Who Should I Start? Patrick Mahomes or C.J. Stroud

Wednesday, April 23, 3:09 PM

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit the NFL by storm early in his career with his deep-passing skills and explosive plays. However, the Chiefs' offense ranked 27th in 20-plus-yard plays in 2024. Since Tyreek Hill departed to Miami and Travis Kelce has taken a step back, its offense has not connected on splash plays as often. Heading into next season, Mahomes is aiming to incorporate big plays back into the offense. "We've had a lot of turnover in the receiving room, and it seems like the core group will be back in its entirety." Mahomes said." So the goal is to try to build on it and get even better and try to get back to some of the explosive passing plays that we've done in years past." With all-world speedster Xavier Worthy heading into Year 2 and a potential full season of Marquise Brown, the ceiling is high for Kansas City's passing attack in 2025. Mahomes has not been a fantasy football game-changer over the last two seasons, but a more dangerous offensive attack could put him back in the high-end QB1 range.

Monday, April 21, 7:07 PM

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said he'll be "taking full ownership, running the show" in new offensive coordinator Nick Calley's system and appreciates how Calley is already putting trust in him. Stroud didn't look at all like a rookie in 2023 under previous offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, but he came back down to Earth a bit in 2024 in his sophomore campaign and finished as the QB17 in fantasy while throwing for 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 regular-season games. Protection was the biggest issue, as the former second overall pick took a whopping 52 sacks in 2024 after being sacked 38 times in 15 regular-season games as a rookie. Stroud could be more effective again with more control of the offense, particularly before the snap, leaving him as a fine midrange QB1 bounce-back target in fantasy.