Team news: Kansas City Chiefs

JuJu Smith-Schuster is officially back with KC after catching 18 passes for 231 yards and two TDs in 2024.

He’ll have an entire offseason with the Chiefs this go-around after signing with KC just days before the opener last year.

Related Players: Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, Skyy Moore

It looks like the Chiefs will be running it back with their WR room from 2024, after also re-signing Hollywood Brown to a one-year deal during this free agency cycle. The pass-catching group was nothing to write home about last season, but to be fair, there were plenty of injuries that prevented us from seeing exactly how it would work out. We could see a bit of a Patrick Mahomes revenge tour this season, which makes Smith-Schuster a little more interesting as a bye-week plug-in.

The Chiefs are re-signing RB Kareem Hunt to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with incentives, per source.

Related Players: Isiah Pacheco, Elijah Mitchell, Carson Steele

With Hunt and Mitchell finding themselves in KC this week, it feels like the Chiefs will be passing on a rookie once again, which is good news for Pacheco. A full offseason removed from his fibula injury, he should be back in RB2 consideration.

“I think I’ll be in a better place ankle-wise,” Patrick Mahomes said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “Obviously the body’s going to be sore just with a short week and everything like that, but I think the ankle should be in a better place. We’ll see in practice, but as far as how I felt after this game compared to the one before, I’m definitely in a lot better place.”

The short week could be a factor but it's hard to doubt Mahomes as this point. He bounced back rather nicely in Week 17, throwing for a TD and then running for another. The Chiefs play on Christmas Day against the Steelers.

Sources: The Chiefs are activating WR Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and he will officially make his season-debut on Saturday vs the Texans.

Related Players: DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson

It feels exceedingly likely that Hollywood Brown will be limited in his first in-game action of the season, but even light usage could lower the floor of his teammates. Hopkins and Worthy project as a fringe WR3/4 while Brown should stay on benches for now, but could end up being viable in Week 17.

Patrick Mahomes will “most likely end up playing” on Saturday, per Coach Reid.

There’s also a “good chance” Hollywood Brown will play.

Related Players: Carson Wentz

We'd like a little more reassurance here, but at least we have some hope that Mahomes will be available to elevate the offense. Mahomes should be benched in favor of a streamer in most fantasy formats.

After losing RBs Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell to season-ending injuries, it now looks as if the 49ers will be without RB Isaac Guerendo for Sunday’s game vs. Miami. Guerendo is dealing with a hamstring injury and is unlikely to play, per source.

Related Players: Patrick Taylor, Kyle Juszczyk, Israel Abanikanda

Sheesh. We're assuming Taylor will now be the next, next man up, but they also have Abanikanda, as well as Ke'Shawn Vaughn on the practice squad. Taylor should be considered somewhere in the RB3 range if Guerendo is out.

The Chiefs plan to activate Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown (reserve/injured, shoulder) for Saturday’s game vs. Houston assuming everything continues trending positively this week, per sources.

Brown looks to make his Chiefs debut after missing four months.

Related Players: DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson

It feels exceedingly likely that Brown will be limited in his first in-game action of the season, but even light usage could lower the floor of his teammates. Hopkins projects as a fringe WR3/4 while Brown should stay on benches for now, but could end up being viable in Week 17.

For a second straight day, the Chiefs listed Patrick Mahomes as a full participant in practice.

Related Players: Carson Wentz

Obviously a great sign for the Chiefs pass-catchers and Mahomes himself. The quarterback should likely be benched in your fantasy semi-finals in a not-great matchup against the Texans in a game that has seen its over/under drop to 41.5.

Patrick Mahomes is listed as a full participant on the team’s first injury report of the week.

Related players: Carson Wentz

It was a pretty positive outcome for fantasy owners counting on Mahomes in Week 16. The story said Reid spoke to reporters before practice and said they would see what Mahomes was able to do during a light practice. The answer was that he did everything that the Chiefs asked of him, the story pointed out. Keep in mind it was a light workout. It's possible Mahomes is listed as limited later in the week. As we stated earlier today, we're still some time away from Saturday, so it will be worth monitoring right up to game time. Owners may still want to have a backup plan in place.

Tests results indicated Patrick Mahomes is dealing with a high ankle sprain and there's a "possibility" he could miss Week 16.

Related players: Carson Wentz

Rapoport's messaging in this clip can be taken a couple of different ways. The positive view is Mahomes "possibly" missing this week can almost be taken there's a better chance he plays. The situation reminded Rapoport of the playoff game against the Jags a few years ago, where Mahomes didn't finish the game the week before, but came back and played the following week. Rapoport added that, long-term, Mahomes will be fine, and that Mahomes' body is "built differently," so it won't be the normal 4-6 week recovery time for a high ankle sprain. We're a long way from Saturday's game, but if Mahomes can't play, Wentz would get the start against the Texans. Mahomes owners should probably be thinking of a backup plan now in case he's unable to play, so picking up Wentz may not be a bad idea if you own Mahomes in deeper leagues, or two-QB and superflex leagues.