The Kansas City Chiefs have had horrible injury luck this season, particularly with their wide receivers. After losing Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster was thrust into a significant role just weeks after he signed with the team.
Now, Smith-Schuster is battling an injury of his own. What’s the latest on Smith-Schuster, and will he play this week against the Las Vegas Raiders?
What Happened to JuJu Smith-Schuster?
Smith-Schuster entered the Chiefs’ Week 7 contest against the San Francisco 49ers with an existing hamstring injury. While he fully practiced on Wednesday, Smith-Schuster was limited on Thursday after injuring himself at practice. He ended the week with another limited session on Friday and was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.
Smith-Schuster was able to play against the 49ers, but he appeared to re-aggravate his hamstring issue during the Week 7 game.
FOX’s broadcast showed him pulling up after running an in-breaking route in the first half. He limped to Kansas City’s sideline to receive medical attention.
Here's a look at #Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster's hamstring injury from FOX's broadcast yesterday. Andy Reid says Smith-Schuster won't be ready for Week 8. pic.twitter.com/os2ykkaRFB
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) October 21, 2024
While Smith-Schuster was initially listed as questionable to return, he was officially ruled out in the fourth quarter.
The next day, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid ruled out Smith-Schuster for Sunday’s game against the Raiders. The fact that he was ruled out so early in the week wasn’t a great sign.
Kansas City will be missing several skill players in this game. Rice was leading the NFL in receptions and yards per route run when he suffered a serious knee injury in Week 4. Brown injured his shoulder during the preseason, and he’s expected to miss the entire regular season. Isiah Pacheco fractured his tibia in Week 2 and is also on injured reserve.
Smith-Schuster, 27, hauled in 79 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs in 2022, winning a Super Bowl ring in the process. He inked a three-year, $25.5 million contract with the New England Patriots but was cut in August after catching just 29 passes.
The Chiefs picked up Smith-Schuster two weeks later. He wasn’t heavily involved in Kansas City’s offense until Rice went down. However, he has stepped up in recent weeks. In Week 5, he totaled seven catches for 130 yards against the New Orleans Saints.
Fantasy Outlook for Smith-Schuster and the Chiefs
Smith-Schuster looked like a real difference-maker in Week 5 against the Saints, with the thought being that he could be a poor man’s version of Rice in this low-octane-but-efficient offense.
However, he has fallen victim to the hamstring epidemic that is sweeping the NFL this season and was ruled out for this week on Monday, an indication that this injury is going to take some time. Due to the Chiefs’ perfect record, they can operate with caution.
Now that the Chiefs traded for DeAndre Hopkins, I’m not sure that Smith-Schuster will earn volume at a high level once he’s healthy, so don’t feel obligated to hold onto him.
While Smith-Schuster is sidelined and Hopkins is getting acclimated, expect first-round rookie Xavier Worthy to get more involved this week. Entering last week, Worthy hadn’t posted an on-field target share of over 18.2%. In Week 7, Mahomes tried to get the ball in the hands of his explosive playmaker on 30.8% of his routes.
We don’t know if Hopkins will be in the fold this week. Even if he is, we saw Amari Cooper operate in a very limited fashion last week following his trade to the Buffalo Bills, so sitting on your Hopkins stock is the percentage play for this week.
But moving forward? Buckle up!
Mahomes is completing a career-high 53.6% of his deep passes, making this an advantageous spot for a receiver who might have more gas left in the tank than his current stat line suggests.
Once Hopkins is playing, he’s the WR to own in this offense over Worthy and Smith-Schuster.