For the past nine seasons, the AFC West has been separated into two groups: the Kansas City Chiefs and not the Kansas City Chiefs. Some other competitors have come close to scaring the Chiefs, but none have been able to topple the juggernaut led by Andy Reid. And yet, 2025 may finally bring change to this division.
The non-Chief contenders have slowly built up their rosters and hit on their important draft picks. Each team finally feels confident in its chances to take the division. We, as fantasy managers, get to reap the benefits of a hyper-competitive division. There’s a lot to like about the AFC West this season, and it’s time to take a look at this fantasy-rich group.
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2025 Fantasy Football Divisional Breakdowns – AFC West
Kansas City Chiefs
Looking Back on 2024
Would you look at that – the Kansas City Chiefs, once again, made it to the Super Bowl. Mahomes and company fought their way through an uncharacteristically low-scoring season (10 games were decided by a touchdown or less). As a by-product of this, the Chiefs were, oddly enough, a team without a ton of consistent options for fantasy.
Patrick Mahomes set the tone for the rest of the group, finishing as the QB11. This would be the first time Mahomes has finished outside the top 10 after a full season of play. Travis Kelce finished as the TE6. The Pacheco injury set him back all the way to RB63. Likewise, Rashee Rice also tumbled down the rankings, ending as WR98 thanks to a leg injury. Kareem Hunt managed to finish as the RB30, and Xavier Worthy had a solid rookie campaign ending as the WR33. This is not what you would expect from a normally high-flying Kansas City offense.
Looking Forward to 2025
The Chiefs need to find their groove. If not for themselves, but certainly for us fantasy football managers. This team has relied heavily on their defense to bail them out of games and we are sick of seeing these low-scoring affairs. They scored 30 points just twice this past year. Twice! We need to see a change in 2025. A lot of the core are coming back for another round with Mahomes, meaning we could see a bounce back from all of the usual suspects – and maybe even a few new faces will emerge!
Fantasy Relevant Players
Patrick Mahomes, QB
Patrick Mahomes is one of the best quarterbacks of all time, and he’s not even close to being done. For fantasy purposes, it’s tough to overlook the slower pace of play from Kansas City and its impact on Mahomes’ value. We are all hoping he can get back to slinging the rock up and down the field to routinely put up 300 yards and 3 TDs. The reality is that they don’t need him to do that. He will be a very startable asset in fantasy, just need to temper expectations.
Xavier Worthy, WR
I remember sitting there during my home league draft thinking “I would feel so stupid if I don’t draft Mahomes’ next deep threat”. For the first few weeks, I was half correct. It wasn’t until an injury to Rashee Rice that we saw the ascension of Worthy. The second year wide out should continue to carve out a rather large role in this offense.
Fantasy Question Marks
Rashee Rice, WR
Rashee Rice is undeniably the WR1 on this offense when he’s on the field. The reason why he’s under the “Question Marks” section is that we don’t know when we will see him back on a football field. Between a potential suspension still looming over the horizon and escaping training camp without a nagging groin injury, Rice might be someone that you have to gamble on in drafts. The upside is exciting, but no one ever wants to burn a draft pick in those pivotal middle rounds.
Travis Kelce, TE
Man. It’s crazy to think we might be at the end of an era with Kelce. One of the most dominant fantasy tight ends ever, Kelce is falling in drafts as managers aren’t sure if he can bring that same elite presence to their roster. What we can say is that Kelce is still going to be a part of the KC offensive plan. We just have to hope he’s got a couple more touchdowns in him before he retires.
Isiah Pacheco, RB
The world’s angriest runner was sidelined for most of last season, and on his eventual return, it looked like he was only mildly perturbed at the ground rather than his usual spiteful self. Pacheco appears to be fully healthy at camp, but drafters are still a bit wary. The backfield is oddly murky despite Pacheco most likely remaining the RB1 heading into the season. Maybe all of this doubt will refuel him and make him angrier than ever.
Kareem Hunt, RB
It’s been a while since Hunt has been a good play for fantasy. In 2024, he was fine, mainly as a product of necessity for those managers who lost Pacheco early in the year. He returns in 2025 to complicate this backfield, and it’s pretty obnoxious for us managers to sort through this all. It’ll be interesting to see where his usage lands as the season gets underway.
Brashard Smith, RB
Another year, another day three rookie running back to get excited about for the Chiefs. This year, it’s SMU’s WR-turned-RB Brashard Smith. The rookie represents a fun new option as a receiving threat out of the backfield. He’s the unknown commodity that the fantasy community loves to bet on, even if history tells us that he won’t be relevant for quite a while. Still, he’s a versatile player on one of the best offenses in football, so we have to take note and watch him to see if anything’s there.
Fantasy Long Shots
Elijah Mitchell (RB), Juju Smith-Schuster (WR), Hollywood Brown (WR), Jalen Royals (WR), Noah Gray (TE)
The depth RB chart seems to be pretty set in stone, but Elijah Mitchell isn’t really a camp body. We’ve seen Mitchell be awesome for fantasy when he was given the reins in San Francisco. Reports haven’t mentioned much of him so far, just make sure he’s on the team before grabbing him in the last round of drafts.
The wide receiver depth chart is just as packed as the running back depth chart. Much like Kareem Hunt, Hollywood Brown’s window for greatness has come and gone. Brown has some Best Ball Upside and could still surprise us with a solid WR3 season. Another rookie on this offense that had some pre-draft buzz, Royals, has a chance to get some playing time as Kansas City figures out its WR room. He’s a budding WR tied to Mahomes, so we once again need to monitor his performance. For Juju, just don’t. He’s here because he’s good for one week of breakout play. Good luck guessing which game that’ll be, though. I’m staying away unless all other wideouts are gone.
Noah Gray is fine. I don’t think he will be great for fantasy this year, but maybe in the future! And who knows, maybe Reid will mix him in a bit more this year to take a load off of Kelce.
Los Angeles Chargers
Looking Back on 2024
Bringing in a national champion coach certainly is one way to fix your franchise. Harbaugh and his best friend, G-Ro, guided the Chargers to a relatively quiet 10-win season. We saw a return to fantasy goodness for Herbert, and were gifted some new fantasy locks in Ladd McConkey and JK Dobbins. Quentin Johnston even had a few fun weeks of usability. Sadly, their season came to a screeching halt against the Texans in the Divisional round.
Looking Forward to 2025
A first-round running back, a second-round wideout, another in the fifth, and a fifth-round tight end – the Chargers really wanted to help out their franchise QB in this year’s draft. Omarion Hampton and Tre Harris are the main names managers should look for in their drafts this season as they are poised to start right away. KeAndre Lambert-Smith is the guy who has made the biggest splash at camp and is worth keeping an eye on. Meanwhile, Najee Harris is dealing with a freak eye injury that seems to be something the team wants to keep under wraps.
Fantasy Relevant Players
Justin Herbert, QB
Herbert has long been a relevant fantasy QB when all things are going right. Though an injury towards the end of 2023 and a slow start to 2024 may have some players looking elsewhere for a QB. I do think he will continue to be a top-10 QB again this year with a reloaded offensive core.
Omarion Hampton, RB
As a first-round pick out of North Carolina, there’s plenty of hype around Omarion Hampton. In fact, if it weren’t for Ashton Jeanty, he would probably be seen as the best running back in the class. The Chargers and their love of running the ball were more than happy to take the second elite talent in the draft. Hampton projects to be a true workhorse back that should have no problem being a weekly difference maker.
Ladd McConkey, WR
New Keenan Allen just dropped. Ladd McConkey quickly became a favorite target of Herbert and has made the most of it. Had McConkey not missed some games at Georgia, he would have been a first-rounder, and his performance as a rookie proved that to be true. McConkey is a lock for another 100+ targets this season, which should send him once again towards the top 10 at the position.
Fantasy Question Marks
Najee Harris, RB
Dread it, run from it, a Najee Harris 1,000-yard rushing season comes all the same. Well, that’s assuming he can overcome his fireworks injury. Harris may be the most boring running back in fantasy, but he gets the job done on the football field. Enough so that coaches keep giving him the ball. If he’s healthy, he will be involved in this running game.
Tre Harris, WR
Tre Harris, out of Ole Miss, had one of the craziest finishes to his college career. He had 1030 yards and 7 TDs in just 8 games. Injuries shortened his season, but the talent is hard to ignore. He will be the outside guy opposite of Ladd McConkey, and the Chargers are hoping he can serve as that bigger, deep threat guy they need. The question only remains – will injuries continue to slow down his progression?
Quentin Johnston, WR
QJ had a much better sophomore season than his rookie season; we should at least all acknowledge that. However, he still had some horrid drops that railroaded several drives and ultimately failed to be a reliable option when he did get open. It’ll be fascinating to see if QJ can continue to improve in year three. As it stands now, he will remain a late-round dart-throw and a better option in best ball.
Fantasy Long Shots
Tyler Conklin (TE), Oronde Gadsden II (TE)
Yeah, this offense has a lot going on except in the tight end department. Conklin was fine on the Vikings and fine on the Jets, leading me to believe he will once again be just fine on the Chargers. But fine doesn’t win us championships. Gadsden is our mystery box, and I think folks are more open to drafting him in hopes of something special. Otherwise, both guys are just waiver wire fodder.
Denver Broncos
Looking Back on 2024
Fantasy football managers love a surprise playoff team. It usually means there are three or four players who were initially valued lower who then suddenly became fantasy producers. For the Broncos, it was really just two guys that came through every week – Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton. The rest of the cast shone here and there, but the consistent floor of Nix and Sutton helped fantasy managers the most. I only wish I could say the same for the Denver running back room. Instead, they were frustratingly irrelevant.
Looking Forward to 2025
Thankfully, Denver addressed that sunburn back room right away, first in the draft and again later in free agency. This should mean the offense should be a bit more well-rounded, and give us a couple more options for fantasy. Outside of that, the addition of Evan Engram, there wasn’t much that changed with the Broncos. Really, the only thing that has changed is their expectations for the season.
Fantasy Relevant Players
Bo Nix, QB
What a revelation Bo Nix was in his rookie season. I’ll admit, I had written him off even before he stepped onto the field. I remember watching him at Auburn and thinking he was just a guy. Then at Oregon, he started to really come into his own, but I again just saw an older QB that was buried in an incredibly talented QB class. Little did I know that he would be one of the most pro-ready guys in the draft. Nix started a bit slow but eventually caught up to the speed of the NFL to become a consistent fantasy starter. Nix should continue to settle in and improve during his sophomore season.
Courtland Sutton, WR
Courtland Sutton is a lot like Michael Pittman – exciting at one point but now is just a boring yet solid piece for your roster. Sutton is a good wide receiver that has finally found a competent quarterback to throw him the ball. He just signed another extension, which just means he’s once again going to be their primary target. Sutton is the perfect grab to scoop up in the middle rounds when you’re staring at a bunch of more questionable players.
RJ Harvey, RB
He’s old. Ok, now that that’s out of my system, RJ Harvey has a very clear path to becoming a very good fantasy asset. He has that explosiveness that you love to see in both the run and receiving game. The main concern is how many touches he will lose in this Sean Payton scheme. Ideally, Harvey will lead the backfield in opportunities, but unfortunately, the addition of JK Dobbins now puts that into doubt. For all I know, Harvey could easily be a fantasy stud from day one.
Fantasy Question Marks
Evan Engram, TE
Engram joins the Broncos after a down year with the Jaguars, hoping to become the newest weapon for Bo Nix. We’ve seen enough of Engram to know that he’s great in a PPR sense but will need a lot of volume to be great. You could do worse at TE, and he costs you pretty much nothing.
Marvin Mims (WR), Troy Franklin (WR), DeVaughn Vele (WR)
The team is desperately for a consistent WR2 alongside Courtland Sutton, and all three of these guys are fighting for that spot. Mims and Franklin are more downfield threats, while Vele is a bit more of a chain mover. Will any of these players emerge? It’s tough to say. Each has had their moments of excitement, but nothing necessarily consistent. They are all young enough that there’s still time to take another step forward. Take a shot at who it can be because we won’t truly know until Week 1.
JK Dobbins, RB
It’s a bit surprising that the Chargers opted to move on from Dobbins after a great season, but it’s easy to understand why they did. Now Dobbins enters a new running back room that he will need to once again fight for that starting job. I have a feeling we will see Dobbins on early downs as the offense tries to figure out how best to use Harvey. He will certainly be a reliable RB2/3 on your roster throughout the season.
Fantasy Long Shots
Jaleel McLaughlin (RB), Audric Estime (RB)
Yeah, I think it’s over for these two backs. Drafting a guy in the second round and signing another player coming off a fantastic comeback season does not bode well for these depth pieces. Injuries are the only pathway for these two, and even then, I’m not wildly confident they will be good for your team.
Las Vegas Raiders
Looking Back on 2024
In my first draft, I wrote the sentence, “There were a lot of high hopes for the Raiders heading into 2024.” and under further review, I don’t think that’s true even a little bit. We believed in Brock Bowers, we had faith in Davante Adams, and we figured Zamir White would be a thing. Not sure if we would really call all of that “high hopes”. In 2024 we saw Adams leave, White disappear, and Bowers ascend to elite status. They won just four games with Gardiner Minshew and Aiden O’Connell splitting the reps. It was a season I think Raiders fans want to forget, but are happy it happened because of the subsequent turnover.
Looking Forward to 2025
It’s been a while since the Raiders have looked this good on paper. After a long two years, they finally have a real, true starting quarterback! They have a successful coach in the building who knows how to get the most out of his guys. Unfortunately, the Raiders still exist in the same timeline as Patrick Mahomes, so winning the division is going to be a tough ask. We fantasy players don’t care, though. We are too busy buying our Jeanty and Bowers jerseys to care.
Fantasy Relevant Players
Geno Smith, QB
The legend of Geno Smith marches on. A QB that was left for dead who turned his career around, Smith joins the Raiders looking to spearhead a young and exciting Vegas offense. Smith isn’t a very exciting start for fantasy, but he’s reliable and won’t usually burn you. He has some spike weeks in him for sure, but he doesn’t project to be a QB that can win you your league.
Ashton Jeanty, RB
Alrighty, here we go! Ashton Jeanty is here and ready to stand menacingly opposite NFL defenses. Jeanty is a force and could easily be a first-round draft pick in a year’s time (heck he could even sneak into the first this year). The Raiders offense should be solid as it will lean on Jeanty to set the tone. Not a lot to discuss here, Jeanty should be an awesome play for fantasy in 2025.
Brock Bowers, TE
The new TE1. Bowers is truly an elite talent at the position and is a massive advantage for your roster. It shouldn’t be surprising to see him once again demand the lion’s share of the targets in this Vegas offense. Bowers is fantastic and is a no-brainer pick in any format.
Jakobi Meyers, WR
Jakobi Meyers has been quietly great for fantasy for a while. He’s not someone who will typically drop 30 points, but he will always provide a solid floor as your WR3 or Flex. Even with more talent around him, he should remain a consistent presence in the receiving game. He is better in PPR formats, but you can’t be too mad at 10ish points a game.
Fantasy Question Marks
Dont’e Thornton, WR
Buzz around Raiders camp is that Dont’e Thornton is a pretty legit outside weapon. He didn’t do a ton at Tennessee, but he has all the physical traits to become a problem for opposing secondaries. The Raiders are in need of someone to take the top off of the defense, and Thornton has that top-end speed to be that guy. He will be a guy to watch throughout training camp and preseason to see if he can step up.
Fantasy Long Shots
Jack Bech (WR)
The second-round selection for Vegas is primed to become the next slot-guy in this passing game. He’s stuck behind Meyers, and I don’t see him usurping him any time soon. It’ll take some time for Bech to be a fantasy contributor, but he has the skills to be someone fun to watch. Patience is the key here.
For more great fantasy football rankings and analysis, make sure to check out the 2025 FantraxHQ Fantasy Football Draft Kit!
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