Fantasy Football Week 10 WR Preview: Mekor Hardman’s Absence Could Open Doors for Kadarius Tony

Patrick Mahomes says the Chiefs’ wide receivers will change weekly before the season. The arrival of JuJu Smith-Schuster changed that a bit, but there was an element of wonder to this Chiefs offense. It’s a red he zone touchdown.

Early in the season, Clyde Edwards-Helaire was used in various unique ways in the red zone, scoring five touchdowns in the first four weeks of the season. Edwards-Helaire fell out of favor in Week 5, and it was Mecold Hardman who benefited from running, not his back.

Hardman has scored four touchdowns in the Chiefs’ last three games, including two on-rush attempts in Week 7. During that time, he has only one game in which he has scored 42 or more receiving yards, and only one game in which he has scored four or more touches. In other words, it looks unsustainable, but redzone usage makes him the No. 3 wide receiver….if he plays.

Hardman missed practices Wednesday and Thursday with an abdominal injury that could open the door for the Chiefs’ newest addition, Kadarius Tony.

Tony is a former first-round pick who was dealt to the Chiefs on deadline after never mating with Bryan Davor. He’s also the type of player you’d want to take to space with Andy Reid’s system. Tony played only nine snaps in his Week 9 debut, but the Chiefs plan to get him even more. If Hardman is absent in Week 10, we may use more Hardman this week.

Tony is still in hiding this week and is in the DFS lottery, but the difference between him and Hardman is that he could actually be a feature receiver at some point in the future. Red expects him to inherit his zone role, but by the time he takes on a playoff role, he could be a third option for the Chiefs.

Here’s the rest of the Week 10 WR preview:

Week 10 WR Preview

The following players are currently not scheduled to play in Week 10. The meaning is as follows.

• 75 — total receiving yards Michael Pittman, who will play two games under center Sam Ehrlinger.
• 30.3% — Target shares for Londale Moore in Week 9.
• 26 — Christian Kirk’s goals in the last three matches.
• 55 — Allen Lazard has at least 55 receiving yards or receiving touchdowns in every game he’s played this year.
• 7 — Chris Olave scores double-digit PPR fantasy points for the seventh straight game.
• 325 — JuJu Smith-Schuster’s receiving yards over the last 3 games.
• 4.2 — DeVonta Smith has as many games with less than 4.2 fantasy points as games with more than 15 fantasy points. This is typical of boombust wide receivers.