Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (knee) has been cleared to participate fully in training camp, HC Andy Reid said Friday. "He's been working so hard that you have a pretty good feel that he's in a good place," Reid added. "We've got to see how things go and not make any predictions about [Week 1]." Mahomes is still only a little over seven months removed from tearing his left ACL and LCL, but all signs continue to point toward him being ready for the opener. The bigger story from Friday, though, was Mahomes confirming that he plans to run less this season.
What They're Saying
Mahomes: "I'm obviously gonna try to take care of myself a little better than I did last season. I think I ran a little bit too much last season in general. So I'll try to be better with that."
2026 Fantasy Football Impact: The Ceiling Isn't Exciting
Mahomes averaged a career-high 30.1 rushing yards per game and scored a career-high five rushing TDs last season. A whopping 22.0% of his fantasy points came via rushing. That number didn't exceed 12.9% in any of his previous seven seasons as Chiefs starter.
That's our concern with Mahomes heading into 2026. Coming off the multi-ligament knee injury, we can safely project his rushing production to take a big hit.
Mahomes can still deliver nice production as a passer. He ranked seventh among QBs in passing fantasy points per game last year. But he hasn't posted truly elite passing numbers since 2022, so he needs the rushing to make a difference in fantasy.
It also remains to be seen whether the knee injury will impact his passing.
We're ultimately treating Mahomes as just a low-end QB1 in 2026 fantasy drafts. He's not a priority target at his QB12 ADP.
