Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Smith-Schuster Fantasy Outlook After Tyreek Hill Trade

The Patrick Mahomes-Tyreek Hill connection is no more.

The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to trade their Pro Bowl wideout to the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday for five draft picks, highlighted by first- and second-rounders in the 2022 draft, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The blockbuster came together quickly after the Chiefs and Hill failed to find terms on a long-term contract. It's also the second massive trade of a top wideout in the last week, with the Green Bay Packers trading Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders on March 18.

While there are several actual football implications to this move, we also have to address a question on everyone's mind: How will this impact fantasy teams?

First thing's first: Patrick Mahomes is no longer in the conversation for the top fantasy quarterback in 2022. There will be talk of Mecole Hardman sliding into Hill's role in the offense, but we're three years into Hardman's NFL career with him only showing occasional flashes of production. He's not a 1-to-1 replacement and has only 12 touchdowns in 49 career games; the offense is getting much worse in the interim losing Hill.

Mahomes' rushing production is solid but not enough to obscure the likely dip in big-play production. Josh Allen is the no-questions-asked QB1 heading into 2022. Mahomes slots in, at best, at QB2 and could even be behind Justin Herbert if you feel better about the Los Angeles Chargers' weapons.

Juju Smith-Schuster sees a bump up in his potential production in Kansas City but not an exponential one. Smith-Schuster is a possession slot receiver coming off an injury-plagued 2021. He's a low-end WR2 at this juncture with upside in PPR leagues. 

As for Travis Kelce? Well, dude's going to continue to ball. He's a first-round pick in any format thanks to position scarcity and his massive production. The loss of Hill doesn't seem likely to create some massive new opportunity for Kelce, with most of his catches coming over the middle of the field.

That said, we can put a rubber stamp on him being back over the 100-catch mark in 2022.