Fantasy Football Player Notes
2025 Draft Rankings
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51.
Xavier Worthy
WR - (at LV)
Xavier Worthy came on strong late in his rookie season. If you include playoff games, and if you exclude Week 18, when the Chiefs sat their starters. Worthy had 50 catches over his last eight games, with at least five catches in each of those games. That's better than a 100-catch pace over a full season. But Worthy was largely playing the role that was vacated by the injured Rashee Rice, and now Rice is healthy. But Rice will be suspended for the first six games of the season for causing a multi-car crash in Dallas in March 2024. It's reasonable to assume that Worthy won't continue to produce at a 100-catch pace when Rice is back in the lineup, but Worthy isn't going to fade into the woodwork and just be a Marquez Valdes-Scantling type decoy either. Worthy is still compelling, as long as you can get him at a reasonable price.
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61.
Isiah Pacheco
RB - (at LV)
Isiah Pacheco fractured fibula early last season and was back in roughly two and a half months. Upon his return, he wasn't the same player and was unable to reclaim the lead RB role from Kareem Hunt. But it's hard to imagine Pacheco was anything close to 100% after coming back from a broken leg in under three months. Pacheco was being drafted in the mid to late second round last year , and now you can get him in the seventh round in most drafts. In a backfield that includes Hunt, Elijah Mitchell and Brashard Smith, I still think Pacheco is the best lead-RB candidate the Chiefs have. Pacheco looks like a draft value.
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64.
Patrick Mahomes II
QB - (at LV)
Fantasy gamers have to recalibrate expectations for Patrick Mahomes following another season in which he failed to deliver top-tier production. After averaging better than 20 fantasy points per game in each of his first five seasons as Kansas City's starting quarterback, Mahomes has averaged fewer than 19 fantasy points per game in each of the last two seasons and has finished outside the top 10 in that category among QBs. He finished with 3,928 passing yards and 26 TD passes in 2024, with a career-low 6.8 yards per attempt. Subpar protection from his offensive line and a season-ending injury to WR Rashee Rice early on didn't help, but it's now difficult to envision Mahomes leading all QBs in fantasy scoring, as he did in 2018 and 2022. Still, Mahomes is an every-week fantasy starter who won't leave you adrift at the position. With Xavier Worthy coming off a strong late-season run, Rice back from injury, Travis Kelce returning for at least one more season, and Marquise Brown and rookie Jaylen Royals, Mahomes should have no shortage of pass-catching weaponry.
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83.
Travis Kelce
TE - (at LV)
With 35-year-old Travis Kelce now in the twilight of his career, his numbers have begun to slip. His 8.5 yards per catch and 1.49 yards per route run in 2024 were career lows, and Kelce's TD total last season (3) was his lowest since a rookie season in which he played one game. Still, Kelce had 97 catches for 823 yards in 16 games and finished TE5 in PPR scoring despite the touchdown shortage. Kelce will turn 36 in October and is no longer the same player who finished TE1 in fantasy scoring six times from 2016 to 2022. But Kelce has a strong rapport with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, and Kelce's 2024 reception and yardage totals suggest there's still gas in the tank.
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86.
Rashee Rice
WR - (at LV)
Rashee Rice was electric early last season, averaging 21.6 PPR fantasy points per game over the first three weeks. But he tore his LCL in Week 4 and missed the rest of the year. Now, Rice must serve a six-game suspension for his involvement in a multi-car crash in Dallas in March 2024. It's possible that upon his return, Rice goes right back to being Patrick Mahomes' favorite short-area target and picks up where he left off. But young WR Xavier Worthy asserted himself for the Chiefs down the stretch last season, so Rice's target volume might not be quite what it was before his injury.
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163.
Marquise Brown
WR - (at LV)
Marquise "Hollywood" Brown had a lost 2024 season due to a shoulder injury but returned in Week 16 and immediately saw strong usage in the Chiefs' offense. From Week 16 on, he posted a 29% target rate - top-10 among WRs - and a 28% air yards share, signaling Kansas City still views him as a key piece. The production didn't follow (14 catches, 141 yards, 0 TDs), but the opportunity was promising. With Rashee Rice recovering from injury/facing a six-game suspension to start the year, and Travis Kelce approaching age 36, Brown could take on a larger role than expected in 2025.
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186.
Kansas City Chiefs
DST - (at LV)
Last year's DST15 finish for Kansas City in fantasy points per game broke a nine-year streak for them as a perennial top 12 fantasy defense. They are a defense that should see regression back to the mean and return to the top 12 rankings of fantasy defenses in 2025. Last year, despite being ranked fifth-best in pressure rate, they had the 13th-fewest (tied) sacks in the NFL. The pass defense also allowed the 13th-lowest net yards per pass attempt.
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214.
Harrison Butker
K - (at LV)
Butker was the 27th-ranked kicker in 2024 (29th in PPG) as he missed time with a knee injury. The Chiefs' kicker has fallen off in two of the last three seasons, failing to finish inside the top 24. He only has one top-5 finish in the last five seasons. Given his last of recent production and KC's heavy outdoor schedule (two dome games), Butker should not be a priority kicking option even in attached to offense with Patrick Mahomes at the helm.
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220.
Kareem Hunt
RB - (at LV)
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244.
Dameon Pierce
RB - (at LV)
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252.
Brashard Smith
RB - (at LV)
Smith was another talented victim of this deep running back class. He dropped all the way to the seventh round of the NFL Draft, which was surprising. The Chiefs added him to their already overstocked backfield. The Chiefs are no strangers to allowing a seventh-round running back a legit shot at starting (hi, Isiah Pacheco), so we can't say that Smith has zero shot. I was enamored with Smith's receiving ability as a converted wide receiver, his lightning quickness, and his possible upside as a rusher for a player who is still getting acclimated to the position. Last year, Smith ranked 34th in breakaway percentage, second in receiving grade, and 22nd in yards per route run (per PFF). Smith's skill set is different from every other back in this depth chart. He could easily carve out a stand-alone role as Kansas City's new Jerick McKinnon.
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260.
Jalen Royals
WR - (at LV)
With Rashee Rice sidelined for the 1st 6 weeks, Jalen Royals will have an opportunity to seize a larger role in the Chiefs passing offense.
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267.
Elijah Mitchell
RB - (at LV)
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270.
Noah Gray
TE - (at LV)
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383.
Tyquan Thornton
WR - (at LV)
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387.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR - (at LV)
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434.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
RB - (at LV)
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473.
Jared Wiley
TE - (at LV)
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499.
Carson Steele
RB - (at LV)
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601.
Robert Tonyan
TE - (at LV)
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602.
Jake Briningstool
TE - (at LV)
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607.
Gardner Minshew II
QB - (at LV)
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