Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Sprains Ankle | Fantasy Football Outlook for Carson Wentz, Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy and More

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to win games, even while dealing with a multitude of injuries.

The latest injury is to quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who suffered a mild high ankle sprain in week 15.

Kansas City plays on Saturday in week 16 and on Christmas (Wednesday) in week 17, so with the shorter turnarounds, we need to discuss what Mahomes' injury could mean for the Chiefs’ fantasy players.

For the latest player updates, be sure to head to FantasySP to utilize the real-time player news engine for all sports. The player news engine is the most robust and fastest player news system in fantasy sports. Signing up for a FantasySP membership can help you track all your fantasy players.

Injury News/Mahomes’ Numbers

Mahomes is considered week to week with his injury. The story I linked to before noted that Mahomes’ status for the week 16 clash against the Texans is in doubt, but that he’d be fine in the long run.

The Chiefs already have locked up the AFC West crown and have a two-game lead for the No. 1 seed with their 13-1 record. The Bills are the closest AFC team and sit at 11-3, but also have a head-to-head win over the Chiefs, so they are a bit closer in the standings than they appear.

The Chiefs have some cushion to play with, and I would assume they take advantage of it by having Mahomes at least sit out in week 16. If the Chiefs were to win, or the Bills lose in week 16, I could also see the Chiefs sitting Mahomes for the Christmas game in week 17.

Mahomes is still considered one of the better quarterbacks in the league, but his fantasy season has been pretty underwhelming. He’s QB10 overall right now and sits 12th in fantasy points per game.

He has scored at least 12 fantasy points every week, but only has two showings over 20 points. Instead of being a top-end fantasy option, like he was drafted, he’s been a borderline starting option.

The Chiefs’ offense has been underwhelming overall, but they’ve made things work and continued to win games.

Fantasy Outlook without Mahomes

If Mahomes ends up playing, you can approach the Chiefs’ offensive fantasy players like any other week, but with maybe a touch more caution in case Mahomes is limited or cannot get through the game. I want to address the offense if Carson Wentz gets the start in his place.

Wentz has only appeared in two games this season. He attempted two passes, both last week, and completed both for 20 yards. 

Wentz obviously has plenty of starting experience in his career. He started 68 games over five seasons with the Eagles, before brief stints with the Colts, Commanders and Rams. 

In 97 games (93 starts) in his career, Wentz has 113 passing touchdowns and 50 interceptions. He’s completed 62.7% of his passes. Wentz can also run, gaining 1,418 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns across 357 total attempts.

There’s obviously a dropoff in the talent of Mahomes to Wentz, but I honestly don’t think it’ll affect the Chiefs all that much. I do think they’ll prioritize the run more, and the fantasy players you trust might change a bit though.

The clash with the Texans is a pretty tough one for a quarterback. I think Wentz has a ceiling of being an average fantasy quarterback in this offense, but in the tougher matchup, I don’t like the idea of playing him. In a deeper league, I wouldn’t mind starting Wentz.

I think Mahomes being out is a good thing for Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt. 

It looked like Pacheco was regaining his role as the lead back of the KC backfield, but he and Hunt each had 13 carries and 14 touches in week 15.

Pacheco went for 32 yards on 13 carries and added a 15-yard reception on his lone target. Hunt had 45 rushing yards on 13 carries and added a four-yard grab across two targets.

I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Pacheco and Hunt continue to split the workload down the stretch. Pacheco is the better player, but in an effort to keep him fresh for the playoffs, I expect Hunt to be a big part of the running game every week, and now especially if Mahomes misses time.

Unfortunately, the clash against the Texans this Saturday is a tough one on running backs. I still think Pacheco and Hunt are flex-level options. I’d feel more confident starting them in deeper leagues, but also wouldn’t mind playing them in a standard league.

Tight end Travis Kelce is the team’s top pass catcher again this season. Wideout Xavier Worthy is second on the team in receiving yards, while backup tight end Noah Gray is third. Wideout DeAndre Hopkins is the only other solid fantasy option and is fourth on the team. JuJu Smith-Schuster is another wide receiver worth mentioning.

Kelce leads the team in receptions and receiving yards, but only has two touchdown grabs. He and Mahomes have a great connection, so not having him on the field should definitely be a concern for fantasy owners of Kelce. 

The Texans are also a tough matchup on tight ends, which makes Kelce an even tougher player to trust in week 16 if Mahomes isn’t throwing to him. Kelce will probably get started out of necessity, but I think there’s plenty of better fantasy tight end options this week.

Gray leads the team in touchdown grabs, and it’s helped him be a decent fantasy option (mostly in deeper leagues). The Chiefs’ offense probably will focus on short, quick throws if Wentz gets the start, and that could benefit the tight ends. But in the tougher matchup, I would not feel great about starting Gray in week 16.

Worthy could be an intriguing fantasy option for week 16. He’s a big-play threat, so having Wentz back there probably hurts that aspect of his game, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if KC gets Worthy involved in the running game, so he might be able to rack up some fantasy points that way.

The matchup for the wide receivers is surprisingly favorable, and I think that makes Worthy a sneaky sleeper option this week. He’s on the flex line, but with a Saturday game, you’ll have to make that call a bit earlier this week. I wouldn’t be surprised if Worthy is part of start/sit stories later in the week, so be sure to check back for those!

Hopkins has definitely fared better in KC than he did in Tennessee earlier in the season. Over the past seven games, Hopkins has scored in double figures as a fantasy performer five times - he has 13 or more points in three of the past four contests.

The move to Wentz makes Hopkins a riskier starting option, but considering the matchup, I also wouldn’t mind playing him. He might be another KC wideout in start/sit decisions, so I’m sure we’ll cover him more in the leadup to the Saturday game.

Smith-Schuster hasn’t really gotten back on track since returning to the field after a mid-season injury, but he did catch a touchdown last week, so I feel like we need to discuss him a bit.

Smith-Schuster is just a deep-league option at this point, and even in the favorable matchup, I think the move from Mahomes to Wentz would take Smith-Schuster off the starting line in just about every league. Some fantasy owners might just start him in hopes that he scores again, but I’d rather try my luck with some other player.

Keep watching for news about who the Chiefs will start at quarterback in week 16, and check back to FantasySP later in the week for more start/sit decisions on the Kansas City team.