Andy Reid enters his 13th season as grand poobah of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025, serving as Head Coach and primary play caller for, as you know, one of the NFL's elite teams.
Reid owns a 273-146-1 regular season record and adds a 28-17 postseason record, giving him 301 total wins, ranking fourth in NFL history and first among active HCs.
The man knows what he’s doing.
Matt Nagy enters his ninth season with the Chiefs in 2025 and fifth as the team's OC. He’ll be integral but also more of a relayer from the godsmouth of Reid.
Coaching Tree
Reid first whet his coaching chops as a TE/OL coach for Mike Holmgren when he was with the Green Bay Packers. Holmgren in turn got his NFL start as the QB coach for the San Francisco 49ers under the Godfather of the West Coast Offense, Bill Walsh.
When Reid became head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, he was as devout a disciple of the traditional West Coast Offense scheme as anyone.
Reid eventually discovered he needed to move his QB out from under center. This began Reid's evolution from traditional WC concepts to what became more of a West Coast Gun offense.
It's a short to intermediate, pass-first offense that is run out of the shotgun, hence the name. The basic principle is spread out the defense and find any open grass on the boundaries. We’re talking versatility, misdirection, and the ability to attack all levels of the field while maintaining the precision and timing elements inherited from the Walsh coaching tree.
Reid has become a legendary coach.
Never count him, or the team, out. Just look at what they’ve done with their grab bag rosters the past couple of seasons.
Scheme Tendies
Note for fantasy purposes that receiving success is shared between multiple players rather than relying on a single dominant receiver. This systematic approach allows the Chiefs to play smart and win games, it doesn’t often pay off for fantasy unless the offense is forced to be concentrated.
That may mean Mahomes to Kelce or Mahomes to Worthy or other, but always something to monitor. I’ve shared this before but no other team do I watch and have the ‘he’s throwing to that guy’ head scratch than the Chiefs. Buyer beware.
Reid's tends to lean on heavy utilization of 11 personnel (3 WR/1 TE/1 RB) to create spread formations and accomplish what we just talked about. There will also be RPOs and Mahomes doing kooky things no other QB can do.
The Chiefs will win a lot of games, but it will not always be pretty and recently at least, they are not a descriptively explosive offense.
Positional Impacts
QB: Patrick Mahomes is the baby/post-Tom Brady GOAT. I don’t/can’t/won’t even root for the Chiefs, but there is no denying he’s special. I really have nothing to say here. His work speaks for itself.
RB: Kareem Hunt led the team in rushing yards last season but everyone is prepared for more Isaiah Pacheco angry runs and if he remains at full health, expect him to take the crown back. The Chiefs signed former San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell to a one-year contract and drafted Brashard Smith in the seventh round. Smith is intriguing as a former wide receiver who converted to running back and could develop into their next pass-catching back. I’m semi-interested in Smith super late in drafts or, honestly, next season.
WR: Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Jalen Royals, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thorton… pick your poison. Xavier Worthy is probably the ‘safest’ pick. Rice is theoretically going to face a 4 - 6 week suspension. You can take any of the others late for a stack.
TE: Travis Kelce gets disrespected as ‘old’ or wheels falling off, but he still led the team with 823 receiving yards in 2024, continuing his role as the primary receiving threat. Yes, there’s talk of more mentoring and reps to his fellow TEs Noah Gray and Jared Wiley, but the Chiefs will do whatever it takes to win. And winning for this team usually involves Kelce. Fade him at your own risk.
Last Longer with Big Red
The Chiefs want to go back to being a scary offense and an explosive one. The Chiefs want to take shots downfield and be able to score points quietly. But just because the Chiefs want something, doesn’t mean they’ll always get it. Since Bieniemy left and Nagy took over, the offense's overall explosiveness has fizzled a bit. I’ll look for the Chiefs to win games, but not looking to them to help me win Fantasy.
Guys I’m leaving drafts with: Mahomes and Kelce pair nicely in the middle of drafts. Some Worthy. Any other players only as part of a stack or a bringback. And then just taking one.
Here’s to Champions,
Mike
