Kansas City Chiefs Team Preview 25-26

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    The Chiefs were cruising through the regular season in 2024 as they made their way towards a Super Bowl three-peat attempt, and they rarely found themselves needing a sense of urgency on offense to light up the scoreboard. That’s one of the drawbacks when drafting an offense led by the best quarterback in the NFL, though the upside case is evergreen with Patrick Mahomes. Hopefully, his receiving room isn’t crippled by injuries once again in 2025, and he could easily have a Top-3 fantasy QB season in him. We saw Mahomes running for his life in the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, and while they lost veteran Joe Thuney in a trade with the Chicago Bears, they went out and signed former-49ers OT Jaylon Moore to replace him in the starting lineup. KC also secured guard Trey Smith with the franchise tag, and drafted OT Josh Simmons from Ohio State with the last pick of the first round in this year’s draft. Moore had the sixth-highest run block win rate among interior offensive linemen in 2024. The Chiefs had a grindy running game that averaged 4.0 YPC last year, the sixth-lowest mark in the NFL. Their longest run across the season was 34 yards, the third-shortest highlight rushing attempt in the league, a signal of the lackluster explosiveness out of the backfield for Kansas City. Isaiah Pacheco was teed up for a big 2024 campaign, even displaying three-down usage in his early run before a fractured fibula brought Pacheco to a screeching stop. Veteran Kareem Hunt was the greatest contributor after joining with the squad after Pacheco’s injury, while the latter back was never really the same after taking the field again. Both players are back on the roster for 2025, and the team added a couple new faces to the backfield this off-season, as well. Brashard Smith was taken in the seventh round of this year’s draft, and former-49ers RB Elijah Mitchell was signed in free agency. Out wide, the Chiefs are expecting Rashee Rice ready for the start of the season after suffering a devastating knee injury just a month into the season, while year-two WR Xavier Worthy should build on his outstanding playoff run. They also re-signed JuJu Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown, after the latter had his first season put on hold until the closing weeks of the regular season due to a knee injury suffered just before it kicked off. They also drafted rookie WR Jalen Royals out of Utah State in the fourth round of this year’s draft, likely rounding out the primary rotation WRs. KC is also expecting the return of Travis Kelce, who was reportedly mulling retirement after the Super Bowl loss, but ultimately opted to give it another go. Kelce isn’t the same fantasy tight end he once was, especially with Rashee Rice healthy and absorbing his role as the primary intermediate target in the offense the last time he was on the field. Still, he remains a threat to score a touchdown any given day, and a healthy Chiefs team should be making plenty-a-trips to the red zone in 2025.


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