The NFL season is set to begin Thursday night with the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, and we already have a major injury concern. ESPN’s Adam Teicher reported that Travis Kelce hyperextended his knee at Tuesday’s practice. With the season opener a mere two days away, should fantasy football managers be preparing to be without the overall TE1 this week?
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Latest News Surrounding Travis Kelce
With the Chiefs playing on Thursday night’s opening game, their final practice ahead of that contest occurs on Tuesday. Kelce tweaked his knee, which is highly unfortunate timing, as this is as close to game time as it gets.
While we don’t yet know the severity of the injury, head coach Andy Reid already expressed concern about Kelce’s availability for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions. Kelce will likely undergo an MRI, which will provide a clearer picture of how much time he will miss, if any.
Will Kelce Play This Week?
The teams’ final injury reports are due this afternoon, but we don’t need to wait for them to know that Kelce will be listed as questionable. The Chiefs aren’t known for playing games when it comes to injuries, so it’s possible we get the final word on Kelce’s status Thursday afternoon or possibly even Wednesday night.
At this point, we don’t have any definitive answer on whether Kelce will play. All I can offer is an educated guess based on two decades of playing fantasy football.
Kelce’s injury occurred a mere two days before kickoff. This is the first game of an 18-week season. As long as the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, they are going to be a playoff team. These first couple of games are not hugely important to their chances of repeating as Super Bowl Champions. I am sure you see where this is headed.
It would be a major surprise if Kelce played this week. Obviously, losing Kelce does impact their chances, but the Chiefs are still touchdown favorites and expected to win this game. Unless this injury turns out to truly be nothing, expect the Chiefs to err on the side of caution and hold Kelce out to ensure he’s 100% for the bulk of the season.
What Does This Mean for Kelce’s Fantasy Ranking?
Obviously, Kelce was the overall TE1 in our PFN Consensus Rankings, both for drafts and for Week 1. His ranking isn’t going to change. He is not playing, or he’s No. 1.
At this point, fantasy managers should prepare as if Kelce is not playing. If there is any silver lining to this, it’s that the game is on Thursday, so fantasy managers have every other available TE at their disposal to replace Kelce.
Given the Chiefs’ very weak WR corps, it is not the worst idea to look in-house and just go with Noah Gray as his replacement. Gray caught 28 passes for 299 yards last season and has shown enough for fantasy managers to believe he could post low-TE1 numbers in an every-down role.
If fantasy managers understandably don’t want to force anyone from Thursday into lineups, there are a handful of options available in more than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
Fantasy managers can look to Gerald Everett (41% rostered), Juwan Johnson (38%), Jake Ferguson (32%), and Luke Musgrave (15%) as short-term fill-ins.
MORE: 2023 Fantasy TE Rankings
I don’t anticipate Kelce’s injury being overly serious or long-term. However, he may miss 2-4 weeks out of an abundance of caution. The most prudent course of action would be to wait until Kelce is officially ruled out (which could occur anytime between now and an hour and a half before kickoff), place him on IR, and use the available spot to grab one of the TEs listed above.
Update: Ian Rapaport’s latest report all but confirmed my initial thoughts on the situation. According to Rap and Tom Pelissero, “Kelce’s status is in doubt…but it’s not believed to be a long-term injury…”
It goes without saying this is not how anyone wants to start the 2023 fantasy season. Injuries are easily the most frustrating part of fantasy football. Just remember it is a long season. Kelce will return. Hang tight and weather the storm until he does.