Kansas City Chiefs Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Patriots WR JuJu Smith-Schuster ran well behind veteran WR Kendrick Bourne and rookie WR Kayshon Boutte in Sunday's loss to the Eagles. Bourne led the WR corps with 73 offensive snaps and 54 routes among 58 Mac Jones dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Boutte ranked second with 55 snaps and 43 routes. Smith-Schuster played just 43 snaps and ran 27 routes, tying rookie WR Demario Douglas in the latter category. ESPN's Mike Reiss says that playing time "reflects him being managed to some degree." Smith-Schuster is dealing with a knee that required a cleanup procedure in the offseason. SI.com's Albert Breer recently said in a radio interview that the knee "is a mess and ... could explode at any point." Smith-Schuster still fared well in target rate. His 7 tied for second on the team, trailing only Bourne. But he turned them into just 33 yards on 4 catches. There's little to like about Smith-Schuster, who is cuttable in some leagues if you're looking for more upside on the waiver wire this week.

Cardinals WR Marquise Brown (hamstring) is active for today’s game vs. the Commanders. He was limited in practice all week, adding some risk to his Week 1 fantasy profile.

Cardinals WR Marquise Brown (hamstring) is expected to play vs. the Commanders today, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Brown was limited in practice all week and carries elevated risk in fantasy lineups with the hamstring issue.

The Patriots released QB Matt Corral and elevated QB Bailey Zappe from the practice squad. So, after some early September shenanigans, Zappe is back at QB Mac Jones' backup.

Cardinals WR Marquise Brown (hamstring) was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s opener vs. the Commanders. Between the hamstring and Arizona’s QB situation, Brown is a shaky WR3 for Week 1.

Chiefs rookie WR Rashee Rice was on the receiving end of QB Patrick Mahomes' first TD of the 2023 season. Rice worked himself free in the back of the end zone for a one-yard score in Thursday night's season opener vs. the Lions. He finished with just three catches for 29 yards, but Rice's five targets tied for the team lead. And he certainly out-played WRs Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney, who combined to catch one of eight targets. Rice ranked just fifth among Chiefs WRs with a 27% route rate, so he's not a viable Week 2 fantasy option. But his playing time could grow quickly. Rice is worth owning in fantasy leagues of 12+ teams.

Everything was in place for Chiefs WR Skyy Moore to get his 2023 off to a strong start. No Travis Kelce. A plus matchup vs. the Lions. Moore responded by finishing catch-less on three targets. The first two missed connections were slightly misthrown passes by QB Patrick Mahomes. The third was in Moore's hands but knocked loose by a defender. Moore led a heavy WR rotation with a 69% snap rate and ranked second to Marquez Valdes-Scantling with a 64% route rate. Those marks are lower than we'd like to see from a reliable fantasy starter. Kansas City's WR corps figures to evolve throughout the season. Moore is still worth rostering in fantasy football but would be tough to trust in Week 2 starting lineups.

Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco struggled to get anything going on the ground vs. the Lions on Thursday night, averaging just 2.9 yards on eight carries. He lost six carries to RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who started the game. On the plus side, Pacheco led Chiefs RBs with a 42% route rate. He caught all four of his targets for 31 yards, including a screen that went for 10 yards. Pacheco only reached four catches once all last season -- and that came in the AFC Championship. We'll see how the carry distribution evolves in Kansas City going forward. But more action in the passing game would be excellent news for Pacheco's fantasy value.

NBC's Melissa Stark reported during Thursday night's season opener that the Chiefs are "optimistic" TE Travis Kelce (knee) will be ready for Week 2. Kelce worked out in the pool on Thursday morning but couldn't produce any power off that injured knee, per Stark. We'll track Kelce's progress when Kansas City gets back to work next week.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce (knee) is officially inactive for tonight's opener vs. the Lions. That leaves Noah Gray as Kansas City's top TE. Chiefs WRs -- particularly Skyy Moore, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Kadarius Toney -- have more target potential with Kelce out.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce (knee) will not play vs. the Lions tonight, according to insider Jordan Schultz. "I’m told the Chiefs’ All-Pro TE made a strong push to play after this morning’s workout, but the team did not want to risk anything with a full season of games ahead," Schultz adds. It sounds like Kelce has a good chance to make it back for Week 2, but we'll track his progress throughout next week. Noah Gray will step in as Kansas City's lead TE tonight and is an option for desperate Kelce owners.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that Chiefs TE Travis Kelce (knee) is a "true game-day decision" for tonight's opener vs. the Lions. "The Chiefs plan to put star TE Travis Kelce through a workout this morning to test his injured knee," Pelissero adds. This is excellent news long term. If Kelce even has a chance to play tonight, we imagine he's a strong bet to at least be back for Week 2. As for Week 1, we'll get Kansas City's inactives around 7 pm ET. Kelce will carry elevated risk if he ends up playing but would be nearly impossible to bench in fantasy football lineups.

Cardinals WR Marquise Brown was limited in Wednesday's practice with a hamstring injury. It's the first we've heard of it. We'll see how Brown progresses over the next couple of days, leading up to Sunday's opener vs. the Commanders.

The Chiefs list TE Travis Kelce (knee) as questionable for Thursday night's opener vs. the Lions. He didn't practice on Wednesday after hyperextending his knee and sustaining a bone bruise on Tuesday. We'd be very surprised if Kelce played tomorrow, but Kansas City doesn't want to rule him out yet. We'll get the inactives around 7 pm on Thursday. Kelce should be on fantasy benches for now.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has been diagnosed with a bone bruise, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Kelce is dealing with "significant swelling," per Rapoport, but there's no structural damage and it's not a long-term injury. Relatively good news -- but Kelce owners need to be making other plans for Week 1. We'll get Kansas City's final injury report for the opener vs. the Lions on Wednesday afternoon.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce's knee injury is "not believed to be a long-term" issue, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Kelce's availability for Thursday night's opener vs. the Lions is "in doubt," per Rapoport, but at least we're not looking at an extended absence from the fantasy first-rounder. "They’ll wait for swelling to go down and go from there," Rapoport adds. We knocked one game off of Kelce's season-long projections and have removed him from the Week 1 rankings for now. Stay tuned for further updates.

UPDATE: ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted on Tuesday evening that the Chiefs "believe Travis Kelce’s ACL is intact" but that there is inflammation in his knee. The team will test Kelce again tomorrow to determine his fitness for the opener.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce hyperextended a knee in practice Tuesday, HC Andy Reid told reporters. The injury leaves Kelce's status "uncertain" for Thursday night against the Lions, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It'll help that it's the first game of the week, so fantasy managers will still have all other lineup options available before locking in that TE starter. We'll keep tracking the situation. Backup TE Noah Gray makes sense as a waiver-wire option this week for deeper leagues.

Chiefs DT Chris Jones remains away from the team as K.C. prepares for Thursday night's opener against the Lions. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the player and team are still "not close on a deal" for boosting Jones' contract. The situation adds obvious risk to Jones in IDP leagues. We haven't moved the veteran down our IDP rankings, though, because plenty of upside remains whenever he does return. You'll need to decide how to balance the risk with the upside on Jones at draft time. Not having Jones, of course, would hurt the Chiefs' team defense. You shouldn't be looking to use them against Detroit in Week 1 anyway, though.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted Tuesday that the Patriots have waived backup QB Bailey Zappe. The 2022 fourth-round pick appeared in four games last season (including two starts), compiling 65 completions on 92 attempts for 781 passing yards, 5 TDs, and 3 INTs. The team also cut rookie Malik Cunningham in a corresponding move, making the QB2 job in New England a totally wide-open spot. We'll be sure dynasty superflex managers in the loop once we learn who the backup to starter Mac Jones is.

The 49ers got RB Elijah Mitchell back at practice Monday after a nearly three-week absence for an adductor injury. According to Jack Hammer (yes, really) of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Mitchell "looked explosive." Expect Mitchell to remain No. 2 on the RB depth chart, barring any setbacks. See where he sits in our RB rankings.