Marquise Brown Heads to IR, Shoulder Surgery

What They're Saying

Schultz: "The Chiefs will monitor his rehab progress throughout the season."

Former NFL team doctor David Chao: "A procedure to relocate the SC joint could salvage the season. A surgery to repair/reconstruct the SC join would mean season. Let's hope for best case!"

Nate Taylor of The Athletic: "Brown is expected to miss several months as part of his rehab."

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

Search online, and you're likely to find varying reports on Brown's expected return timeline. My best guess is that no one knows yet how long he'll be out -- but that missing the rest of the season is possible.

It appears the Chiefs aren't yet counting him out for the season. But we might need to wait until after Monday's surgery to get an expected return timeline.

Brown's continued absence can only help the playing time of rookie WR Xavier Worthy. The first-round pick scored twice among just three touches in Week 1. But Worthy ran as many pass routes as WR Rashee Rice against Baltimore, tying for second behind only TE Travis Kelce.

Brown isn't worth keeping on your redraft roster in most cases. If you have an empty IR slot, you could hang on until we get a clearer vision on his outlook.

Dynasty Impact

Brown already profiled as a bit fragile, after missing games each of the past three seasons and in four of his five pro campaigns overall.

This latest injury -- and the uncertainty tied to his return -- will only further lower his market value.

That could make it worth sending an (low-level) offer to the Brown manager in your dynasty league. Even if he winds up giving us nothing this year, Brown will still be just 28 when next season begins and has a top-24 fantasy season behind him (2021).

If you could get the veteran for, say, a third-round rookie pick, there'd be limited downside risk.

Other Winners & Losers

Kansas City's WR depth chart still looks weak behind Rice and Worthy. Justin Watson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Skyy Moore represent the next level.

That could mean good news for No. 2 TE Noah Gray, who ranked second on the team with 3 receptions against Baltimore despite running just 10 pass routes.

Gray won't be worth attention for most fantasy leagues, but can be a stash in TE-premium and dynasty formats.

Watson ran third among Chiefs WRs in the opener, in case you're in a deep enough league for that to matter.