Knowledge is power and the greatest asset you can acquire in order to compete for a fantasy football championship.
Here’s your 2023 preview of the Kansas City Chiefs, the second of 32 team profiles during draft season:
2023 Fantasy MVP: Patrick Mahomes, QB
Normally, I use this space as an annual reminder about team building. For most leagues, the second or third round is too early to draft a quarterback. However, Mahomes (ADP: 14) has emerged as an outlier. His Per 17 Game averages as a starter over five seasons for the Chiefs is 5,155 yards and 41 touchdown es against only 10 interceptions. He achieved (almost exactly) those lofty standards in 2022 with almost no one of note outside of future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce (ADP: 6).
2023 Fantasy Sleeper: Jerick McKinnon, RB
McKinnon (ADP: 120) finished as the RB24 in standard formats last season on the strength of 10 total TDs, but received a bump up to RB20 in PPR with 56 receptions. After Week 12, only Christian McCaffrey (ADP: 2), Josh Jacobs (ADP: 24) and Austin Ekeler (ADP: 4) were more valuable in fantasy. I see “Jet” as a receiver first, who happens to get carries, so the durability issues that normally come with a 31-year-old running back should be lessened to some extent.
2023 Fantasy Bust: Isiah Pacheco, RB
After Week 10 of his rookie season, Pacheco (ADP: 75) was the overall RB14 in standard formats (RB18 in PPR), so I understand if you’re excited to see him build on a solid start to his career. My concern is he didn’t force a lot of missed tackles or earn many yards after , which means he didn’t break a lot of big runs. Pacheco is the type of running back who needs a high volume of touches to produce value consistently and he will be splitting time with McKinnon (and possibly Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Deneric Prince) in a -first offense.
2023 Fantasy Rookie to watch: Rashee Rice, WR
Kadarius Toney (ADP: 102) isn’t a guarantee to stay on the field and both JuJu Smith-Schuster (ADP: 108) and Mecole Hardman (ADP: 240) left in free agency, so there’s a lot of targets up for grabs in Kansas City. Rice (ADP: 155) isn’t a burner, but he consistently wins jump balls and was a highly productive team captain for SMU. The second-round pick (No. 55 overall) was top-five in school history in touchdown catches (25), receiving yards (3,111) and receptions (233).
