The Kansas City Chiefs will face the Carolina Panthers in Week 12. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Chiefs skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 12 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Patrick Mahomes, QB
Patrick Mahomes can be the most feared quarterback in real life while also being an afterthought in our game, and that is the space in which he is currently living. What do these quarterbacks have in common?
Yes, they’ve all been benched this season, that’s factually accurate. But they all also have more top-10 finishes this season than Mahomes, how crazy is that?
It goes without saying that nothing about this matchup is intimidating, but the flaws that have presented themselves all season long could be magnified on Sunday — the need for big numbers. With Kansas City a double-digit road favorite, there’s even more risk than normal that No. 15 won’t be relied on at the rate we need. I have Mahomes ranked as my QB12 this week, putting him right on the fringe.
- QB9: Bo Nix (at LV)
- QB10: Baker Mayfield (at NYG)
- QB11: Tua Tagovailoa (vs. NE)
- QB12: Patrick Mahomes (at CAR)
- QB13: Jordan Love (vs. SF)
- QB14: Drake Maye (at MIA)
Isiah Pacheco, RB
Including the playoffs, Isiah Pacheco is averaging 18.45 PPR points per game over his past 10 games. That would be RB5 this season, just ahead of Kenneth Walker III, Bijan Robinson, and Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Chiefs have been projecting a late November return for Pacheco (leg), and news broke on Sunday that the expectation is for him to return to action this weekend.
I, however, find it unlikely that Pacheco will assume an elite workload immediately upon his return. Kansas City’s record gives them a luxury with their RB1 that a team like San Francisco didn’t have.
That buys Kareem Hunt managers at least one more week of fantasy viability.
Stay close to the reporting, but I’m tentatively expecting a Week 13 return to fantasy lineups. Pacheco should be on the field this week, but with a short week coming up (they play on Black Friday against the Raiders), I’m not plugging him in right away.
Week 13 is not only a good matchup, but it gives Pacheco additional time to recover before a Week 14 showdown with the Chargers and approach his top form when the Chiefs need it most.
Kareem Hunt, RB
Volume has been the name of the game for Kareem Hunt this season, a calling card that has been safe since he joined the team.
NFL rush attempt leaders, Weeks 4-11:
- Derrick Henry: 141 (6.4 yards per carry)
- Kareem Hunt: 139 (3.7)
- Kyren Williams: 137 (4.3)
- Saquon Barkley: 134 (5.9)
The inefficiency hasn’t been a damning thing for fantasy managers up to this point, but with Isiah Pacheco expected back, we could be looking at this house of cards collapsing in short order.
I have Hunt ranked over Pacheco this week as the presumed starter works his way back to game shape, but my intention is to flip that next week, with Hunt at risk of falling outside of my top 30.
With the Chiefs more focused on late January than late November, I’d be shocked if we saw Pacheco come back the same way as Christian McCaffrey. You can squeeze one, maybe two if you’re lucky, more week out of Hunt — he’s my RB20 for Week 12 against the second-worst defense in terms of running back rushing rate (4.9% of carries).
DeAndre Hopkins, WR
The Chiefs went out of their way to feature DeAndre Hopkins against the Buccaneers in Week 9 (nine targets on 34 routes), but some of the shine has worn off of the veteran WR since (nine targets on 49 routes). Hopkins’ slot role has declined in consecutive weeks, and while I’d like that to reverse course, he’s still the unquestioned WR1 for a team that is labeled a double-digit road favorite this week.
The Panthers own the worst defense at creating pressure without the courtesy of a blitz. You either let Mahomes pick you apart or bring an extra defender and leave a player like Hopkins in advantageous coverage situations. I’m fine with betting on that projected offensive setting and have Nuk ranked as a WR2 in PPR formats.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR
JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) is coming off a “good week” of practice ahead of Week 11 and is tentatively expecting to return to action this week.
We saw one good game from the slot receiver (7-130-0 against the Saints over a month ago) and got excited about what he could be in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense, but those days seem to be behind us.
Not only has DeAndre Hopkins shown comfort, but Isiah Pacheco is due back as well, leaving a low-volume role at best for a banged-up receiver who hasn’t produced viable fantasy numbers in 1.5 years.
If you’re holding onto Smith-Schuster as a way to be tied to this Kansas City offense, you have one more week. Maybe he can exploit this matchup and prove worthy of a roster spot, but the slot is the one spot where the Panthers have been above average (ninth-lowest touchdown rate and fourth-fewest yards per completion).
Smith-Schuster is off my Week 12 radar, though I’m open to the idea of him hanging onto the back end of PPR rosters.
Xavier Worthy, WR
Counting on Xavier Worthy at this point is a good way to make Sunday less fun. He has all the potential in the world, and yet, things are never easy. Even in a week in which he was ultimately productive (68 yards and a touchdown), you get plays like this that have the potential to swing fantasy matchups.
Xavier Worthy dragged his foot before he caught the ball, would have been a huge play pic.twitter.com/95lFV2IAKU
— Tedd Buddwell 🏀🏈 (@TedBuddy8) November 17, 2024
The optimist will point out that he is in a position to make these errors — with experience, hopefully, they get solved. But it’s been a maddening year. Nothing about this matchup, obviously, scares you, as the Panthers allow the third-highest opponent passer rating on deep passes (124.1 with an 11.3% touchdown rate). That puts the Kansas City burner on Flex radars, but we’ve learned through 11 weeks that it won’t be easy.
The path to playing Worthy is your roster construction. If you have star players with an elevated floor (Derrick Henry, Amon-Ra St. Brown, etc.), you can afford to take a shot like this. If you’re relying on options like Zay Flowers or Malik Nabers, I’d rather use this starring spot for a little more stability. Worthy posted a sub-60% snap share last week, just the third time he has done that, and a potential clue that these types of plays are wearing down the Chiefs as well.
Play him for the splash-play potential but proceed with caution.
Travis Kelce, TE
After three straight top-three TE finishes and sucking us back in, Travis Kelce laid an egg that could have easily cost you a critical matchup. In the game of the week, the veteran turned a 78.8% snap share into two catches and eight yards, being outgained through the air by everyone’s favorite No. 88 in recent memory … Peyton Hendershot!
The fantasy performance was Kelce’s second-worst of his career when seeing at least four targets. On the bright side, he has followed each of his past two single-digit games with a TE3 finish.
It’s OK to be frustrated, but I’d encourage you to avoid making any rage-based decisions.