RADIO
In the fantasy football world, the 2016 Chiefs were known for one player, Tyreek Hill, the speedy rookie wide receiver burst onto the scene with 860 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns, nearly all of which were in the second half of the season. Hill invigorated the offense and led to a better offensive situation for everyone on the team.
This year, they will be relying on a rookie running back (Kareem Hunt) and could be transitioning toward their quarterback of the future (Pat Mahomes).
Who might surprise us this year and bring value to the table? Let's find out:
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Kansas City Chiefs 2017 Team Outlook
Off-season moves
Notable additions: DT Bennie Logan, DT Roy Miller, RB C.J. Spiller, DT Cam Thomas, TE Gavin Escobar, DE Jarvis Jenkins, G Michael Person, G Andrew Tiller, OLB Marcus Rush
Notable Losses: WR Jeremy Maclin, DT Dontari Poe, RB Jamaal Charles, QB Nick Foles, DE Jaye Howard, RB Knile Davis
Draft: QB Patrick Mahomes, DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, RD Kareem Hunt, WR Jehu Chesson, LB Ukeme Eligwe, S Leon McQuay III
Quarterbacks
For now, the Chiefs’ quarterback is none other than Captain Checkdown himself, Alex Smith. Smith has been more than serviceable over the last few years with a completion percentage above 65% over the last three years while maintaining above a 2:1 TD/INT ratio during that time as well. We know what we get with Alex Smith, a completely competent signal caller that won’t wow you with his play, but won’t lose you games until a team gets to the playoffs.
To bring this team to the next level, the Chiefs drafted Texas Tech quarterback, Patrick Mahomes at 10 overall in the draft last April. Mahomes is known for his improvisational play, often adlibbing plays at will. His 60MPH fastball helps him fit balls into windows that few others are able to attempt. Andy Reid and the chiefs are hoping that when Mahomes takes over in a year or more, he’ll have learned enough to cut down on poor decision making while maintaining his creative spirit. The Chiefs’ passing attack is held back this year by Smith’s conservative nature, but in recent games we’ve seen Smith willing to open up obviously feeling the pressure from the rookie. This only bodes well for the Chiefs across the board.
Running Backs
Unfortunately, Spencer Ware tore his MCL and PCL in a pre-season game in recent weeks. Since then, third-round rookie Kareem Hunt has been given the feature back role. Last year PFF had Hunt as their top-rated running back in the nation. He had the second-most broken tackles in the nation and was a substantial portion of the offense at Toledo. In a more conventional draft of running backs, Hunt would have likely gone in the early second round. With the Chiefs picking up Cameron Irving from the Browns, it’s likely that the above-average KC line will be even better, providing holes for Kareem to take advantage of all year long. Charcandrick West, and C.J. Spiller are also in the wings waiting for Kareem to fumble his opportunity away. We know from recent history that Reid is not afraid to use a committee, so beware of Hunt’s lack of experience. If he does not live up to expectation, all three backs could be splitting carries.
Wide Receivers
The wide receiver situation in KC over the last few years has been uninspiring to say the least. That is until last year when the pure electricity of Hill forced the league and the fantasy world to take notice. This year, the wide receivers on the Chiefs are undervalued. Hill’s current ADP is 4.04 in 12 team leagues. For a high up-side WR1, this is a great deal. Hill is a mismatch at every position on the field. Even during the last few weeks of 2016 teams still had a hard time adjusting to Hill’s unique physical skill set, with a more mature offensive in 2017, Hill stands as a solid pick in the mid to late fourth round.
Beyond Hill, Chris Conley is the sleeper that isn’t being talked about nearly enough. Conley is one of the best pure athletes in the NFL and in his two years of active play he’s increased his presence in every conceivable factor (snaps, catches, yards, TDs, etc.). Conley has firmly taken hold of the WR2 spot and is likely to get an increased number of looks since he will be out on 2WR sets. Conley is likely to go undrafted in many leagues, and should be picked up in the last two rounds whenever possible.
Tight End
Travis Kelce is the consensus number two tight end in the NFL currently. In regard to percentage of offense accounted for, there are no other TEs that have the same opportunity. Kelce has enormous TD and yardage upside. In 2016 alone he had six 100-yard games. If you want piece of mind at the tight end position, you can pick up Kelce and feel fine. I personally am against taking tight ends so early as the position is deep and there isn’t a substantial difference in the production between TE two and eight.
Kicker
Cairos Santos is a perfectly competent kicker. He can hit most kicks that are asked of him and is a prime situation to receive more opportunities than most other kickers in the NFL. The Chiefs are a team that rely on their running game and defense to win games. This means that many drives end 3/4ths finished. Santos cleans up and gives your team upside with it.
Defense
The Chiefs Defense/Special Teams are ranked number one on NFL.com’s fantasy rankings. Last year was an outlier in production for the chiefs since they had numerous injuries on the defensive side. Although the Chiefs lost Dontari Poe, they should return to their top half standard in 2017. Marcus Peters is still one of the best in the game, and reports have indicated that Derrick Johnson has returned from his injuries last year. Justin Houston, Tamba Hali and Dee Ford are all still patrolling, making sure to make opposing offenses sweat. Hill will likely bring a couple kicks to the house, bringing even more value to a pick of the KC defense. Considering that the Broncos, and Texans defenses are often picked before KCs, the defense in Kansas city stands as a value.
