It has been a long time since the Super Bowl, and remembering exactly how things left off last year can be a challenge. So, I’ll be writing up a fantasy preview for each NFL team to give us a quick refresher on what happened last year, and what changes took place in the offseason. All fantasy stats will be in ESPN scoring format unless otherwise noted.
If I missed any change or left out any big notes, throw them down in the comments for me!
What Did They Do Last Year
The Chiefs rolled to a 14-2 record, ultimately being bested by the buzz-saw that was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass rush. Late season injuries to the Chiefs offensive line really put them in a bad spot. The Chiefs moved on from tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, and then traded for Orland Brown and signed Joe Thuney to improve their O-line.
The Chiefs did not bring in a running back to compete with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, a wide receiver to complement Tyreek Hill, or tight end to take some pressure off Travis Kelce which means big things for the three’s fantasy value.
The key coaching triumvirate of Andy Reed (head coach), Eric Bieniemy (Offensive Coordinator), and Steve Spagnuolo (Defensive Coordinator) is in tact and back for another Super Bowl run in 2021.
Quarterback
| OVR Rank | Player | G | COMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT | ATT | YDS | TD | FFP | FFP/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Patrick Mahomes | 15 | 390 | 588 | 4,740 | 38 | 6 | 62 | 308 | 2 | 368.4 | 24.6 |
| 48 | Chad Henne | 3 | 28 | 38 | 248 | 2 | 0 | 7 | -2 | 1 | 23.7 | 7.9 |
Patrick Mahomes is the top quarterback in fantasy and probably in real football too. Stability with his top-flight fantasy weapons and coaches give us every reason to believe we’re in the Patrick Mahomes era, pesky Tom Brady notwithstanding.
Pat Mahomes = QB1 (and we’ve ranked him as such).
Wide Receivers
| PPR Rank | STD Rank | Player | G | TGT | REC | YDS | TD | STD PTS | STD PTS/G | PPR PTS | PPR PTS/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | Tyreek Hill | 15 | 134 | 87 | 1,276 | 15 | 241.9 | 16.1 | 328.9 | 21.93 |
| 63 | 59 | Mecole Hardman | 16 | 62 | 41 | 560 | 4 | 79.1 | 4.9 | 120.1 | 7.51 |
| 70 | 77 | Demarcus Robinson | 15 | 59 | 45 | 466 | 3 | 62.6 | 4.2 | 107.6 | 7.17 |
| 86 | 91 | Sammy Watkins | 10 | 55 | 37 | 421 | 2 | 52.4 | 5.2 | 89.4 | 8.94 |
| 133 | 129 | Byron Pringle | 5 | 17 | 13 | 160 | 1 | 22 | 4.4 | 35 | 7 |
| 212 | 210 | Marcus Kemp | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| 213 | 212 | Gehrig Dieter | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
We’re waiting on one of the secondary receiver to set themselves apart in this Chiefs offense. There is plenty of work to go around, but so far, heir apparent Mecole Hardman hasn’t distinguished himself.
Demarcus Robinson has looked the more consistent No. 2 receiver at times, and of course Sammy Watkins has always done just enough to frustrate fantasy speculators looking for the next big thing in the Kansas City offense. But now Watkins finds himself in Baltimore with the Ravens.
I’ll be poking around with later round picks on Hardman and Robinson. Hill is a no-doubt first rounder. He’s currently our WR1 in 2021.
Note: Tyreek Hill had 13 rushes, 123 yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns on the ground.
Running Backs
| PPR Rank | STD Rank | Player | G | ATT | YDS | TD | TGT | REC | YDS | TD | STD PTS | STD PTS/G | PPR PTS | PPR PTS/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 21 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 13 | 181 | 803 | 4 | 55 | 36 | 297 | 1 | 140 | 10.8 | 176 | 13.54 |
| 76 | 80 | Darrel Williams | 13 | 39 | 169 | 1 | 26 | 18 | 116 | 0 | 34.5 | 2.7 | 52.5 | 4.04 |
| 89 | 87 | Darwin Thompson | 5 | 27 | 97 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 65 | 1 | 26.2 | 5.2 | 33.2 | 6.64 |
| 113 | 115 | DeAndre Washington | 4 | 31 | 91 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 30 | 0 | 12.1 | 3 | 17.1 | 4.28 |
| 132 | 127 | Anthony Sherman | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 8.3 | 2.08 |
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is one of the best buy-low dynasty candidates we’ve seen in a while. With expectations thoroughly out of hand for CEH’s rookie season, Clyde put in a fine first year. For his efforts, he’s currently going around the 4.01 mark, after D’Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Miles Sanders, and David Montgomery.
It looks like CEH will be on all my teams this year. He’s a value in the late second round and a steal in the third. He’s currently our RB14.
Tight End
| PPR Rank | STD Rank | Player | G | TGT | REC | YDS | TD | STD PTS | STD PTS/G | PPR PTS | PPR PTS/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Travis Kelce | 15 | 145 | 105 | 1,416 | 11 | 207.6 | 13.8 | 312.6 | 20.84 |
| 87 | 93 | Nick Keizer | 8 | 10 | 6 | 63 | 0 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 10.3 | 1.29 |
| 85 | 96 | Deon Yelder | 6 | 11 | 7 | 36 | 0 | 3.6 | 0.6 | 10.6 | 1.77 |
| 124 | 124 | Ricky Seals-Jones | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playing Travis Kelce each week is like having an additional player on gameday. Kelce was a full 7 points per game the better than the No. 6 tight end T.J. Hockenson in standard scoring and 10 points the better of No. 6 tight end Mark Andrews in FFPC scoring.
Taking Kelce 1.03 is completely reasonable in my book.
2021 Draft
The Chiefs dealt their late first round pick to the Ravens in exchange for the pleasure to pay Orlando Brown a king’s ransom. In the second, they took a potential stallworth middle linebacker in Nick Bolton (Missouri). In the third, the Chiefs took Creed Humphrey (center) out of Oklahoma.
The Schedule
The Chiefs have a middle of the road schedule according to Warren Sharp’s (sharpfootballanalysis.com) strength of schedule ranks, and they finish the season with what could end up being a very soft run after their Week 12 bye: vs Denver Broncos, vs Las Vegas Raiders, @ Los Angeles Chargers, vs Pittsburgh Steelers, and @ Cincinnati Bengals.
What Does It All Mean?!?! (AKA – Bold predictions)
The Chiefs should have three first-round fantasy picks in standard scoring. Draft the Chiefs studs.
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Thanks to FFToday.com for hosting such great stats info!
Thanks to TheHuddle.com for their great Coaching Change Tracker