Chiefs' Fantasy Outlook After Several Injuries: Can You Trust Kareem Hunt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Xavier Worthy and More Going Forward?

The Kansas City Chiefs came into the season as the Super Bowl favorites after winning the past two titles. They also added several offensive playmakers over the offseason, giving people even more reason to expect them to repeat as champs.

Injuries have taken a toll, and left the Chiefs scrambling to fill the voids. Marquise Brown is unlikely to play all regular season because of a shoulder injury. Isiah Pacheco was placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss several weeks with an injury. Most recently, Rashee Rice went down with an injury and now he’s expected to miss the rest of the season.

With all the injuries that have taken place, it’s worth diving into the fantasy outlooks of some of the team’s players. Let’s get right to it.

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Pass Catcher Outlook

With Rice and Brown both out for the season, we’ll start with the team’s pass catchers.

Even after missing week 5, Rice still leads the team with 288 receiving yards. Tight end Travis Kelce has 228 yards despite some down performances to open the season. 

Rookie Xavier Worthy sits third on the team with 179 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 42 yards and two scores on six attempts. JuJu Smith-Schuster had a big showing on Monday night and sits fourth with 147 yards and a touchdown. Backup tight end Noah Gray is the final pass catcher over 100 yards, sitting at 119 through five weeks.

That’s enough contributors to make an offense function, but after taking out Rice, there’s a need for a top target again.

Worthy and Smith-Schuster are the best options for that role from the wideout room, while Kelce certainly qualifies as well given his history of success.

The problem right now is that we have just a one-game sample size to look at. In week 5, Kelce was the most-targeted pass catcher, Smith-Schuster was the most productive and Worthy was pretty much a non-factor outside a touchdown run and a couple short catches.

My best guess right now is that Kelce will continue to serve as the team’s most-targeted pass catcher on a weekly basis. The connection between him and Patrick Mahomes is elite, and when plays break down, Kelce is almost always going to be on the receiving end of passes.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Kelce is listed as the top Kansas City fantasy player on the FantasySP Trade Value Chart. He has played better over the past couple weeks, has a solid history to go on and Mahomes has underperformed. Kelce is also the No. 1 fantasy TE on the chart, but also has a really tough road ahead. I’d still be confident starting Kelce every week.

I also think Smith-Schuster could continue to outperform Worthy. Worthy is definitely the more explosive player, but he’s a rookie and still adapting to the NFL. He’s more of a gadget player than a go-to wide receiver, and that’s what’s nice about having Smith-Schuster around.

Don’t expect Smith-Schuster to put up similar stats to week 5 every week going forward, but it also wouldn’t shock me if he led the team in receiving again. Mahomes trusts him, and with no other proven receivers around, there’s no reason why JuJu couldn’t be the go-to guy.

Smith-Schuster is definitely worth adding in all fantasy fantasy leagues. He’ll be right on the start/sit line until he can produce another strong showing, but if he’s able to accomplish that, he might become a good starting option for the remainder of the season.

Worthy started in 58% of fantasy leagues, according to FSP data, in week 5. I expected it to actually be a bit higher after the injury to Rice, so there weren’t as many disappointed fantasy owners as I would have expected.

The Chiefs are going to keep finding ways to get Worthy the ball, but in order to keep producing solid fantasy showings, he might need to keep scoring. That’s a lot to expect out of a rookie, so unless he’s got a favorable matchup, I think Worthy should be kept out of most standard league starting lineups. He and Mahomes could eventually develop a better connection, but it’s simply not there yet, and I wouldn’t want to rely on big plays and touchdowns if I could help it.

Not many other KC pass catchers did much in week 5, so instead of speculating which guys could eventually turn into good fantasy assets, let’s just look at who played the most.

Justin Watson actually led the wideout room with 59 snaps played. KC ran 84 offensive plays overall. Worthy and Smith-Schuster were on the field for 56 snaps. Mecole Hardman played just eight snaps, while Skyy Moore had six snaps.

Kelce played 65 snaps, again showing he’s the most trusted piece in the KC offense. Gray played 51 snaps. Jared Wiley was on the field for 18 snaps, while Jody Fortson played 11 snaps.

Based on the snap counts, Watson and Gray look like the only other possible contributors in the KC pass game going forward. Watson wasn’t even targeted in the game, so we know we don’t have to consider him for many fantasy leagues right now. Gray had 29 yards on two catches and targets - he’s playing enough, but behind Kelce, likely won’t ever be involved enough to be a starting option outside deeper leagues.

Keep an eye on the snap counts as weeks fly by, but right now, Kelce, Smith-Schuster and Worthy look like the only pass catchers even worth considering in most fantasy leagues.

Running Back Outlook

With Pacheco out, Kareem Hunt has assumed the lead role.

Hunt played 53 of the 84 offensive snaps in week 5. He has 202 total yards and a touchdown on 44 touches across his first two games this season. 

Samaje Perine had 21 snaps played, but only got one touch - a 24-yard reception on a lateral from Kelce. He was targeted twice. Carson Steele played just 16 snaps and had five touches - five rushes for 12 yards.

Until Pacheco returns, this looks like Hunt’s backfield. Clyde Edwards-Helaire could return soon and also factor in, but I think it’s more likely he steals snaps/touches from Perine and Steele than Hunt.

When everyone is healthy again, Pacheco should retain the lead back role, but I’d guess Hunt also gets a decent amount of touches each week in an effort to keep Pacheco fresh and healthy. 

Edwards-Helaire or Perine would battle for the No. 3 role, with the odd man out probably getting cut from the team. I think Steele could be on his way out once Edwards-Helaire is ready to return.

Hunt has been a good fantasy asset the past two weeks and will remain a good starting option until Pacheco returns. Because he’s functioning as a workhorse, I’d feel pretty confident starting Hunt against any defensive matchup.

Perine, Steele and Edwards-Helaire should all be avoided as starters in all formats right now, and probably for the rest of the season. Once Pacheco returns, this conversation might be worth revisiting, so check back with us then.

Quarterback Outlook

Mahomes finally topped 300 passing yards in week 5, but he left the field without a touchdown and with another pick on his resume. He has six touchdowns and six interceptions overall this season, while only averaging 247 passing yards per contest.

Those aren’t the kinds of numbers we’re accustomed to with Mahomes, but they do make sense given some of the injuries the offense is dealing with. Still, the team didn’t have Worthy or Brown last season, so it’s not like this is super unfamiliar territory for Mahomes.

He was a top-end draft pick, but simply hasn’t lived up to the billing yet. He’s still racking up enough statistics to start every week, but he’s no longer the locked-in option he once was. That could change in a single game, which is why most fantasy owners will keep rolling with him.

If you took on a QB like Jayden Daniels, Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith or others currently outproducing Mahomes early in the season, it would at least be tempting to start some of them if the matchups said so. I’m still a believer in Mahomes though and think he gets going after the team’s bye week. Just trust the ultra-talented player to get the job done at the end of the day, even if the results haven’t been above average yet.