Kansas City Chiefs 2022 Fantasy Football Rookie Roundup

Patrick Mahomes Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs moved on from star wide receiver Tyreek Hill this offseason and replaced him with flotsam (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) and jetsam (JuJu Smith-Schuster) during free agency. They ended up taking another early wide receiver in the draft to shore up their depth chart, and a depth running back at the end of the draft. What can fantasy football managers expect from Skyy Moore and Isaih Pacheco in their 2022 campaigns?

FULL KANSAS CITY CHIEFS DRAFT RESULTS
Rd. Pick Player Pos. College
1 21 Trent McDuffie CB Washington
1 30 George Karlaftis DE Purdue
2 54 Skyy Moore WR Western Michigan
2 62 Bryan Cook S Cincinnati
3 103 Leo Chenal LB Wisconsin
4 135 Joshua Williams CB Fayetteville St.
5 145 Darian Kinnard OT Kentucky
7 243 Jaylen Watson DB Washington St.
7 251 Isaih Pacheco RB Rutgers
7 259 Nazeeh Johnson S Marshall
Round 2, Pick 54 Overall: Skyy Moore, Wide Receiver, Western Michigan (5’10” 195 lbs)
Depth Chart:
WR1:     JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR2:     Skyy Moore
WR3:     Mecole Hardman
WR4:     Marquez Valdes-Scantling
TALENT

Skyy Moore has an extremely appropriate name because he reminds me a ton of Elijah Moore from last season, but with a little bit extra verticality, making him Skylijah Moore, overall. He is fast, athletic, and shifty, though a bit undersized for the position. But, he absolutely snatches souls at the line of scrimmage to make up for his lack of size. After all, it doesn’t matter how big you are if you’re 3 yards from the closest defender when you catch the football. He isn’t very strong, but that isn’t the game he plays. Moore has fast feet, making him extremely shifty and adept at making defenders miss (he forced 26 missed tackles in 2021), but don’t expect him to step into Tyreek Hill’s shoes and replace him play-for-play.

2022 OPPORTUNITY

Skyy Moore might have some trouble getting targets to start the season. He has to contend with a suddenly-crowded Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver room that no longer has a #1 receiver in Tyreek Hill. Instead, he will enter one of several #2 receivers in the room, with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Mecole Hardman all jockeying with Moore for targets in that room. Moore is likely to defeat at least two of those players for targets and has a chance to usurp all three. He will get a chance to ply his wares, but he might need some time to get running, meaning you’ll need to have some patience with Moore.

2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK

Moore is a prime stash-and-hold player as the potential #1 wide receiver in the Chiefs’ offense. Unfortunately, anything less than that has been a recipe for a roster clog that you eventually drop. If a solidified WR1 in Kansas City emerges who isn’t Skyy Moore, you can move on from him. But, should the Chiefs change their strategy to be a team of #2s instead of a solidified Alpha Wide Receiver, then Moore could have value there, as well.

TALENT
2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 7, Pick 251 Overall: Isaih Pacheco, Running Back, Rutgers (5’10” 216 lbs)
TALENT

If you look at Isaih Pacheco on a football field, he looks the part of a stud running back. He played the part, too, as he was a Rutgers mainstay for years. Unfortunately, Pacheco’s picture gets less rosy as things progress. He is a super unnatural runner, who looks uncomfortable trying to run on a football field. He has two speeds: trying to find the edge and blasting as hard as he can toward the end zone. He moves too fast for his brain to process what is happening, which leads to a lot of unnatural running and Pacheco desperately trying to find the right place to run forward. Unfortunately, this mostly leads to him edging towards the end zone as he gets pushed towards the sideline. Pacheco is also dreadful trying to catch the football.

2022 OPPORTUNITY

The Chiefs have too many cooks in the kitchen to begin with, what with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Ronald Jones, and Derrick Gore all kicking around back there (plus the inevitable Darrel Williams return). There isn’t much left for a guy that is all freneticism with very few translatable skills at the NFL level. He could get a start here or there if the team completely falls apart, but it’s far more likely that they look elsewhere rather than giving Pacheco a bulk of carries should the depth chart fall apart entirely.

2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK

He’s likely topping out at 50 touches. There’s nothing to see here.

TALENT
2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
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About Jeff Krisko

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