Chiefs Need More: A Vet WR or a Vet DE?

Laddie Morse

There’s been a lot of speculation about who the Kansas City Chiefs might sign — or trade for — before the season begins… a veteran wideout of a veteran defensive end. So, let examine each.

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Wide Receivers

Here’s a list of the Chiefs current WR Room:

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In 2022, the Chiefs kept five active WRs on their 53 man roster including:

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1. Skyy Moore
2. JuJu Smith-Schuster
3. Kadarius Toney
4. Marquez Valdes-Scantling
5. Justin Watson

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In the 2021 season the Chiefs also kept five WRs and they were:

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1. Mecole Hardman
2. Tyreek Hill
3. Marcus Kemp
4. Byron Pringle
5. Demarcus Robinson

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While it’s reasonable to assume they keep five again this year, with so many question marks at WR, I can easily see them keeping six this year. If we assume they’ll hold onto six, those six — for now — would be:

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1. Kadarius Toney
2. Skyy Moore
3. Marquez Valdes-Scantling
4. Rashee Rice
5. Justin Watson
6. Richie James

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Here’s the reasoning behind keeping these six:

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Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore

Both were mentioned by HC Andy Reid as being players he will lean on more in 2023. From an article by Charles Goldman called: “Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes expect Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore to step up in 2023” and he quotes Reid as saying:

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“I think it’s important that they continue to grow – both of them. You know, KT (Kadarius Toney), he’s not like a seasoned veteran in the league. He’s still relatively young guy and young in this offense so growth will be important, how they handle this offseason (and) how they handle training camp and that whole workload that comes with it. But I’m expecting good things from them, for sure.”

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Goldman goes on to quote Patrick Mahomes when speaking of Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore:

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“I think the biggest thing – I mean you start off with getting both those guys in year two of the offense and letting them expand their roles. I think you could see it, especially with Skyy [Moore] at the end of the season how he was getting more and more involved in the offense. I think he’ll continue to take those steps and be even better this next year when he’s more comfortable and can utilize his talents even more.”

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Marquez Valdes-Scantling (MVS)

MVS is a home run hitter show casing 4.37 – 40 yards dash speed. His “drops” history appears to be a thing of the past so while some were predicting that MVS would not be with the team (right after the season ended) in 2023 it looks more and more like Matt Nagy and Andy Reid plan on using him to keep the field stretched so other teams can’t pack it in defensively.

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Rashee Rice

RR was a second round pick this year and he’d have to do something rather drastic to not make this team.

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Richie James

RJ is shorter — smaller — than I thought prior to writing this piece but I doubt that matters as GM Brett Veach has stated (as quoted by Charles Goldman at Chiefs Wire):

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“He’s a guy that played with [Giants Offensive Coordinator], Mike Kafka, last year in that [Giants Head Coach Brian] Daboll offense in New York [with the Giants]. [James is] a versatile player, you can move him around a lot, [he’s] a Middle Tennessee State guy that we liked. Actually, I think a few years ago, there was a trading deadline period when he was with the [San Francisco 49ers] Niners, I think we actually tried to trade for him.”

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If Veach tried to trade for this WR previously, then he’s likely going to make the final roster.

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Defensive Ends

The Chiefs currently have eight (8) Defensive ends on their roster. Here’s a lisitng:

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In 2022 the Chiefs kept 6 DEs — or Edge Rushers if you will — on their roster including:

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1. Frank Clark DE
2. Carlos Dunlap DE
3. Mike Danna DE
4. Malik Herring DE
5. Joshua Kaindoh DE
6. George Karlaftis DE

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In the 2021 season the Chiefs kept four (4) DEs… technically… on their roster. I say, “technically” because that’s the year they tried to move Chris Jones outside on a permanent basis but it didn’t work so they moved him back inside.

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1. Frank Clark DE
2. Mike Danna DE
3. Joshua Kaindoh DE
4. Alex Okafor DE

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That previous statement is a bit inaccurate because DC Steve Spagnuolo likes to move his DL around and sometimes during the past season, Chris Jones was moved outside to confuse and befuddle other teams offenses. In 2021, the Chiefs ranked 29th in the NFL in sacks and then with George Karlaftis joining the crew, the Chiefs ranked second in the league in sacks and was a big part of the reason they were able to win their second Super Bowl in four years.

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I’m anticipating that the Chiefs will keep six (6) Defensive Ends (or Edge Rushers) this seasons along with six (6) Wide Receivers. If the Chiefs do decide to sign another veteran I’d be surprised if that player is not a Defensive End (Edge Rusher). While the Chiefs “may have” a need for a veteran presence in the WR Room, they appear to be overflowing with potential breakout pass catchers. Also, with Travis Kelce still going strong, there’s really not much room for a veteran WR who would likely be expecting his fair share of targets.

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There’s 12 Wide Receivers on this roster and 8 DEs so if the Chiefs signed a veteran Wideout, they’d have to basically give up on one of their young guns trying to make their way on to the roster. With eight active DEs, there appears to be more space there for a veteran to make an impact, on a squad that is going to work from a rotation. Consequently, it’s not likely the Chiefs would sign a DE who thought he’d get all the DE snaps coming in.

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David Bell said recently,

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“It would be great but if MVS has a good year, Rice has a Break-in Year and Toney has a break-out season, do they really need to spend the $$$ on a top WR? I think an Edge Rusher would be a better investment Clark or not.”

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With the Chiefs defensive line (and defense as a whole) upping their total sacks to 55 in 2022, it’s hard to see them giving up on getting after opposing QBs. My take is… the Chiefs might sign another veteran DE (Edge Rusher) later in the summer like they did last year with Carlos Dunlap, but it’s not likely to be Frank Clark. Sorry… for those wishing he’d make another comeback in red and gold, I just don’t see it happening. Even after Chris Jones is re-structured.

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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