What Do the Chiefs Have in TE Jace Amaro?

What Do the Chiefs Have in

TE Jace Amaro?

 · by Laddie Morse

Jace Amaro is a tight end signed by the Kansas City Chiefs in January this year and is hoping to do more than stick on the Chiefs roster. Amaro will turn 26 years old later this month and although he came into the league four years ago, he’s only seen the field in two of those years. Drafted with the 49th pick in 2013 out of Texas Tech — the year before Patrick Mahomes arrived there — he had 106 receptions for 1,352 yards in his junior year, prompting him to come out.

Amaro had 38 receptions for 345 yards in his rookie year for the NY Jets. In his second training camp he fell on his shoulder in an odd way and needed surgery to fix a torn Labrum (see below):

Rotoworld described the injury to Jace Amaro back on Sept. 1, 2015:

“The 23-year-old tight end has a torn labrum. He suffered the injury in the Jets’ preseason opener. It’s a bitterly disappointing end to what needed to be a big season for a player who underwhelmed as a rookie. Now Amaro will enter his third camp next summer on the hot seat after being the No. 49 overall pick of last year’s draft.”

Amaro was cut by the Jets one year later, after not playing a down in 2015. He was picked up by the Titans the next day, caught 3 passes for them in 2016 but, was cut again, one year later, and missed the entire 2017 season sitting by the phone singing “Mr. Lonely” by Bobby Vinton (and that’s a long time to be singing any one song).

Now, the Kansas City Chiefs must find out what they have in Jace Amaro and whether or not he can realize the potential of the 49th pick in the draft. In fact, GM Brett Veach has brought in several high-round picks: Center Cam Erving was a 19th overall pick in 2015, ILB Reggie Ragland was the 41st overall pick in 2016, CB Will Redmond was the 68th overall pick in 2016. If you count Jace Amaro and throw in Kendall Fuller — an 84th overall selection who Veach traded Alex Smith for — you can see that this GM likes to bring in those guys that other teams may have given up on, then turn them over to Andy Reid and his crack team of coaches and see what they can salvage or re-create. So far, that recipe has worked out well. 

Jace Amaro had a concussion in 2014 which limited his use in his rookie season which explains his low production as a rookie. You know the old saying, the best ability, is availability.  The Chiefs have had their own go-round with players who had high hopes but couldn’t stay on the field — Sanders Cummings, Phillip Gaines — so Amaro will first need to stay healthy in the next few months, if he has any hopes of making the 53 man roster, or contributing..

At the combine Jace Amaro ran a 4.74 – 40 yard dash (5th best among TEs that year) but also had 28 reps on the bench press which was second to only Joe Don Duncan of Dixie State. Amaro was also 5th in the vertical jump and 5th in the long jump among tight ends. From Amaro’s college progression, production, and projections, he should have a good NFL career and his opportunity with the Chiefs may be his last chance to flourish.

That jump from his sophomore to his junior season is a huge jump and likely “the” reason he decided to come out in the 2014 draft. If Amaro had stayed in school and produced another 1,000 yard plus-season, he probably would have been a first round pick. However, tight ends often take time to develop in the NFL. Look at TE Martellus Bennett’s career: things didn’t work out in Dallas where he averaged 211 yards per year in his first four seasons… then, he broke out with the Giants and the Bears where he averaged 767 yards per year over the next three seasons.

Amaro’s college numbers may not even mean that much. So often it is the system a player is drafted into that makes the difference. Travis Kelce had 150 receiving yards in his junior season at Cincinnati and a mere 722 yards as a senior and now he is one of the best two tight ends in the NFL.

So, let’s take a look at what Amaro has to offer:

Amaro makes a nifty move to freeze the linebacker, then Safety Derwin James comes up to make the tackle and he misses, as does the LB that Amaro faked out, he then breaks free to make good progress crossing from one hash to the other and carries another LB with him for ten yards before going down outside the numbers. While Jace Amaro doesn’t look particularly fast, he is able to use his strength to make yards after the catch, a trait that can’t be taught.

Those kinds of plays can take the heart out of a defense. The Chiefs could certainly use Amaro, like they use Kelce, to do damage up the gut of the defense. If QB Alex Smith had been able to continue to attack the heart of the Tennessee Titans defense once Kelce went down, back in January, it could have changed the course of that game, and the post season for the Chiefs. It’s clear that TE Demetrius Harris is never going to be that guy.

If Amaro can stay healthy — concussion, groin, labral tear — he could offer another tall weapon in the Red Zone. At 6-foot-5 and 265 lbs. Amaro can make it impossible for teams to cover all the possible targets the Chiefs could put on the field. His rookie season showed some promise but there always seems to have been a “but”. Dan Hanzus at nfl.com said of Amaro, 

“Amaro had an up-and-down rookie season in 2014, but showed flashes of playmaker ability. His season highlight came in a Week 6 loss to the Broncos, when he finished with 10 catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.”

It’s never a bad thing when a player performs well against the Broncos, and Denver was 3rd in total defense that year, the year before their Super Bowl run.

Perhaps my favorite play of Jace Amaro’s Texas Tech career comes in crunch time. Allow me to set the stage: the year was 2013 and the team was 6-and-0 with 1:06 left on the game clock and a mere 3-point lead at 30-27, Davis Webb was the QB (the year before Patrick Mahomes took over), it was 3rd-and-goal from the ten yard line with Davis in the shotgun and Jace lined up in the left slot. Amaro runs a post pattern (to the goal post) and Davis hits him in stride. An amazing end to a difficult road victory and most importantly, a TD.

I’ve seen enough tape of Jace Amaro to know he needs to work on his blocking. However, he was drafted by the Jets to be a pass-catching tight end, not a blocker. In any event, in Andy Reid’s system, Amaro must learn to block and working along side Travis Kelce should do him some good.

This reception by Amaro was a 25 yard gain. I don’t think there’s any way Patrick Mahomes doesn’t hit him in stride and if that was the Chiefs you could put points on the board. When I see a play like this, it’s so obviously a Patrick Mahomes type play that I can see Reid, Veach and the boys watching it and wowing… then saying to themselves, “We’ve got to get this guy (Amaro) and pair him with Patrick Mahomes.” 

There’s so much… “we’ll-see” with these Chiefs, especially in 2018. Sure, the offense looks good for the most part, and everyone is waiting to see what we have on defense. However, one sweet surprise could be… just “could be”… Jace Amaro. He was said to be a leader on and off the field with his previous teams. While that’s commendable, what the Chiefs really need right now are playmakers anywhere and everywhere they can find them. They just may have found one in Jace Amaro. We’ll see.

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