The Washington Commanders continue to lose offensive playmakers to injury and this week they’ll be without their key offensive playmaker, quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels was forced from their Week 7 game against the Cowboys due to a hamstring injury and now will miss their Monday Night Football matchup with the Chiefs, per Ian Rapoport.
Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota will take over this week, much as he did earlier in the season when Daniels missed time with a knee injury. Mariota started in Week’s 3 and 4, winning against the Raiders and losing a close one to the Falcons. In those games, Mariota finished with 20 and 17 fantasy points. His rushing ability showed up as he rushed eight times for 80 yards and a touchdown in the two games combined. On a week with six teams on bye, Mariota should have some fantasy value despite a tough matchup with Kansas City.
Washington has also been without wide receiver Terry McLaurin since he suffered a quad injury, while Deebo Samuel has been playing through injuries, but missed last week due to his heel injury. Thankfully for the Commanders, both have a real chance to return for this Monday night matchup.
Mariota’s presence shouldn’t be a huge downgrade for the fantasy upside of the Commanders skill players, as he is a veteran and played well enough just a few weeks ago to give his receivers a fighting chance. The Chiefs are 11.5 favorites with Daniels out though, which shows how the odds makers feel about Mariota, but with the way Kansas City has been playing, the line would still have been highly in favor of Kansas City even if Daniels were healthy.
