KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

OFF SEASON CHANGES

Despite missing the playoffs the front office knows they’re still in a Championship window with Patrick Mahomes around. They did have a major secondary overhaul after losing Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to the Rams. The big signing was getting Kenneth Walker III, fresh off winning Super Bowl MVP with Seattle, to fix a struggling ground game. He could have a massive season especially with the Chiefs wanting to protect Mahomes from running the ball. They also traded for Justin Fields as insurance behind Mahomes, and extended Mahomes' own contract through 2033 in a $504.75 million deal.

QUATERBACKS

2025 was Patrick Mahomes’ worst season as a pro. He finished with lows in passing yards (3587), completion percentage (62.7%), touchdowns (22) and touchdown rate (4.4%). Obviously these numbers aren’t terrible, but it was a tough season for Mahomes prior to his injury. The reports from training camp are that he’s going to be fully ready for Week 1, but he’s going to look after himself more this season. Mahomes said he ran the ball too much in 2025 and we can expect him to pass or hand the ball off much more in 2026. Another consideration is that Justin Fields is now in KC to back up Mahomes. He won’t be used to pass much, but I can bet you that Andy Reid will get him involved in the offense. Fields is too good of an athlete to not try and get it to work.

RUNNING BACKS

Kenneth Walker III arrives after a Super Bowl MVP performance in Seattle to give Kansas City a real ground-game identity after ranking 25th in rushing yards a season ago. He’ll be a bell-cow RB1, especially with Isiah Pacheco moving on to the Lions. I can’t believe Walker is +110 for 1000+ rushing yards. Everything points to the Chiefs running the ball more and he is really their only established option. The Chiefs took Emmett Johnson in the draft with pick 161 but we don’t know what to expect from him yet. Emari Demercado also arrives from the Cardinals and could be a decent backup but this is Walker’s backfield to run. As mentioned, I expect the Chiefs to work up some plays for Justin Fields from the backfield which is a dangerous though for opposition defenses.

RECEIVERS

Once again it’s a receiver room that is one injury away from being really weak. Rashee Rice is obviously a great player, but he has both injury and discipline issues to his name. When he’s at his best and healthy, he’s a clear number 1 option. Rice had 571 yards and 5 TDs in just eight games last season. There have been mixed reports from camp about Rice, but he will definitely be WR1. Xavier Worthy is also a big talent but he doesn’t have the physicality to be a top receiver. He’s extremely quick but Mahomes just hasn’t had enough time to get the ball downfield in the past few seasons. He’s also struggled to stay healthy for a full season. Behind Rice and Worthy it starts to look really thin, with Tyquan Thornton the next man up. Travis Kelce returns for what could be his final year but he’s no longer the unstoppable force of his prime. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Noah Gray surpass him in receiving yards this season. Rookie WR Cyrus Allen has had some buzz about him from camp too.

DEFENCE

Kansas City ranked just 22nd in sacks (35) and lost two starting cornerbacks this offseason, but Chris Jones remains a dominant force up front and Steve Spagnuolo's scheme has produced top-10 defenses as recently as 2023-24. L'Jarius Sneed returns for a second stint to help stabilize a secondary that took real hits in free agency.