Kansas City Chiefs Fantasy Football Team Preview For 2026

The Patrick Mahomes-Andy Reid partnership averaged 12.9 wins per regular season from 2018 to 2024. They captured seven consecutive AFC West titles together … and then last season happened.

Look, it wasn't like the 6-11 Chiefs were a horrible football team. The offense still possessed weekly boom upside with No. 15 under center, and the defense was one of the league's best all-around units. Their +34-point differential was better than the 11-6 Chargers (+28)! Unfortunately, the regression gods came for this squad in a major way: The Chiefs dropped to just 1-9 in one-score games (8 points) one year removed from going 11-0. Sheesh.

2026 Fantasy Football Team Preview for the Kansas City Chiefs

While the organization refrained from doing a complete overhaul after their first losing season since 2012, the 2026 version of this squad will indeed look quite a bit different:

The front office decided to finally invest in a true high-end running back in the form of former Seahawk Kenneth Walker. The reigning Super Bowl MVP is now the league's sixth-highest-paid running back on an annual basis after signing a three-year, $43.1 million contract ($28.7 million fully guaranteed).
Former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy is BACK in the same job after pit stops with the Commanders, UCLA Bruins and Bears. The Chiefs ranked first, fifth, sixth, fourth and first (even without Tyreek Hill!) during Bieniemy's time previously leading the offense, although Reid has been the primary playcaller for the majority of time in Kansas City.
The secondary will look VERY different in 2026 with starting corners Trent McDuffie (via trade) and Jaylen Watson (via free agency) now on the Rams. No. 6 overall pick Mansoor Delane will be the main man tasked with keeping this group on the up and up.

What follows is a fantasy-focused team preview of the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the 2026 season. Make sure to check out our fantasy football rankings hub for updated player ranks all year long.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

What should expectations be for Patrick Mahomes coming off last season's knee injury?

QB1: Patrick Mahomes (QB13)
QB2: Justin Fields (QB37)
QB3: Garrett Nussmeier

Well, the good news is Mahomes himself said the goal is to be on the field for Week 1. Andy Reid also sounds fairly optimistic. The timeline for return isn't really anything out of the ordinary according to learned doctors.

Of course, even if he is active, we shouldn't expect Mahomes to be 100% back athletically to start the season, right? It certainly seems possible, if not responsible, that the Chiefs could try to limit their longtime franchise QB's impact in the run game by deploying more of a run-first approach in the early going.

Could Mahomes become a bargain at his ADP?

How high is too high to rank Kenneth Walker?

RB1: Kenneth Walker (RB6)
RB2: Emmett Johnson (RB54)
RB3: Emari Demercado
RB4: Brashard Smith

The reigning Super Bowl MVP posted quality 221-1,027-5 rushing and 31-282-0 receiving lines during the regular season despite operating in an evenly split committee alongside Zach Charbonnet. Walker has finished inside the position's top two performers in terms of tackles avoided per carry in each of the past three seasons. The artist known as K9 is among the league's most skilled players at making something out of nothing.

Hard to pass on K9 in early Round 2

Are Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy worth the risk at ADP?

WR1: Rashee Rice (WR16)
WR2: Xavier Worthy (WR48)
WR3: Tyquan Thornton (WR83)
WR4: Jalen Royals
WR5: Nikko Remigio

Let's start with Rashee Rice, who was recently rehabbing his knee while in jail before his release on June 16. That, ladies and mostly gentlemen, is the first time I've ever typed that sentence. It's unclear if the offense that landed him behind bars, violating the terms of his probation by smoking the reefer, will result in another suspension, but it certainly seems possible. Click here for a more thorough read on the legal possibilities of the situation from real-life lawyer, fantasy footballer, bad poker player (just kidding) Drew Davenport.

And then there's Xavier Worthy, who, like Rice, didn't really get going until the back half of his rookie year. Overall, he averaged a robust 17.1 PPR points per game (WR15!) from Weeks 11-Super Bowl, although his decrease in aDOT (11.9 vs. 7.5) reflects the potential for some of these opportunities to dry up when Rice is healthy and available.

Rice and Worthy each have boom and bust potential

Is Travis Kelce still viable in fantasy in the year 2026?

TE1: Travis Kelce (TE10)
TE2: Noah Gray (TE47)

The best seasons of Kelce's Hall of Fame career are certainly in the rearview mirror, but we did see the longtime stud bounce back in his ability to create yards after the catch last season.

Still, part of that could also be from the Chiefs becoming less reliant on screens to Kelce in 2025 (7.4% of his targets) than they were in 2023 (14.9%) or 2024 (10.2%). There were some ill-timed drops—seven on the season, tied for the most among all tight ends, three of which were intercepted, most among anyone since Tyreek Hill back in 2021—but hey, Kelce ultimately finished as the TE10 in PPR points per game. Not too shabby!

Kelce looking at healthy target load in potential swan song

Predictions for the 2026 Kansas City Chiefs

Win total prediction: The Chiefs won at least 11 games during each of the first seven seasons of the Mahomes era. Now it seems like a bigger question than ever with Mahomes coming back from injury following an uncomfortable three-year streak of uninspiring offensive play. Throw in the forever-deep AFC West and a secondary that needs to learn on the fly, and I'm taking UNDER 10.5 wins, albeit I do expect Mahomes and company to at least get their heads back above the .500 waters.

Bold fantasy call: Kenneth Walker rides the biggest and most fantasy-friendly workload of his career to a top-5 finish. Taylor Swift will make a reference about having him on her fantasy team, or telling Travis that he should have drafted him. Something like that. Mark my words.

Last season predictions: UNDER 11.5 wins (hell yeah, brother), and Isiah Pacheco reclaims his full-time starting role and supplies RB15 overall goodness (VERY close but ultimately Pacheco finished as the RB56 instead).