Team news: Kansas City Chiefs | Page 15

Isiah Pacheco’s offseason surgeries have kept him off the field for organized team activities (OTAs) — and reigning December and January AFC offensive player of the month Jerick McKinnon has not been spotted at any of the three sessions open to media viewing.

That has led to critical reps for Deneric Prince, who is working with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and La’Mical Perine.

While the UDFA Prince is most likely an addition for special teams purposes, any running back with a role in the Cheifs' offense is enough to perk our ears. After all, Pacheco was the team's second-to-last selection in the 2022 NFL Draft and the fantasy community drooled over him all of last offseason.

Keep Prince on your radar and maybe scour your Dynasty waiver wires just in case.

Per Zac, Elijah Moore was frequently targeted by Deshaun Watson throughout Wednesday's practice, mostly on quick passes. Their best connection of the day came in a red-zone 7-on-7 period for a touchdown as Moore used a double move and turned to see the ball delivered right where he wanted it. The Browns are clearly stressing three things: fast tempo, an attacking mindset on defense, and feeding wide receiver Moore.

Related Players: Marquise Brown, David Bell, Donovan Peoples-Jones

Jackson would continue later in the article; "We’re seeing Moore line up in different spots and plenty of Moore going in motion. How his exact role shakes out remains to be seen, but from two open practices, it’s clear the Browns want to get him the ball on short passes and let him create."

This is good news for Moore and those of us who wanted to see him get another chance after his interesting talent set was left to die on the vine while catching passes from the Zach Wilsons of the world. If the Browns really do use him in the inside and outside, there is a chance we can see Moore in some 2WR sets this season.

This has been the hope for DeAndre Hopkins for some time. The Cardinals had trade talks for months, and they heated up before the draft. Ultimately, no deal. Now, he's a free agent.

Related Players: Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, Michael Wilson

We will have to wait and see what other team will be heavily impacted by the eventual signing of Hopkins, but as of now we can expect a target increase for each of Brown, Moore, and, likely, third-round rookie Michael Wilson.

The players projected at the top of the depth chart are Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore. But Mahomes, at this point, doesn’t know which of his teammates is the favorite to be the No. 4 receiver. Rookie Rashee Rice, a second-round pick, didn’t make any major mistakes Wednesday and caught an easy touchdown pass from backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Receivers Richie James and Justyn Ross were also impressive with their targets.

Related Players: John Ross

This is an interesting observation from beat writer Nate Taylor, as the current order of the KC depth chart according to Underdog ADP is; Toney, Moore, Rice, MVS, Richie James. Not only that, but Rice is going almost three entire rounds prior to Valdes-Scantling even though it seems he may be behind him in 3WR-sets.

We're still very early in the process and the rookie could very easily find the field more as the summer months move on, but MVS might need to be in higher consideration.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said Saturday the team expects running back Javonte Williams to be ready for the start of training camp, the most optimistic timeline given yet for the third-year starter recovering from a major knee injury he suffered last October.

Related Players: Samaje Perine, Tony Jones

Williams, a second-round pick in 2021, suffered an ACL tear in Week 4 against the Raiders last season and sustained other damage in the knee as well. Being ready for the start of training camp would represent a relatively rapid recovery for Williams, whose absence was felt significantly by Denver’s league-worst offense last season.

We'll need more positive reports before we can feel wholly comfortable drafting Williams in ongoing best ball leagues. It still feels very likely that the team may add an additional veteran piece to this equation.

Zac Taylor and OC Brian Callahan repeatedly brought up Trayveon Williams when asked about Samaje Perine's replacement

Lines like "The more investment we've given him with playing time, the more he's paid off"

Related Players: Chris Evans

With the legal issues still hanging over Joe Nixon's head, this is incredibly important from a fantasy perspective. Perine had a large roll in the offense that increased even further in the NFL Playoffs. Williams is being drafted a huge 50 picks after Chase Brown in current Underdog drafts, and 16 picks after Chris Evans.

Even if wele don't boost Williams way up the rankings, we should be keeping our eye on this situation.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ interest in wide receiver Kadarius Toney goes back well before they acquired him in a trade last season with the New York Giants. They were hopeful he would fall to them in the 2021 draft and then tried to trade for him last spring before finally getting him out of New York last fall.

It’s no surprise then that the Chiefs believe Toney is first in line to be their next No. 1 wide receiver.

Related Players: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson, Richie James, Rashee Rice

The sky is truly the limit if Toney truly secures the position of being Patrick Mahomes' number one target. Though we did see in the first season without Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs didn't necessarily operate in the way that had with Hill; they spread the ball around much more. Juju Smith-Schuster technically operated as the WR1, but he finished as the WR41 in half-PPR points per game (9.1).

Toney's explosiveness should yield a better result if he is often the first read.

The Chiefs have officially re-signed RB Jerick McKinnon today. McKinnon played an integral role for the Super Bowl champs last year, leading the team with 9 TD catches, and was named a team captain during the playoffs.

Related Players: Isiah Pacheco, Clyde Edwards-Helaire

As we can expect, it's a yearly occurrence that the fantasy community clamors over who the Chiefs could take at running back during the draft, and once again, it was a low priority in 2023. Outside of UDFA Deneric Prince, the team didn't bother with the position, leaving the incumbents another chance to prove themselves.

McKinnon had eight TD receptions in Weeks 13-18 last season, and is in a great spot to continue his success in the passing game out of the backfield.

Cardinals’ general manager Monti Ossenfort said that he doesn’t expect to trade DeAndre Hopkins at any point during this week's draft.

Related Players: Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, Zach Pascal

Kyler Murray got protection in the form of OT Paris Johnson on Night 1, but he still may be losing his biggest offensive piece before long. The entirety of the offense would immediately become suspect if that were to happen, with Murray missing time and a middling WR room behind Hopkins

Boston College WR Zay Flowers - Mel Kiper’s No. 10 overall prospect - is in Texas today to workout with Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes at the request of the team. Flowers believed his pre-draft process was over after visiting the Titans on Tuesday…until the Chiefs called.

There haven't been many mocks that point towards the Chiefs aiming for Zay Flowers, but that's mostly because he doesn't tend to last until the 31st pick. If he slips, or if Kansas City moves up to grab him, it would be an incredible boost to his fantasy stock.