PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.
Washington Commanders @ Kansas City Chiefs
Rashee Rice’s snap rate returns to 2024 levels: Rice returned from suspension last week, but he played a limited role.
Rashee Rice was suspended for the first six weeks of the season. He returned last week but played only 40.7% of offensive snaps (50% when excluding garbage time). Even in limited action, he was targeted on 52.9% of his routes, signaling an effective return. This week, his snap rate climbed closer to 80%, similar to his workload during the first three games of 2024 and the end of the 2023 regular season. The only times he exceeded 80% of snaps were in the 2023 AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl.
Rice delivered an excellent performance, catching nine passes for 93 yards and a touchdown while adding 12 rushing yards. He narrowly missed two additional touchdowns. Most fantasy managers were already starting him last week, but with his role now back to full strength, Rice is a clear must-start option.
Xavier Worthy also saw an uptick in playing time, while Hollywood Brown’s snaps were down compared to his season average but higher than last week. As a result, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton played reduced roles. Brown, meanwhile, has become expendable in most fantasy leagues. After recording 10 receptions for 99 yards in Week 1 without Rice or Worthy, he’s been held under 50 receiving yards in seven straight games — a streak showing no signs of ending.
The Commanders are closer to 100% at wide receiver: Both Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel were back in the Commanders starting lineup after missing last week.
Terry McLaurin (quadriceps) had missed four straight games, while Curtis Samuel (heel) sat out last week. Both were full participants in practice throughout the week. That left Noah Brown as the only injured wide receiver for Washington; he hasn’t played since Week 2 and remains on injured reserve with a groin injury. The Commanders did not elevate Robbie Chosen from the practice squad despite his team-leading four receptions last week.
Samuel’s playing time returned to normal. When healthy, he’s played between 77% and 88% of the Commanders’ offensive snaps, and he was in that range again this week. That included over 90% of snaps in 11 personnel and the majority of two-wide receiver sets. Early in the season, he lined up primarily in the slot, but since then, he’s been part of a broader rotation. While his snap share remains steady, this marks his second straight game with limited offensive involvement. Samuel was a must-start option earlier in the season, but fantasy managers may want to consider benching him if this trend continues.
McLaurin’s snap share dipped below his usual workload. He averaged 85% and 80% snap rates in 2023 and 2024, respectively, before Washington began rotating its wide receivers more heavily. His usage dropped to around 70% during that stretch, then rebounded late last season when the games carried more weight. He started this year around 85% again, but saw a further reduction this week, rotating out more frequently than at any point last season. McLaurin still saw action in key passing situations and managed to find the end zone despite limited snaps.
McLaurin was evaluated on the sideline in the fourth quarter and did not play late once the outcome was decided.
Luke McCaffrey was the primary third receiver in three-wide sets, while Jaylin Lane and Chris Moore rotated in regularly. Moore typically aligned at X when replacing McLaurin, while Lane took most of his snaps in the slot. Lane has generally played more offensive snaps than McCaffrey this season, so it was notable that McCaffrey ranked higher on the depth chart this week. None of the three has consistent fantasy value as long as McLaurin and Samuel remain healthy.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s role is here to stay: Croskey-Merritt received his third straight start for Washington.
Washington opened the season with Austin Ekeler as the third-down back, the lead running back on the first two drives and the primary early-down backup for the remainder of games. Jacory Croskey-Merritt handled lead early-down duties, typically starting on the third drive. After Ekeler’s season-ending injury, Jeremy McNichols took over the third-down role, while Chris Rodriguez Jr. handled the first two drives and served as the backup afterward.
Leading up to Week 6, Rodriguez missed all practices with a calf injury and was listed as questionable. He played just one offensive snap, allowing Croskey-Merritt to function as the full-time early-down back. Rodriguez again appeared on the injury report before Week 7 and did not practice early in the week.
This week, Rodriguez was absent from the injury report, indicating he’s fully healthy. However, Croskey-Merritt still started and handled the vast majority of early-down snaps. As long as Washington enters games as a favorite or faces a favorable rushing matchup, Croskey-Merritt remains a viable fantasy starter. His limited workload this week was expected, given the unfavorable game script.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Isiah Pacheco exited the game with four minutes left after he was tackled and his leg bent awkwardly. He was checked out on the sideline and was visibly in good spirits after getting checked out, so he appears to be fine. The Chiefs were up by three scores, so he understandably did not return to the game. Regardless, it will be worth seeing if he shows up on the injury report on Wednesday.
- Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt didn’t practice on Thursday, was limited on Friday and upgraded to full on Saturday with ankle and knee injuries.
- Brashard Smith has been a popular waiver wire target over the past month, but he has only played double-digit snaps in blowout victories. There has been no sign at any point over the last season that his role is increasing in Kansas City’s offense.
- Fourth-round rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals was a healthy inactive for the first time this season. He missed the first three weeks due to injury. He played 35 offensive snaps and 36 special teams snaps over the last four weeks, with no targets and one kick return. He will likely remain a healthy inactive going forward unless there is an injury to a wide receiver.
- Kansas City running back Elijah Mitchell and tight end Jared Wiley have been healthy inactives all eight weeks.
- Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels didn’t practice all week with a hamstring injury. He was ruled out on Saturday. This left Marcus Mariota as the starter, while Josh Johnson was active.
- Zach Ertz played notably less in 11 personnel on early downs. He played 70% of those snaps over the first seven weeks, but this week, it was John Bates consistently playing in those situations. Ertz continued to play in 11 personnel on third downs consistently, as well as roughly half of the two-tight-end snaps.
- Kicker Matt Gay didn’t practice on Saturday with a back injury. He was ruled questionable on Saturday but didn’t play. Matthew Wright was signed to the practice squad and elevated from the practice squad on Monday to replace him.
Table notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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