How Jalen Royals’ Injury Impacts Hollywood Brown And Chiefs In Fantasy Football Week 1

Discover how Jalen Royals’ injury impacts Hollywood Brown and the rest of the Chiefs’ receiving room.

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise Brown (5) against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Friday night’s game features the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers squaring off in São Paulo, Brazil. Rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals has been ruled out of the game with a knee injury. Let’s check out the effect this injury will have on the fantasy performance of the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense, particularly Hollywood Brown. 

Fantasy Football Impact of Jalen Royals Injury

The Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the most dominant fantasy football offenses since Patrick Mahomes entered the league eight years ago. They enter the 2025 season with a loaded wide receiver depth chart that includes Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Jalen Royals, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. While Rashee Rice serves his six-game suspension to begin the year and Jalen Royals is sidelined by his knee injury, other receivers will need to step up for the Kansas City offense. 

Enter Hollywood Brown. The veteran wide receiver is slotted as the WR2 for the Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Brown is projected to be on the field for a significant amount of time, giving him a chance to see increased targets from Patrick Mahomes. Xavier Worthy is the biggest threat to Brown during the beginning of the season. Worthy had a strong finish to his 2024 rookie campgaign, solidifying his role as WR1 in the Kansas City offense without Rashee Rice. Veteran tight end Travis Kelce is the other offensive weapon that could step up into an increased role due to the absence of Rice and Royals. Although it is known that Kelce can be the featured player in an offense, he has not seen that role recently in the regular season. 

Although his season-long fantasy status remains uncertain, Hollywood Brown projects very well in this Week 1 matchup. Expect the veteran wideout to be heavily involved in the division matchup tonight. He is worth a start at the WR or FLEX spot in deeper fantasy leagues. If you own Brown or other wide receivers on the Kansas City Chiefs in your fantasy league, continue to monitor Jalen Royals’ injury status as well as the target distribution during Rashee Rice’s six-game suspension.

Kansas City Chiefs Wide Receivers Week 1 Rankings

Following the injury, here are how are where the Kansas City Chiefs pass catchers fall in our Week 1 fantasy football wide receiver rankings (PPR):

• Xavier Worthy: WR20
• Hollywood Brown: WR51
• JuJu Smith-Schuster: WR98
• Tyquan Thornton: WR114

Travis Kelce is the TE5 in our Week 1 Tight End Rankings.