Marquez Valdes-Scantling has been blessed by the quarterback Gods during his five seasons in the NFL, and with JuJu Smith-Schuster out of town, his opportunity to earn consistent targets in the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense is as great as it’s ever been. At 28 years old, MVS is approaching his fantasy football prime and looking to build on a career-high 42 catches from a season ago.
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Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s Fantasy Outlook
Gone from this depth chart is Smith-Schuster. While he didn’t produce big numbers last season, he did have more receptions than any other Chiefs receiver had targets, so we’re talking about a pretty decent role that needs to be filled.
Of course, “receiver” is the important part of that previous stat. Kansas City led the league in passing yards last season, and it wasn’t because of their receiver play.
Travis Kelce did Travis Kelce things for the 100th season in a row, and Jerick McKinnon proved to be a league-winner down the stretch (scored on eight of his 27 receptions from Weeks 12-17).
Chiefs WR snaps on Patrick Mahomes 26 preseason snaps:
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (20)
Skyy Moore (17)
Rashee Rice (11)
Justin Watson (11)
Richie James (6)
Justyn Ross (2)— Graham Barfield (@GrahamBarfield) August 20, 2023
In the WR room this season, MVS is joined by plenty of potential. Kadarius Toney is a spark plug when active, and Skyy Moore’s usage is set to spike.
In addition to those three are players like Rashee Rice, Justin Watson, and Justyn Ross, who all have the ability to be “guy Mahomes falls in love with in a specific matchup” potential. Great for the Chiefs, less great for those of us trying to project this offense on a weekly basis.
Is Valdes-Scantling a Good Fantasy Pick?
At the end of the day, you’re being asked to invest very little to get a piece of an offense that we think a lot of.
Let’s say you have a favorite restaurant and they’re rolling out a new appetizer. Something fancy. Something with a name that you aren’t sure if it’s an appetizer, dessert, or the name of the live band. And it’s cheap! It only costs you a 14th-round pick. Would you not give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt and give it a go?
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Sure, there’s a chance you hate it. But the process was right, and that’s all you can ask for. You trust this restaurant and would do the same thing tomorrow if given the opportunity.
Well, I trust all things Chiefs. More specifically, I trust Andy Reid in the middle of this food analogy. Grab MVS late … your main course (your first dozen picks) is already good, so why not swing for the fences?
“I’ll have the Marquez Valdes-Scantling to start, with a side of an escargot.”
- PFN Consensus Rank: 179th overall
- Current ADP: 179th overall