The Kansas City Chiefs are generally a smart offense to bet on in fantasy football. Last season, however, was a mild aberration. Even Travis Kelce went through his paces. Patrick Mahomes will always be at the top of the QB boards, but it’s fair to wonder how the individual pieces around him will perform through the cold, hard lens of fantasy.

Isiah Pecheco and Travis Kelce are the strongest, safest bets — a workhorse and the NFL’s most dominant tight end. Even after mixed results in 2023, Kelce will likely perform as well as anyone at his position. How the Chiefs’ WR room performs, however, will be the focus for many. There are plenty of golden opportunities to buy Kansas City wideouts on the cheap. If the right connection clicks with Mahomes, there could be big rewards for those who take the plunge.

There are probably three Chiefs wideouts who are actually worth investing in fantasy football: Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice and (no pun intended) Xavier Worthy. Rice is the de facto WR1 after a strong rookie season, but he’s set to be suspended for the distant future. It’s unclear when the league will actually drop the hammer, but Rice was responsible for multiple injuries in a reckless driving accident , so he’s likely to miss a significant amount of time.

As for which Chiefs wideout deserves the No. 2 spot, that’s a more complex question. Both Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy fill similar niches on paper. Small, lean, extremely explosive pass-catchers who can tear apart defenses and cause chaos after the catch. The Chiefs have room for multiple wide receivers in that mold, but chances are one of them will stand out as Mahomes’ preferred deep-ball target.

For those flipping their lineup bubble on Thursday night, Worthy is one of the best upside bets for Week 1. It’s never completely safe to rely on rookies in fantasy — especially in Week 1 — but Worthy should get a healthy target share with Hollywood on the sidelines. Brown has officially been ruled out for Thursday Night Football after injuring a shoulder in the Chiefs’ season opener. He could miss another week or two depending on unknown factors.

That immediately puts Worthy on a pedestal. It also means Worthy has been able to get more reps with Mahomes, both in practice and preseason action, since Brown’s injury. That could prove to be an early-season advantage, even after Brown returns.

In the long run, though, Brown has more experience to lean on and is a generally “safe” projection compared to the untested Worthy. Neither is particularly strong, but Brown is listed at 180 pounds. Worthy is 165. Physically, Worthy was an issue during camp and he’ll have a steep adjustment period at the NFL level. It won’t matter much if Mahomes targets Worthy, but once Brown returns, he could quickly chip away at Worthy’s weekly target share.

Both Worthy and Brown are capable of scoring a 60-yard touchdown at any given time, so there’s going to be upside every week. As for who emerges as the more stable WR2 in the Chiefs offense, Brown is probably the safest bet all season. That’s clearly not the case for Week 1, though. Add Worthy to those lineups and see if he can use his trademark speed to pick up a chunk of ground against the stingy Baltimore Ravens defense. With Mahomes throwing the ball, pretty much anything is possible.