Fantasy Fallout: Chiefs acquire DeAndre Hopkins

The fantasy implications of the Chiefs' acquisition of DeAndre Hopkins

On Wednesday morning, the Kansas City Chiefs finally gave in and traded for a receiver. JuJu Smith-Schuster's hamstring injury appeared to be the final straw for a team that spent parts of Sunday's win over the 49ers playing a three-man set of Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson and Skyy Moore . Their leading receiver in the game was Noah Gray – the only player to have more than 22 receiving yards – and Mecole Hardman was also heavily involved. Enough was enough.

The question was hinted at a bit by Nate Taylor of The Athletic in one piece yesterdaywas the recipient. We got the answer when the Chiefs brought in reliable veteran DeAndre Hopkins, who sat out parts of Sunday's loss to the Colts with “Pain in the lower leg” which looks like it could clear up before the Chiefs take on the Raiders. They only gave up a fifth-round pick, which can be converted to a fourth-round pick under certain conditions. It sounds like they wanted to buy something but didn't want to play in the big kiddie pool.

Will DeAndre Hopkins become Kansas City's No. 1 receiver right away?

Well, probably not. One has to assume that Travis Kelce's history of working with him gives him a fantasy edge over Hopkins. Hopkins, who had been dealing with an MCL injury for most of training camp, finally started to look good in Week 3 when he caught 6 of 7 targets for 73 yards and a score. Hopkins, now 32, won't give the Chiefs anything they didn't already have in Kelce. If anything, he will replicate those skills and largely replace Smith-Schuster. That's not a bad thing for Hopkins – Smith-Schuster managed just 7/130 in his last good start against the Saints on Monday night – but it does mean there will likely be days when the flow makes it to a Kelce game too makes days when it's a Hopkins game.

It absolutely puts Hopkins on the fantasy radar, to be clear: he's a WR3/FLEX option again. But it's probably a bit of a stretch to think he'll suddenly be more than that at his age, although I think the Will Levis/Brian Callahan offense has thrown into question absolutely any possibility of him being in his small selection looks good this year.

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How quickly can Hopkins adjust to playing with Patrick Mahomes?

Here is the main question. Last week's trade of Davante Adams involved a player aligning with his former teammate. Mahomes and Hopkins may have worked together at a Pro Bowl in 2018, but they don't have chemistry. That's not to say they can't mesh together quickly, Hopkins is as sharp as they come, and he's been switching back and forth between multiple offenses the last four years. Andy Reid and Matt Nagy may suffer more short misses than most teams, but it probably won't be so different from the Bill O'Brien/Kliff Kingsbury questions for Hopkins that he'll be a fish out of water.

My guess? It will take a week or two before we see what Hopkins can really do in this offense. I wouldn't rush to use him against the Raiders. But I think he offers good support and a worthwhile use as a substitute this week.

The fantasy losers in this trade: Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce

The thing about Xavier Worthy, and the reason he hasn't turned these chances into real fantasy points yet, is that he just The press coverage is currently unbeatable. I actually think this trade helps him somewhat in that he's less of a focus on defense. But we also have to admit that it completely negates any upside scenario of “the lights come on, he's the primary receiver and no one can stop him.” He's still playable, but more of a WR4 until we see sustained big target shares.

Kelce, well, this trade is a direct attack on his route tree and general area of ​​the field. Hopkins can win on the outside, but he is most dangerous when he breaks in over the middle, just like Kelce. He's still a TE1 in this country, which has no real TE1s other than PPR programs, but that's a less exciting proposition.

Skyy Moore would be a loser in this trade if I thought there was a chance he could have done something to help, but I've seen a lot of Skyy Moore over the last three years and that goes for the Chiefs too .

The fantasy winners of this trade: Well, probably just DeAndre Hopkins

The target vacuum in Tennessee that Hopkins leaves is not a high-quality fantasy target at this point. Calvin Ridley likely remains on the fantasy radar simply because of the sheer amount of targets he gets. Perhaps this is a slight improvement, but he has turned his last 17 targets into three catches for 42 yards. That's what we're dealing with here. Tyler Boyd and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine should be the other two receivers at Tennessee's three-wide. If you're excited about the prospects of Tyler Boyd without DeAndre Hopkins, let me tell you that I hope your 20-team 3-FLEX league goes well for you.

Maybe Will Levis' AC joint sprain will heal sooner rather than later, and maybe that will eventually give Ridley targets better than prayer yards. Until one of these things happens, it's hard to believe anyone other than Hopkins is a fantasy winner in this profession.