Fantasy football managers thought they were in the clear when they spent a first-round pick on star Travis Kelce, but the dreaded injury alert came screaming across devices this past week.
Week 1 is here and now fantasy managers have to make a tough decision on one of the league’s best offensive skill players. What is the latest injury update on Kelce and should we be considering him a lock for starting lineups right out of the gate?
Is Travis Kelce Playing this Week?
Editor’s Note: Kelce has now been ruled out for Thursday Night’s matchup against the Detroit Lions.
At the time of writing, it is still unclear whether or not Kelce is going to be active for this game against the Detroit Lions. Kelce suffered a reported hyperextended knee in practice on Tuesday. But the team plans on running tests Thursday morning to determine whether or not he will be able to play.
Guess who?@PatrickMahomes @TKelce
📺: #LARvsKC on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/Cv6uvjrxvK pic.twitter.com/mErTmECDgZ— NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2022
All indications are that the Chiefs could choose to inject the knee to reduce the pain and swelling, but this could lead to a significant chance of greater injury. The smart choice would be to rest Kelce for this matchup against Detroit and evaluate whether or not he’d be ready to play in Week 2 and beyond.
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However, it all comes down to the tests that the team will run this morning to determine whether or not Kelce will play this week.
Fantasy Options If Kelce Is Out This Week?
The good news for fantasy managers that drafted Kelce is that there is a surplus of available options for them to fill the starting TE role in their lineup. Unfortunately, none of them are going to put up the type of production that Kelce would…
However, the top players to target would be players in projected high-scoring affairs that could easily find the end zone to offset the loss of Kelce. This means that Sam LaPorta for the Detroit Lions should be in consideration due to the projected over/under of 52.5 points for this matchup.
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Additionally, Gerald Everett of the Los Angeles Chargers also profiles as a fine fill-in option that should be available on the majority of waiver wires out there. In a game that has a 51-point over/under at the time of writing, there’s a good chance that Justin Herbert and Everett connect for a touchdown in that one.
It’s certainly not the same as having Kelce out there for you in Week 1, but there are other TE streamers that you can turn to in a pinch.