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 Buffalo Bills to help you craft a winning lineup.
Patrick Mahomes, QB
There were only four quarterbacks to throw for 36 touchdowns last season.
There were only three quarterbacks to run for 595 yards last season.
Through eight weeks, Patrick Mahomes is pacing to do both, and the scariest part is that I believe his best football is ahead of him.
After a slow start, all the former MVP did in the second half against the Commanders was complete 17-of-19 passes for 210 yards and three scores.
No big deal.
With Rashee Rice nearing full speed, forcing this offense to punt a single time feels like an accomplishment, and that means that Mahomes has very much reentered the top tier at the position for fantasy purposes.
You got a nice discount based on the past few seasons. Enjoy it. I can tell you right now that the 2026 price tag is going to be significantly more prohibitive: take advantage of the super team you have now.
Brashard Smith, RB
Brashard Smith has just one game this season with 5+ touches, and it was the Week 7 shutout of the Raiders, a game in which the starters were yanked before the third quarter ended.
We are still a little ways away from serious lineup consideration here, but the rookie does need to be rostered. Before not being used much last week, Smith had 3+ catches in four straight games, and that’s his path toward redraft value.
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Isiah Pacheco runs as hard as anyone in the league, and Kareem Hunt is picking up red zone duties, but neither has made a massive impact as a pass catcher this season.
Smith averaged 10.2 yards per catch during his four-year college career and caught 39 balls in the one season he was used as a featured back.
It should be noted that we are having issues trusting any Chiefs running back these days, so asking Smith to elevate into the weekly conversation is probably a bit much, but a bailout option in a time of need?
I wouldn’t rule it out. Make sure he’s not still a free agent in all of your leagues now and hope to benefit later.
I wouldn’t rule it out. Make sure he’s not still a free agent in all of your leagues now and hope to benefit later. He’s a must-add if this backfield is at full strength, but it’s not. Isiah Pacheco is dealing with a knee injury labeled a “week-to-week” situation by some reports, which could open the door for Smith to see his snap rate spike.
If we can get a handful of carries and targets in a top 5 offense, Smith would project as a top 30 running back in PPR formats and completely viable flex.
Isiah Pacheco, RB
The last three weeks have run out about as good as you could hope for Pacheco. The Chiefs have outscored their opponents 89-24, and he’s beginning to separate in a snap-share perspective.
And yet, we’ve been left wanting more.
Kansas City is so confident in its passing game that even its lead back isn’t getting past a dozen rushing attempts on a consistent basis. To my eye, Pacheco is running hard, but he’s yet to reach 60 rushing yards in a game this season and has caught two passes over his past three games.
I also don’t love that they continue to make this a committee situation early, almost asking a different running back to earn work.
First Drive vs. Commanders
- Patrick Mahomes: 1 carry for 9 yards
- Kareem Hunt: 1 carry for 5 yards (fourth down conversion)
- Isaiah Pacheco: 1 carry for 3 yards (first offensive play)
- Brashard Smith: 1 carry for 1 yard (fumbled, but recovered)
Pacheco is a middling RB2, even in a matchup that I happen to like for him (BUF: second most yards per carry allowed to running backs this season, a stat inflated by the Henry Week 1 game, but this is still the weaker portion of their front).
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You’re looking at a lack of ceiling at the moment, and that’s what scares me more than anything. You don’t have much of a chance of “hitting big” in a profile that lacks goal line and receiving work.
Should this knee injury truly be a week-to-week situation, Hunt would move into the middling RB2 role with Smith profiling as a low-end PPR flex. With Buffalo struggling against the run and plenty of evidence that this team trusts Hunt in scoring position, I think he’d be a strong chalk play in DFS contests.
Kareem Hunt, RB
This backfield is moving away from Kareem Hunt when it comes to snap share, but as long as he is getting the valuable looks, he’s on our radar thanks to the potency of this offense as a whole.
Hunt played 54.5% of Kansas City’s red zone snaps and just 26.8% otherwise.
He’s a high-value fantasy option, and with five touchdowns on 70 touches this season, he’s cashing in.
The story here is going to be the same every week until something changes: touchdown chasing.
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If he doesn’t score, you’re likely looking at under five fantasy points, but he comes preloaded with two-TD upside like we saw on Monday night with a pair of short scores.
Personally, I’m not going this route if I can help it, but as a backup option, he can make the most of limited work.
That math obviously changes with Pacheco likely sidelined for this week. If that’s the case, we get a 14-16 touch role with scoring equity, and that’s enough to justify starting him in all spots. Smith would also see his role ramp up, though I’d view Hunt as the clear two-down back with most of the scoring equity.
Essentially, Hunt would be what we’ve wanted Pacheco to be.
Marquise Brown, WR
The idea of investing in this Kansas City passing game makes sense, but they appear to be locked into their staple scheme, and that doesn’t leave much food on the table for a fourth option (Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Xavier Worthy are already locked in).
On Monday night, Rice and Worthy cleared 55 snaps and 30 routes while Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster both fell short of 30 snaps and failed to surpass 20 routes.
Patrick Mahomes is playing at a high enough level to make up for a limited role, and any injury would open up a tremendous opportunity, so you need to keep Hollywood rostered. Still, I don’t think you can justify considering him for your flex spot until something ahead of him changes.
Not helping his case was the fact that his lone target last week was intercepted, but he caught just two passes the week prior in Rice’s season debut: this isn’t an offense interested in sustaining a third receiver.
Rashee Rice, WR
The list of receivers you’d rather have than Rashee Rice moving forward is short at best and potentially non-existent.
- 52 routes
- 19 targets
- 16 catches
- 135 yards
- 3 TDs
He walked into a Chiefs offense that was trending up and has made them look close to unstoppable. Washington did about as good a job as anyone with them in the first half on Monday night, but give Andy Reid/Mahomes time, and they are going to eat you alive.
This offense was close to perfect in the second half, and their WR1 was a big part of it. He’s averaged over 2.3 fantasy points per target in both of his games this season and currently owns a 2.8-yard aDOT.
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The Chiefs are as creative as it gets, but the plan here is simple. They are aware that defenses prefer them to beat them with paper cuts, and they now have access to one of the premier ‘turn-a-paper-cut-into-a-fatal-wound’ receivers in the game.
Kansas City goes on by next week and still has both Denver games ahead of them. If there’s a last chance for you to acquire Rice, it’s coming up. You’re not going to get him at any sort of discount, but it’s possible that the team with him is struggling, and the idea of an off week followed by a tough matchup might be too much for them to absorb.
Xavier Worthy, WR
This is pretty clearly going to require some finessing, but Monday night was a step in the right direction.
- Week 7 (Rice’s debut): 30 routes, 4 targets (0 deep), 3 catches
- Week 8: 35 routes, 7 targets (3 deep), 5 catches
What the “right” answer is to the Worthy route tree is going to change weekly based on game flow and the matchup, but more involvement last week was good to see, and those shot attempts are obviously how we hit a home run.
Patrick Mahomes hit Worthy for a 27-yard chunk play on the first drive last week: this is an ultra-talented offense that is beginning to find its footing. Worthy is the piece I worry most about, but he remains a flexible piece for me, and it’s easy to see his path to a top 15 week.
Travis Kelce, TE
Kelce found his groove on Monday night, catching six of eight targets for a season-high 99 yards and a touchdown against the Commanders.
That stat line by itself isn’t too newsworthy; we’ve seen Kelce do this for years. I was impressed by him leading the team in receiving yards during a game in which Rashee Rice (nine catches on nine targets) couldn’t be stopped.
Rice is soaking up the extra short targets while Kelce (7.3 aDOT in both games since Rice returned) is living in that perfect short-to-middle area where his non-verbal communication connection with Patrick Mahomes can truly shine.
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The running backs weren’t involved in the passing game last week, and that might change over time, but I think we can feel good about this system sustaining two pass catchers each week, and it’s trending in Kelce’s direction over Xavier Worthy.
The ceiling isn’t elite, but I’d argue that we are looking at one of the five highest floors at a position that is close to impossible to feel good about outside of the elite.