Payton: Waddle has a strain, will return 4-5 days

Worthy’s score came from one yard out on a fourth down play at the end of the second quarter. The play followed three consecutive failed rush attempts from Kenneth Walker from one yard out, with the veteran receiver leaking to the flat on a Mahomes bootleg for his first score of the young season. Worthy remains a shaky WR5 ahead of a cake matchup with the Dolphins in Week 3.

An interesting development from this one were the 10 targets filtered to running back Kenneth Walker, who gained emphasis through the air in the short areas of the field typically accounted for by Rice and tight end Travis Kelce. The Colts also utilized elevated rates of man coverage until the departure of cornerback Charvarius Ward, against which Rice has clear negative splits. He did break free for a 31-yard gain, one of two Mahomes completions to go for more than 30 yards. Rice remains a volume-driven WR2 with clear WR3 downside, in an offense now more intent on featuring the backfield. He remains a touchdown-dependent WR2 against the Dolphins in Week 3.

Kelce continues to do the bulk of his damage within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage while running a high percentage of hitch routes, but the volume of passing and inside-funnel matchup aided in him eclipsing 100 yards through the air for the first time since Week 8 of 2024. That game also happened to be an overtime win, meaning the only two times since Week 7 of 2023 in which Kelce has gone over 100 yards have gone to overtime. Even so, Kelce continues to be a solid outlet for quarterback Patrick Mahomes and should continue to see games of spiked volume when the Chiefs are pushed, as they were by the Colts. That is unlikely to be the case in Week 3 when the Chiefs travel to Miami to face the Dolphins, where Mahomes will be a shaky TE1 bet in fantasy.

Walker has now notched 178 combined yards or more in each of his new team’s first two games to start the season. In addition to the gaudy yardage numbers, Walker saw 10 targets on 47 Patrick Mahomes pass attempts in the overtime victory, while accounting for all but four running back opportunities. His backfield opportunity share, touchdown equity, and pass game involvement make Walker a top-tier fantasy asset for those that invested a second-round pick in his services this offseason. The only micro-blemish on his record against the Colts was a sequence of carries at the end of the second quarter in which he was stuffed from the one-yard line on three straight plays, with the team eventually scoring on fourth down via a touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy. Walker remains a top-tier RB1 ahead of a road date with the much more forgiving Dolphins in Week 3.

Mahomes looked much more like himself against the Colts than he did against the Broncos in Week 1, with his typical mobility in the pocket on full display as he extended plays. He even escaped the pocket twice to pick up crucial first downs with his legs in key situations, looking closer to how he did before tearing his ACL in 2025. Mahomes also managed to complete two passes greater than 30 yards, one to Tyquan Thornton and one to Rashee Rice, an area of his game that has not been great the previous two seasons. Even so, it took the Chiefs two possessions in overtime to finally sneak by the tenacious Colts, moving to a 2-0 record ahead of a road date with the Dolphins in Week 3. Mahomes has returned to weekly QB1 status, although the team could look to continue its dominance on the ground against a week opponent.

The most notable aspect to come from Allen’s modest performance was the fact that he really didn’t see an increase in emphasis in the offense following the departure of Alec Pierce at the end of the first quarter. Pierce’s initial X-rays came back negative on the same heel he had surgery on this offseason, but will get further testing Monday to diagnose the severity of the injury. Either way, Allen can safely be returned to the waiver wire in most fantasy formats.

The seven targets and a score look nice in the box scores, but it is hard to overlook just how reliant Warren is on screens and leak concepts in this offense, almost all of which are built behind play action. That’s good news for fantasy managers when the ground game is cooking, as it was against the Chiefs, but we’ve also seen how ineffective it can be when the Colts aren’t able to control games as they did to start the 2025 season. Losers of nine straight games dating back to last season, Warren could struggle to return enough yardage to truly emerge as a locked-in TE1 until this team starts winning some games. His performance against the Chiefs now marks consecutive games with 21 yards or fewer, although a touchdown in each contest has kept his fantasy value afloat. He’ll be a difficult start against the lockdown Houston defense in Week 3.

Downs operated as the unquestioned top dog through the air following the first quarter departure of Alec Pierce, the latter of whom left with a heel injury on the same foot as his offseason surgery. That setup appears likely to continue should Pierce miss time, although the short-area nature of Downs’ role all but requires significant volume to return scores beyond WR3 production. Even so, Downs should mostly avoid the lockdown perimeter corners of the Texans in Week 3, where he will be an upside WR3 in fantasy circles.

Taylor’s one-cut rushing ability was on full display against the Chiefs while gashing Kansas City’s defense on outside zone runs. Both of his touchdown scampers came on such carries, the second of which knotted the game at 27 to eventually force overtime. Unfortunately for Taylor and the Colts, the two carries that mattered the most were stuffed for a combined negative-three yards following a 48-yard Laquon Treadwell reception in overtime, eventually forcing the Colts to kick a game-tying field goal. Mahomes would send Indianapolis to an 0-2 record on the following possession. Taylor gets a difficult matchup against one of the top defenses in the league in Week 3, where he will remain a locked-in RB1 against the Texans.

Jones lost one of his top receivers at the end of the first quarter when Alec Pierce departed with a heel injury, largely unable to attack downfield following his departure. That would all change on the team’s lone possession of overtime when Jones hit Laquon Treadwell for a 48-yard shot on the first play following a Chiefs field goal, but the team would be unable to punch their ticket to a win while settling for a field goal of their own. They would not see the ball again and would ultimately fall to 0-2 on a chip-shot Harrison Butker field goal as time in overtime expired. The team could be forced to play possession ball moving forward considering the short-area nature of the remaining pass-catchers, pending the status of Pierce. That spells trouble against the vaunted Houston defense in Week 3, where Jones will be a fringe QB2 while potentially down his field stretching option.