ranked over their next six games.
The same phenomena happened here. In 2017, numerous injuries impacted the Top-10 but show just how volatile wide receiver reliability can be. Last year was very consistent. Except A.J. Green being injured. What is very notable here is how many of those big names of 2018 are not in the current Top-10. Expect 2017 to be a better guide for how much wideouts can change in the next six weeks.
