Team news: Kansas City Chiefs | Page 5

One reason Mahomes is the league’s reigning MVP is he became one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks when attempting short and intermediate passes. In the Chiefs’ comeback victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, none of Mahomes’ 21 completions traveled more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage.

Of course, Reid and Mahomes can anticipate the next trend: Opposing defenses starting to zig to more conventional coverage, a mission to clog the short and intermediate passing windows for Mahomes.

Related Players: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Rashee Rice

As the article would go on to mention, Mahomes' 8.2% deep ball rate in 2022 was a career-low. Particularly when the team returns a healthy Travis Kelce who can do so much damage in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field, the Chiefs may be pushing the ball downfield more often while defenses attempt to prevent their ultra-efficient short game.

Despite his horrendous first week of the season, Toney should expect some of that action to go his way, as his speed will often see him at the perimeter and beyond the defense. Valdes-Scantling was an incredible best ball target throughout the summer for this exact same reason. They are both difficult starts outside of deep-league Flex plays, but they will certainly pop from time to time this season.

Updates from Chiefs coach Andy Reid:
-- TE Travis Kelce (knee) will practice in a limited capacity, as he makes progress from his bone bruise.
-- DL Chris Jones, back from his holdout, will practice today and play on Sunday.

Related Players: Noah Gray, Blake Bell

Clearly good news for all fantasy managers. Even a limited practice on Wednesday is historically a good sign for Sunday availability. We will update as the week progresses.

Travis Kelce’s absence clearly impacted the Chiefs’ offense in Thursday’s 21-20 loss to the Lions.

“Trav is getting better, he’s progressing,” head coach Andy Reid said Monday, via Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com. “We’ll see how he does the rest of today and tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

Related players: Noah Gray

The story said reports last week indicated there’s a chance the star tight end could return for Sunday’s matchup with the Jaguars. But that’s not set in stone, it added. Gray would likely get the nod again if Kelce can't play in Week 2. Gray had five targets and a 3-31-0 line in Week 1. Luckily for owners, the Chiefs have an early game at Jacksonville in Week 2, so owners will have time to make alternate plans if needed.

Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce is out tonight against the #Lions. He may give it another try before kickoff. Either way, the bone bruise should not keep him out long-term.

Related Players: Matt Bushman, Noah Gray, Blake Bell

The answer to the Kelce replacement question may end up being "no one," as the team will now have three active TEs for TNF. Gray is interesting in very deep leagues, but none of the three options are recommended.

The Chiefs are elevating TE Matt Bushman from the practice squad for tonight's game against the Lions. Insurance in case Travis Kelce can’t go.

Related Players: Noah Gray, Blake Bell

The answer to the Kelce replacement question may end up being "no one," as the team will now have three active TEs for TNF. Gray is interesting in very deep leagues, but none of the three options are recommended if Kelce misses Week 1.

Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, who suffered a bone bruise to his knee at Tuesday’s practice, is being listed as questionable for Thursday night’s regular-season opener versus the Detroit Lions.

Related Players Noah Gray, the entire Chiefs offense

The immediate fantasy football beneficiary would likely be Noah Gray, who has popped with decent usage, particularly in a second-year stretch in 2022 when he accumulated 16 receptions for 187 yards and a touchdown in the seven games following the team’s Week 8 bye. Wide receiver Skyy Moore could be the biggest beneficiary, as Kadarius Toney is unlikely to start the season as a bona fide WR1 option, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling is mostly used as a deep threat.

There is some good news out of Kansas City on Travis Kelce after the tight end hyperextended his knee during Tuesday’s practice.

According to a report from NFL Media, Kelce is not believed to have suffered a long-term injury. Kelce’s status, however, is in doubt for Thursday’s season opener against Detroit.

The story went on to say the Chiefs plan to let the swelling go down in Kelce’s knee and reevaluate from there. Kelce, 33, was listed as a limited participant in Tuesday’s practice after exiting the session early. Receiver Skyy Moore said Kelce was able to walk off the field under his own power. As we said in an earlier post, now is the time to form a backup plan.

Chiefs’ HC Andy Reid told reporters that Travis Kelce hyper-extended his knee at practice today and his status for Thursday night’s opener vs the Lions is uncertain.

Related players: Noah Gray

Well, this will get the heart pumping... With most drafts in the books at this point, owners may want to jump on the wire ASAP and make sure you have a backup plan. Gray is next up on the Chiefs depth chart and should be available in typical leagues. He may be worth grabbing if you didn't address a TE2 option on your roster to this point and you play in deeper leagues. Hopefully we get more news leading up to Thursday night. At the very least we'll know Kelce's status 90 minutes before the start of the game.

Judging from how the Chiefs utilized their receivers in training camp, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore and Justin Watson will get the most playing time. Kadarius Toney missed all of camp after having surgery for a torn meniscus, but is back at practice and should be available to play against the Lions.

It’s less clear how much the others might play. But they all bring something to the group. Richie James has the most single-season catches of the group, having caught 57 passes for the New York Giants last season. The Chiefs tried to get the ball to Rashee Rice on plays like screens and pop passes during the preseason to highlight his ability to run after the catch.

Justyn Ross is big at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. Veach suggested he could take the red zone role held last year by Jody Fortson, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

Rice, a second-round draft pick, is a rookie. Ross is playing his first season with the Chiefs. He joined last season as an undrafted rookie but didn’t play because of injuries.

The Chiefs claim they will use their WRs based on defenses and who they are playing, allowing them to attack in different ways. While a lot of the young WRs got attention over the summer at some point - either working with the first team or just standing out - the story said Rice and Ross, especially, could see their roles be limited early in the season or at least until the coaches are comfortable with giving them a bigger workload. The Chiefs receivers could be a frustrating group for fantasy purposes, at least early on in the season.

Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney (knee) is “good to go” for Week 1 against the Lions, head coach Andy Reid said Sunday.

Toney missed most of camp as the knee injury lingered but he looks good as the Chiefs are just days away from beginning defense of their Super Bowl title. Sunday was like a Wednesday of a regular game week for the Chiefs and Lions so this is good news for his availability. Toney has a chance to become a bigger part of the Chiefs offense after making noise once acquired last season from the Giants, including a key touchdown in the Super Bowl.