QB Alex Smith (Kansas City)

Smith was never really on the fantasy football radar as a starter, but the arrow is trending downward for him. He lost arguably his best 3 offensive linemen this off-season and the receiving corps wasn’t fixed. He’ll have a tougher schedule this season and have more injuries around him, after the Chiefs were the healthiest team in the NFL last season. Dwayne Bowe, Smith’s best wide receiver, is already out for the opener with a suspension. Reach higher with your QB2.

3450 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 250 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns (227 pts standard)

RB Jamaal Charles (Kansas City)

Last season, Charles averaged 4.97 yards per carry on 259 yards, rushing for 1287 yards and 12 touchdowns, in addition leading the team in receiving with 70 catches for 693 yards and 7 touchdowns. In 2012, on a bad team and a year removed from a torn ACL, he averaged 5.29 yards per carry on 285 carries, rushing for 1509 yards and 5 touchdowns, a season that would have gotten much more recognition if the Chiefs had been better and if Adrian Peterson and Peyton Manning hadn’t had more impressive comeback seasons. There’s an argument to be made that he’s the best running back in football. His 5.58 career yards per carry are the highest all-time by a modern era running back (1960-today). Jim Brown comes in 2nd and even the legendary Brown averaged “just” 5.22 yards per carry.

Charles will probably never be a 300+ carry back under Andy Reid, but the Chiefs pass to the running back enough to make up for it. There are some concerns here though. I already mentioned the Chiefs’ declining offensive line in front of him. It’s also just very tough to count on your star running back to do everything on offense. The 5-10 200 pound back now has 649 touches in 2 seasons back from that torn ACL and he could be wearing out a little bit going into his age 28 season. Injuries are always a concern with running backs though and there are few safer top-3 running backs than Charles.

250 carries for 1300 yards, 12 total touchdowns, 61 catches for 540 yards (256 pts standard)

WR Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City)

Dwayne Bowe was supposed to have the best season of his career last year. Bowe has always been able to put up big numbers, catching 415 passes for 5728 yards and 39 touchdowns in 88 games in his career before last season, despite playing with the likes of Brodie Croyle, Damon Huard, Tyler Thigpen, Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko, Kyle Orton, and Brady Quinn at quarterback. However, last year with Smith, arguably the best quarterback he’s ever played with, he managed just 57 passes for 673 yards and 5 touchdowns. He and Smith showed terrible chemistry and Bowe looked out of shape after getting a big off-season contract. There’s been talk that he could bounce back this year, but off-season reports have been mixed, he’s going into his age 30 season, and he’s going to miss the opener with a suspension. I don’t expect much more from him this season.

61 catches for 760 yards and 7 touchdowns (118 pts standard)

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