The Chiefs are a team that is as good in fantasy as they are in reality. This offseason, they addressed their biggest weakness by drafting a top wide receiver (Xavier Worthy) and signing another (Hollywood Brown), making things more difficult on the rest of the league. So long as they can avoid the injury bug, the Chiefs have an excellent chance of returning to the Super Bowl.
Mahomes may no longer be the number one quarterback in fantasy football, but he certainly is the number one quarterback in the NFL. That said, he still should be the third or fourth quarterback off the board in fantasy drafts, and after a slower year in 2023, I expect his numbers to improve in 2024. With improvements at WR, look for Mahomes to get close to 5000 yards once again and maybe 40 touchdowns.
The knock against Pacheco was that he was an excellent first and second-down runner but not as good as catching the ball out of the backfield. He dispelled those criticisms in the playoffs last year, as he looked very fluid as a receiver. If he can continue on that trajectory, he could end up being a top-seven or eight running back in fantasy circles.
Hollywood has always been able to get open, but his reliability in catching the ball has been in question. He’s going to have a lot of chances to make big plays in the Chiefs’ offense, and if he does, he should be an easy lock for 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns.
As many of you may recall I was a huge supporter of Rice last season as I watched him play in college and thought that he would be exceptional against zone defenses. What we saw now from him in the offseason is a definite lack of maturity, and with that, he may miss a couple of games early this year. Moreover, the Chiefs added two very good receivers, so there may not be as many targets for him as there were last season. This is not to say that Rice is not a good receiver; it’s just that I think he may be overvalued in drafts.
Worthy is a fantastic young receiver with a lot of speed and a lot of separation at the line of scrimmage. The biggest knocks on him are his ability to learn the route tree and develop a connection with Mahomes. He’s such a raw talent that I expect him to probably get about six or seven touchdowns and close to 700 to 800 yards without really knowing what he’s doing. Think of Worthy as like a two-year-old thoroughbred who’s just going to enter his prime in the next couple of years.
It’s quite possible that Kelce will begin to slow down, but he insists that he’s ready to play at a high level for another full season. However, I do think that when it comes time for the fantasy playoffs, he should be at his best. He’s no longer a first-round pick, but if you end up taking him in round three or round four, you’re still getting one of the top two or three tight ends in fantasy football.
So long as the Chiefs defense continues to play as well as it did last year I can’t imagine them not making a run at another Super Bowl.
