DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs Fantasy Stock After Trade

It's been a rough season for fantasy football managers who bet on the Kansas City Chiefs offense, but there's reason to be optimistic that things will get better going forward.

Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs are acquiring wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick that can become a fourth-round selection.

Hopkins is no longer the dominant fantasy star that he was during his peak, but he proved last year that he can still be a valuable player despite dealing an unstable quarterback situation in Tennessee.

Things are much less certain for the incumbent pass-catchers like Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy because they've been part of an offense that has contributed to Patrick Mahomes averaging a career-low 231.5 passing yards per game, leading the NFL with eight interceptions and only having six touchdown passes through six games.

Hopkins' stock immediately receives a huge boost because he's going from a Titans team that has been starting Will Levis and Mason Rudolph to playing with Mahomes.

The Chiefs will likely be looking for Hopkins to fill the role that opened up when Rashee Rice suffered a knee injury in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Rice's 33.7 percent target share at the time of the injury was the second-highest in the NFL. He had effectively taken over the role that Kelce used to have but no longer seemed capable of handling because of his age and physical decline.

Hopkins won't have the explosiveness that Rice did after the catch because he's never been a speed merchant, and it's unlikely he has gotten faster now that he's 32. But he still has some of the most reliable hands of any pass-catcher in the NFL.

Kelce's fantasy value might go down slightly, if it changes at all. It looked like he was going to be an elite fantasy producer once again in the wake of Rice's injury. He finished in the top five among all tight ends in PPR scoring in Weeks 4 and 5, but he was back down to the TE29 in Week 7 with 5.7 points against the San Francisco 49ers.

You shouldn't drop Kelce since tight end isn't overflowing with high-end production in fantasy, but he's more matchup-dependent at this point in his career. Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders sounds appealing on paper because they don't have a good defense overall, but they allow the seventh-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends.

Mahomes should benefit from the addition of Hopkins, but he wasn't very effective as a fantasy player when Rice was healthy because of the turnovers. The three-time Super Bowl MVP is the 22nd-ranked quarterback overall, and he has yet to score 20 fantasy points in a game this season.

The list of quarterbacks with at least one 20-point game includes Daniel Jones, Derek Carr, Andy Dalton, Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco, Drake Maye and Malik Willis.

The turnovers have really held Mahomes back in reality and fantasy this season. That was a problem when Rice was on the field. He will stop throwing interceptions at some point, but he has at least one in 17 of his last 23 games dating back to the start of 2023.

Mahomes hasn't had consecutive games without an interception since Weeks 14 and 15 of the 2022 season. His situation is similar to Kelce in that you're not going to waive him, but maybe keep him as a No. 2 quarterback on your bench until he looks reliable in fantasy again.

As for the team that traded Hopkins, the Titans didn't have many good fantasy options to begin with. Tony Pollard is the most reliable one, and he's the No. 23 running back so far this season.

Calvin Ridley might get a slight boost, but targets weren't his problem playing alongside Hopkins so much as the Titans just don't have a quarterback who can get him the ball. His 36 targets are 12 more than any other wide receiver on the roster, but that has only translated to 12 receptions for 183 yards and one touchdown.

The frustration has shown at times for Ridley, who sounded off after a Week 6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He did later explain that his anger was due to frustration with loss, not anything against his teammates or coaches.

Running back Tyjae Spears might have some low-end fantasy value in PPR leagues because he has caught all 12 of his targets so far this season. His target share might go up without Hopkins on the roster, but it's best to take a wait-and-see approach with his role before rushing to the waiver wire to pick him up.