Editor’s update: Mahomes did not suffer any significant additional damage to his dislocated knee cap, per NFL Network. Here’s a look at a potential timeline.
The Kansas City Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes to a knee injury in Week 7, and he could miss anywhere from three weeks to the full season. We’ll find out more after his MRI on Monday, but in the meantime, we’ll know he will miss at least some amount of time.
Matt Moore took over as starting quarterback for the Chiefs and finished with a decent outing. He completed 10 of 19 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown, connecting with Tyreek Hill on a beautiful 57-yard catch-and-run score. The Chiefs defense keyed the team’s win over Denver after Mahomes left, but Moore played his part just fine.
The Chiefs have plenty of questions to answer, but fantasy football owners have questions as well. Mahomes was the first quarterback selected in basically every 2019 fantasy football draft, and there’s a decent chance he’s on a playoff contender in your league.
His absence will swing some of those teams in a big way, but it also will impact the Chiefs various skill position players. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce were the big playmakers in the passing game, while LeSean McCoy has been emerging as the Chiefs starter at running back over Damien Williams.
On Thursday, Hill had the 57-yards touchdown reception and had a solid outing with 16.4 points in DraftKings DFS and traditional PPR leagues and 13.4 in standard leagues. All of his production came after Moore entered the game. Travis Kelce had six catches on eight targets for 44 yards, with two catches on four targets for 14 yards coming after Moore came in. LeSean McCoy finished the game with 12 rushes for 64 yards.
Tyreek Hill remains a must start in fantasy football until Moore proves he can otherwise downgrade the speedster. Travis Kelce also remains a must start regardless of matchup. After that, we’re at a point where you have to pick and choose your spots. McCoy appears to be the starting running back, while Damien Williams has lost most of his fantasy value for the time being.
Sammy Watkins should be back next week from his hamstring injury, and he vaults ahead of Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, and Byron Pringle. The question of how any of them will look with Matt Moore at quarterback is difficult to determine for the time being. The bigger question for now, pending MRI results, is how much time Mahomes will miss.