Our Kansas City Chiefs 2022 Fantasy Preview gives you the run down on the teams outlook going into the season. The Chiefs didn’t reach the heights they would have hoped for, losing in the conference championship, and how they’ve made a decent number of changes on offense.
On the coaching side, the team remains constant, and in a division that has tooled itself up, there should be plenty of fantasy points.
Notable Offseason Moves
Additions
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling (WR)
- Juju Smith-Schuster (WR)
- Ronald Jones II (RB)
- Justin Watson (WR)
Departures
- Tyreek Hill (WR)
- Byron Pringle (WR)
- Darrel Williams (RB)
- Demarcus Robinson (WR)
- Jerick McKinnon (RB)
- Marcus Kemp (WR)
Positional Previews
Notable Players- Patrick Mahomes
There is no denying the talent of Mahomes. His arm and overall strength mean that he can make truly any throw on the field. The team also allow him the freedom to do what he wants to do. He will also occasionally appear with a number of runs in a game, with an average of just under 60 attempts a season.
This season, he has a number of new weapons that he will need to get used to playing with- with a number of receivers leaving in the offseason. Despite that, Mahomes is going to be a QB1 on the season, and could finish as the QB1 overall.
Notable Players- Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Ronald Jones II & Derrick Gore
The Chiefs backfield has not been the fantasy haven it had previously been. Well, maybe that’s not 100% accurate. It’s more that the number of players used has increased, and that one back that did everything is no longer there.
Edwards-Helaire is probably the lead back for the team. He should be on the field the most, which translates to fantasy points. Given that the team have allowed Darrel Williams and Jerick McKinnon to leave too, he is likely the pass-catcher. So what is his fantasy outlook? I have him as a top end RB3. He is going to have weeks as an RB2, maybe even some as an RB1, but he is going to get vultured at times.
One of those vultures is going to be Ronald Jones. Truly, I don’t really know how to feel about the signing. I don’t think he steals that much from Edwards-Helaire, but he will still get usage on the ground. With the uncertainty over his role, I won’t be aiming to pick him up with the lack of targets that will come his way. I’d be more tempted by Derrick Gore.
Gore is a throw-away player, the exact type I love to pick up at the end of a draft. The reason being you will know what you are getting very early on, and can make a decision. Last season, Cordarrelle Patterson was that player for me. This season I feel it will be Gore. If he doesn’t see the field, fine I’ll drop him and pick up that receiver that I was burning to waste my last pick on.
Notable Players- Juju Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman & Skyy Moore
This receiving group is one of the most interesting in fantasy in my opinion. For the reason that getting this decision right is likely to put you in a great spot to win your league, such is the power of the offense. Now, while I have my opinion on who is the guy to own, I’ll outline the cases
Alot of people are ready to put Smith-Schuster as the guy to own here. Which makes some sense. The team tried to sign him last year, before he opted to go back to the Steelers for another year. With him now in town, and healthy, he plays with the best QB in his career. Playing close to Mahomes should give him a high completion rate, which gives him a good opportunity for fantasy relevancy. Now, here come the negatives (to be balanced). The contract the team gave him isn’t that large, and doesn’t really show a big commitment to him as a player. Smith-Schuster also only really had good fantasy success when he was opposite Antonio Brown- can he do it as a primary receiver?
Then we move onto Marquez Valdes-Scantling. He was given a big, multi-year contract by the Chiefs during the offseason, which is great. He was also performing last season for the Packers, where there was a clear established primary receiver. That isn’t the case here, and with Tyreek Hill off the roster there is space for a deep-threat receiver. Valdes-Scantling is my favoured option for this unit, simply because I think he fits what they have done the best. However, if you wanted to argue the other case, then he has suffered with drops during his career, and has been boom or bust during his time. To really hammer that home in two games he scored around half of his points from his 11 games played.
Lastly, we have the duo of Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore. Hardman plays fast, and tries to get deep early and often. Unfortunately, that is the role that he has forced himself to be in, and with the additions the team has made, they surely go ahead of him on the depth chart.
Moore is a bit of a wildcard here. The team do have alot of targets that were freed up in the offense with Tyreek Hill leaving. Moore is also really talented, which could lead to him seeing the field early in the season. As I said with Derrick Gore, Moore is a player I’m ok taking late in drafts. You’ll see pretty quickly if the team are going to use Moore or not. If they don’t, then fine drop him. If they do, you could have a great depth option at the WR position.
Notable Players- Travis Kelce
Kelce is a TE cheat code. Really, he is a receiver that plays at TE. Looking back through his career, he has recorded at least 1,000 yards every season from 2016.
He might be getting older, but he still remains one of the better fantasy (and real-life) players at the position. With the Chiefs having roster turnover at the receiver position, Kelce is the only receiver of note that has any chemistry with Mahomes. As a result, and the overall weakness of the position, he will finish at the top of TE scoring over the season.
Strength of Schedule
Check out the rest of the draft kit. And, as always, if you want something more specific to your league- reach out! You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Image Credit: Mark J. Rebilas – USA TODAY Sports
