The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Kansas City Chiefs players heading into their matchup with the Tennessee Titans to help you craft a winning lineup.
Gardner Minshew, QB
Gardner Minshew comes with excitement because he plays a fun style, but he hasn’t had 18+ fantasy points in a start since Week 15 of 2023 with the Colts.
That said, he’s dropped back 45+ times in each of his last two starts and averages 39 per start for his career. The quality may not be there, but the quantity could be by way of this KC system should it work in a pass-centric style with him under center.
If Andy Reid really cuts him loose, Minshew could finish as a top 20 QB in this plus-matchup, but you’re not going this way as your replacement if you lost Patrick Mahomes.
Isiah Pacheco, RB
What are the Chiefs going to do with Isiah Pacheco?
He will be a UFA this offseason and while he runs hard, health has been an issue and the team has been hesitant to commit to him this year.
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There have been some minor usage trends to suggest that he is the preferred option entering these games, but at 3.9 yards per carry with a long of 16 on his 101 attempts this year, he’s given Andy Reid no real reason to stick with him ahead of Kareem Hunt.
Over the past two weeks, his 20 carries have gained just 51 yards (tough matchups against the Texans and Chargers). He’s maxed out at zero receiving yards in five of his past six, offering little versatility when this offense had upside, something that doesn’t project to be the case with Minshew taking over.
If the Chiefs plan on bringing him back, what motivation do they have to extend his role over these last few weeks? If they don’t plan on bringing him back, why would they not use this time to get a better look at Brashard Smith?
Neither of those outcomes is good for those of us sitting on Pacheco stock. I’m not playing any running back on this roster as long as all three are active.
Xavier Worthy, WR
Xavier Worthy doesn’t have a top 25 finish at the position since September, so it shouldn’t surprise you in the slightest that he’s off my radar this weekend with Minshew taking over under center.
The volume simply hasn’t been there at any point and while the chunk plays were finally starting to come (25+ yard reception in four straight), the hopes of those chunk plays being stable vanished when Patrick Mahomes crumpled to the ground.
There’s a larger conversation that needs to be had this offseason about how his skill set fits into this offense (for the record, I think it can work, but maybe the Rashee Rice saga this summer impacted the plans a bit). I’m tentatively bullish for 2026, but that doesn’t mean I’d suggest rolling him out there in anything but deeper formats for the remainder of this season.
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And yes, “tentatively bullish” will be the name of any team I draft him on next season.
Travis Kelce, TE
Travis Kelce made a nice play on the first drive last week, a 17-yard gain on third-and-11 that helped breathe life into a drive that appeared destined to fail and he finished with a very respectable 7-70-0 stat line.
But the math is drastically different today than it was a week ago.
Patrick Mahomes’ season is over and so is Kansas City’s as far as meaningful football games are concerned.
Is this it for the future hall of famer?
We are well over a month since the last time he had a 25-yard catch and that means that a bet on him is a bet against the volume and/or efficiency of this passing game falling off a cliff with Minshew playing out the string.
Color me pessimistic.
Only five times in his career has Minshew supported a TE to score more than 13 PPR points in a game and four of those instances came a season ago during Brock Bowers’ historic campaign.
I’m going to assume we get Kelce playing his normal role until told otherwise and even with that, he’s sitting outside of my top 12 at the position (Colby Parkinson and Theo Johnson among the streaming options I have ranked higher for Week 16).
