Reports confirmed Patrick Mahomes sustained a torn ACL in his left knee Sunday during the Chiefs' 16-13 loss to the Chargers that ended their playoff hopes.
No. 15's 2025 season is now over, and he's unlikely to return until sometime deep into the 2026-27 season.
For fantasy football players, Mahomes' injury not only eliminates the typical starter (even in KC's down season) from weekly lineup consideration. It has a huge ripple effect on the rest of the offense, which holds plenty of skill players that fantasy players rely on at least occasionally.
Gardner Minshew II is expected to take over at quarterback as the Chiefs play out the string in a lost season.
How will the knee injury impact Mahomes' fantasy value next season for redraft and dynasty leagues? Should you start any Chiefs running backs or wide receivers, in addition to their star tight end?
Keep reading for the fantasy fallout following Mahomes' season-ending injury.
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Patrick Mahomes 2026 fantasy outlook: redraft, dynasty
Now that his 2026 year is done, Mahomes fantasy managers in dynasty/keeper leagues must look ahead to figure out plans for next season.
Per AllSportsPeople' coverage, Daniel Mader estimated Mahomes' ACL recovery time, citing general estimations within these examples:
The expectation, given typical ACL recovery timelines, is that Mahomes will miss the beginning of the 2026 season, on top of the rest of 2025. Eight months, an optimistic outlook for the injury, would mean a July or August return, before the 2026 season, but 11 or 12 months, a tougher outlook, would slot him in to return in November or December of 2026.
With more updates needed during the long wait until 2026 NFL training camps, Mahomes tentatively ranks as a mere middle- to late-rounds pick in redraft leagues, ideally as a stash on an injured reserve spot for a late-season return.
Turning only 31 next September, Mahomes still has plenty to offer in long-term fantasy games, though his managers who want to try for a league title in 2026 will now need a backup plan -- or leave him off their keeper list altogether.
Mahomes could become an interesting trade target for those considering playing 2026 as a punt year to position themselves for a top draft pick among the highly regarded 2027 rookie class (hello, Jeremiah Smith).
If Mahomes' current fantasy manager plans to enter next season in win-now mode, anyone who's tanking in 2026 could trade for Mahomes with the mindset that he'll be at full strength for 2027. This could give you a huge payoff.
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Chiefs 2025 outlook for fantasy playoffs
The typical fantasy league playoffs continue into Week 16 and the widely played championship in Week 17. Kansas City visit the Titans on Sunday and hosts the Broncos on Christmas.
Travis Kelce
Despite his one-catch, 8-yard dud in Week 14, Kelce has still put up respectatble fantasy weeks since the bye, with three top-10 and two top-5 fantasy finishes at his position, including a respectable 7-catch, 70-yard output on 9 touches.
Minshew more commonlty showcases gunslinger tendencies, frequently challenging secondaries downfield, but he'll know to look for No. 87.
The Broncos and Titans haven't necessarily wilted consistently against the position this season but have enough holes in their defensive backfields to keep Kelce among the 10 best fantasy tight ends regardless of quarterback, more strongly in point-per-reception (PPR) setups.
Rashee Rice
Like Kelce, Rice can make a fantasy living on midrange targets, but he remains capable of taking on deep shots when appropriate.
The Titans have been one of the easiest fantasy doormats for WR production this year and should go a long way toward keeping Rice in WR3 territory, at minimum. Still worth starting.
Gardner Minshew
The Titans and Broncos matchups display a near virtual best-to-worst change in QB fantasy matchups.
Of course, given that NFL byes are over, Minshew should only get lineup consideration in the deepest of 1-QB leagues where streaming pays off (only for Week 16) or superflex/2QB games where the quarterback position holds a significant advantage over the typical RB/WR/TE flex options.
He's still worth a fantasy waiver wire pickup, though, to bolster your depth.
Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Kareem Hunt
The secondary Chiefs skill players should continue swapping production based on game flow. Minshew isn't a checkdown QB, so Hunt may have to rely on his normal workload as a fantasy RB2/flex.
Worthy's opportunity share has already been docked by Rice being available for a full season, and he's at best a desperation play and a long-term dynasty buy if you can stash him in a deep league.
Brown also ranks as a dart throw, depending on whether he can come back after missing Week 15 due to a personal matter.
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Chiefs 2026 dynasty fantasy outlook
This is a bit free-form and yet to be concrete, but we can examine several avenues.
- Whispers about Kelce retiring after this season are growing louder.
- 2026 marks a contract year for Rashee Rice; will the Chiefs lock him in as their WR1?
- And where does Rice's status leave Xavier Worthy, the 2024 breakout rookie who's endured a sophomore slump with the offensive struggles? Rice and Worthy remain keepable, but Rice much more strongly; Worthy is best left as a keeper for deeper rosters and leagues, barring any other roster changes (Kelce retiring?) That would bolster his value and opportunity share.
Kansas City's future as a dynasty and competitor is in flux, and their fantasy stars face similar uncertainty that we'll cover as the months go by.
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