Chiefs: Fixing the Wide Receiver Room

Laddie Morse

What is obvious about this offseason is that the Kansas City Chiefs need to fix their wide Receiver group. Yes, GM Brett Veach has had a history of fixing certain position groups since he became the General Manager in June of 2017, so he is tasked with the job of making sure the wideout group is sure handed in 2024.

Rashee Rice

In an article by Ryan Hannable called “NFL Teams With the Most Dropped Passes This Season” he sited the Chiefs as being number one with 44 drops among receivers. No one needs to tell Kingdom fans that the Chief had a problem with drops in every game this past season, we fans could see the problem and it was… holding on to the ball for our Wide Receivers and Tight Ends. Even rookie Rashee Rice had his fair share of drops with 8 which tied him for tenth in the league among all wideouts. He had at least eight targets in eight out of KC’s last 10 games and that includes the playoffs. With 938 total receiving yards, we should expect more great things from Rice in 2024.

Another stat line that makes the future look good with Rashee Rice on the roster is that he finished 3rd in the league in Yards After Catch — YAC — with 638 in 2023. So, we can assume the Chiefs will have made plans to include Rashee Rice in their offensive play designs for this coming season.

Whose Next?

After Rice, there’s not much that’s very nice. Or, I should say, there not a lot of WRs who can be counted on who were on the roster last season. Rice was a second round pick. Skyy Moore, who did not have a good year, again, was a second round pick two years ago, and while K.C. may be inclined to give their draft pick another year to see if he develops, he could get the axe, like Marquez Valdes-Scantling (MVS) already has.

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I thought MVS would be released last offseason, so I was a bit surprised that he was welcomed back for the 2023 season. The remaining Wideouts on the Chiefs roster look like this:

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Let’s take them one at a time to see if they might be of help in 2024.

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Justin Watson

Watson is under contract with the Chiefs for the 2024 season. He signed a two-year deal last season and while his dead money may only be $150K dollars, he’s likely to be a player the Chiefs continue to utilize in 2024. Although he only had 47 receptions in 2023 he did have 460 yards receiving. Watson was on the Chiefs roster in 2022 and helped them win a Super Bowl ring that year too, but before that he played for four seasons with the Buccaneers and even helped them beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. Although Watson only had 40 catches in four years for the Bucs, he’s had 87 receptions over the past two seasons for K.C.. While I can see him playing a minor role for K.C. in the receiving department, I don’t anticipate a step up for him. At least he has solid hands and should be able to help K.C. win another championship.

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Mecole Hardman

Next, we have the curious case of Mecole Hardman. He was drafted by K.C. in 2019 with the 56th pick, presumably to cover for Tyreek Hill because we didn’t yet know if Hill’s legal troubles would eliminate him from competition. Hardman runs a 4.33 40 yard dash and he has thought he was as fast as Hill and once challenged him to a race — which he lost– but it was his speed that likely got him drafted by the Chiefs. Recently, Hardman has been accused of leaking Game plans to an opposing team, which he denies. Hardman was a Free Agent last offseason and signed with the N.Y. Jets apparently to play with Aaron Rodgers… or so he thought. Rodgers was injured in his first game and went down for the season. Hardman was paid a $2.5M bonus and signed with them for what turned out o be $360K and then was traded to K.C. for the Chiefs 6th and 7th round picks in the 2025 draft. The Chiefs only paid $750K for him last season and he had 21 receptions for K.C. for 118 yards while only playing in 6 games and starting just two. Hardman of course, had the last laugh by catching the game winner in the overtime of the Super Bowl, and that’s likely what he’ll be remembered for. Although Hardman is a Free Agent again this offseason, the chances that he comes back to the Chiefs is a 50/50 proposition. Here’s his Super Bowl, game winning catch (0:10).

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Skyy Moore

Moore didn’t have a good year, again. He was drafted 54th overall in 2022 and had 250 yards playing in 16 games that year while starting 3. In 2023, Moore had 244 yards while playing in 14 games and starting in 8. You can tell by the increase of starts, that the Chiefs were pushing for him to succeed. However, that wasn’t in the cards for him. I thought he would have a rookie year like Rashee Rice had this year, but that didn’t happen. Not nearly. The Chiefs have him under his rookie deal for another year so I expect he’ll be back again unless they decide to do a major overhaul of the WR room. However, we know HC Andy Reid like stability so he likes to keep players, especially those still on their rookie contract. I’d be in favor of him moving on and the Chiefs drafting multiple wideouts this year. I’ll get into the draft later but for now, I will say that Moore returning to the Chiefs roster is an iffy situation. I looked up — on Twitter — “Skyy Moore Catch” and came up with about 10 plays of his… in practice… but could only find one in an actual game. Here it is (0:33):

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Kadarius Toney

When K.C. acquired Toney in 2022, they traded away a 2023 3rd-round compensatory pick and a 2023 6th-round pick. Toney proceeded to gain 171 yards on 14 catches through the air in 2022, and then followed that up with 27 catches for receiving 169 yards. The point is, Toney has not yet lived up to his potential which is filled with expectations for a first round pick. Brett Veach has jumped at signing player with a high pedigree before such as when he traded for Mike Hughes, a CB, with the Vikings and traded a 6th round pick for a 7th round pick to do that. Hughes was drafted 30th overall by the Vikes in 2018, but gave up on Hughes. This time, with Toney, Veach may have missed the mark. I say “may have’ because we don’t know for sure, one way or the other, if Toney will ever pan out… on the field. Toney has a dead cap number of –> $2,530,842 but it’s seems very possible that K.C. could cut him. However, that doesn’t seem likely since that is also the exact amount he would be playing for. Here’s Toney’s Punt Return in the Super Bowl a year ago (0:22):

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Richie James

Richie James came to the Chiefs as a Free Agent during the last offseason. He signed with K.C. for $1,080,000 with a $152K signing bonus. As a low cost WR/PR he found a home mostly as a Punt Returner with the Chiefs. Although Richie James only has 10 receptions for 114 yards in 2023, he had 20 Punt Returns for 200 yards total (10 yards per punt return average). Richie James played in most games (9) in 2023 for the Chiefs and while he played on 80 snaps on Special Teams, he also had 137 snaps on offense which came out to 24% of the Offensive Snaps. With his ability to return kicks an important part of the Chiefs Special Teams game, I expect Dave Toub, the Special Teams coach, to ask for him to return. While he’s a cheap option as a Punt Returner, he might get replaced if K.C. go whole hog in the draft on wide receivers… meaning, they could go for 3 WRs.

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Justyn Ross

Justyn Ross is 6-foot-4 and weighs in at 210 lbs.. While he’s under contract with the Chiefs for $915,000 he is a Restricted Free Agent (RFA). That means, if Ross signs a deal with another team, the Chiefs have the ability to match that offer. You may be surprised to find out Ross played in 136 offensive snaps in 2023 and had 6 catches for 53 yards. The problem is, he was targeted 11 times. That may mean he was part of the dropsies problem in 2023. Ross had a medical issue a couple of years ago and so the Chiefs signed him with the idea that he’d be ready in the future. The question on everyone’s mind is… is that future now, or not. The answer to that will be the answer to whether or not he’s going to be on the roster in 2024… or not.

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Montrell Washington, Cornell Powell,

Shi Smith and Nikko Remigio

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Each of these Wideouts, above, have been retained for the 2024 season. Will any of them make the 2024 roster? That has yet to be seen. Nikko Remigio was a Training Camp star last year so there’s hope and the “Next-Man-Up” approach lives on. Plus, David Bell is a fan of Cornell Powell so he could possibly make his mark this year. He was a fifth round pick, 181 overall, in 2021, so someone saw potential in him at one time.

We all hope this year’s wide receiver corps is better than last year’s, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Not only for how this group matures, but how many moves involving Wideouts Mr. Veach makes in the process. Not just in Free Agency but much of that depends on the draft.

Tim Blelik wrote a piece on the NFL Draft called, “Ranking all 11 position groups right now” in which he ranks the position groups as such:

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That’s terrific news for the Chiefs because of what their greatest needs are. In an article written for ArrowheadPride called “Ranking the Chiefs’ top 5 positions of need going into 2024 offseason” written by Ron Kopp last week, he says the Chiefs greatest positions of need for K.C. are:

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With so many good WRs available in the draft, I’m hoping Brett Veach and his staff can find a way to draft two of them. In a piece offered by Matt Conner at ArrowheadAddict.com he says the Chiefs currently have six picks including:

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While it hasn’t happened yet, it looks increasingly like GM Brett Veach will be able to fix the WR position this offseason without any problems. That’s due much to the presence of Patrick Mahomes as much as anything else. Of course, I’m hoping we can solve the Chris Jones issue sooner than later. I know that David Bell was upset with CJ for holding out last year… as was I. So, I’m hoping we can get our elite DT, Chris Jones, signed and under contract long before the Draft ever takes place next month on April 25-to-27. Then we can all sit back and watch as Brett Veach does his magic during the draft. And… and… hopefully fix the WR position.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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