Jalen Royals Fantasy Overview

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Cincinnati WR Cyrus Allen in Round 5 of the 2026 NFL Draft. Allen spent his first two college seasons at Louisiana Tech, finshing third on the team with 500 receiving yards as a freshman and second with 778 as a sophomore. Allen transferred to Texas A&M for his junior campaign but suffered a season-ending arm injury in November. Allen wrapped up his college career at Cincinnati, where he led the Bearcats in all major receiving categories. Allen’s 13 TDs were tied for third most in the FBS. He also posted strong advanced metrics: a 32.8% dominator rating and 2.42 yards per route. Both marks ranked top-16 among 52 of the top WRs in this year’s class. Allen is undersized at 5’11, 183 pounds with middling athleticism (4.49-second 40 time, 36-inch vertical). But he’s a twitchy route runner with plus ball skills. His most likely path to NFL playing time is in the slot, where he ran 92% of his routes last year.

Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy (illness) is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game vs. the Raiders. His absence leaves JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquise Brown as Kansas City’s likely top two WRs. We’ll see if WR Jalen Royals gets involved. But you should continue to ignore this group in Week 18 fantasy lineups.

The Chiefs placed WR Rashee Rice on IR with his concussion. He'll miss the final two games of the season. It's probably for the best for fantasy managers: Rice would have been tough to trust with QB Chris Oladokun. WR Tyquan Thornton (concussion) is also landing on IR, leaving Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Marquise Brown as Kansas City's likely top three WRs for the final two weeks. We'll see if rookie WR Jalen Royals gets involved, but this is a WR corps to avoid in all fantasy formats.

Chiefs WR Jalen Royals (knee) is active for tonight’s game vs. the Giants. We’re expecting him to operate as the No. 4 WR in his debut, behind Marquise Brown, Tyquan Thornton, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.