Junior Hemingway, De'Anthony Thomas' Instant Fantasy Reaction After Week 5

The Kansas City Chiefs revived their season with a dominant win over the New England Patriots in Week 4. While players like running back Jamaal Charles and quarterback Alex Smith were the stars of the show in that contest, the Chiefs got some key contributions from unheralded players in wideout Junior Hemingway and running back De'Anthony Thomas in Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers.   

Player	REC	REC YDS	TD	TGTS
Hemingway	4	50	0	4
Thomas	1	17	1	1

With wide receiver Donnie Avery out after undergoing surgery to fix a sports hernia, Hemingway picked up the slack Sunday and caught four passes for 50 yards through the first quarter. He's had little opportunity to shine up until this point, but acquitted himself well against a stingy Niners secondary.

Thomas looks to be the third running back for the Chiefs after Joe McKnight's season-ending Achilles injury. A scatback of similar size and stature to the former USC standout, he made his mark by scoring on a crafty misdirection play drawn up by head coach Andy Reid. Thomas got the ball from Smith out in the flat and stiff-armed safety Antoine Bethea on his way to a 17-yard scoring scamper down the left sideline.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The play caused Aaron J. Fentress of Comcast Sportsnet Northwest to reminisce about Thomas' college days:

It's a fine play from Thomas, but fans shouldn't expect much from him even if he does absorb McKnight's role. Smith has grown more comfortable throwing the ball downfield—hence the solid production for Hemingway—and the carries will continue to go to Charles and Knile Davis.

Hemingway is a low-end WR3 or WR4 at this point, while Thomas should only be picked up off the waiver wire as an emergency backup option for those unfortunate injury-riddled rosters.