Chiefs: What the WR Corp Deserves

Laddie Morse

I guess we have enough Kingdom fans who are-or-were hoping the Wide Receiving corp would be totally fixed this offseason that anything less than a top ten ranking for that group would be met with the scorn of a lost lover. Sad to say, that’s not exactly been the case with the CHiefs WR-ing group and it may take another Super Bowl victory and season of accomplishment on the part of this gang of WRs to change the reality: they are just middle of the road.

Travis Kelce Effect

Far be it for me to announce that Travis Kelce is not part of the Chiefs company of WRs, but he’s not. Yes, his contributions will be invaluable this year, but when evaluating the WR Crop, you just can’t include Kelce in that conversation.

Hollywood Brown

So let’s begin with Hollywood Brown. Brown came to the Chiefs on a cheap deal, a team friendly deal, if you will. From Jordan Foote at si.com comes this:

“$3M at signing, as well as $3.5M in a guaranteed

base salary and $250,000 each in total per-game

roster bonuses and a workout bonus. That makes

up his $7M baseline for the 2024 contract

year. $6.5M is fully guaranteed.”

While Brown will not likely be with the Chiefs next year… much like JuJu Smith-Schuster… he has been busy learning the Chiefs offensive playbook and paring up with Patrick Mahomes, so he should be a boon for the Chiefs right out of the gates.

Xavier Worthy

No one knows what to expect out of Xavier Worthy. He certainly has the speed and the route running ability, but we have yet to see any of that skill put to good use this offseason but Reid and Co. have chosen to sit him with a left hamstring strain. While we have high hopes for him, we still know nothing about his possible ability on the field. Worthy may or may not be worthy of a high ranking. That may be why this ranking is so middle-of-the-road.

What ranking you ask?

2024 NFL receiving corps rankings

The Chiefs rank #16 out of 32 teams in the NFL as a WR corp. That’s smack dab in the middle of the teams ranked by PFF. While their room for improvement, it’s clear that an elevated ranking during the season will come as a result of WRs and Patrick Mahomes upping their game. In other words, if there’s a slew of drops like there were last season early, you can forget any possibility in them upping their game.

Here’s what PFF said about the Chiefs:

“16. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS – Even with Travis Kelce,

the Chiefs finished 2023 with just an 18th-ranked team

receiving grade. They have since gone out and

upgraded in the form of Hollywood Brown, Mecole Hardman

and Xavier Worthy. If Rashee Rice can build on what he

did last season with the new names around him, this

should be a better unit.”

Mecole Hardman

Even with the re-signing of Mecole Hardman, I don’t see an upgrade in the Chiefs WR room. He may keep the floor from falling out from underneath the group but he in no way raises the ceiling.

Rashee Rice

Rice is a hard subject to approach. He may or may not get a suspension this season simply because his court dates aren’t until after the season ends. However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve a suspension. IOW, it’s hard to cheer for a guy who may well end up with jail time and action taken against him by the NFL.

Justin Watson

Watson will likely line up as the fourth WR for the Chiefs. He may even become a bigger contributor than he was the last two seasons when the totaled: 315 receiving yards in 2022 and 460 receiving yards in 2023. Even if Wason reaches 600 receiving yards this season, it’s an excellent outcome for him, but not nearly enough to make a huge difference in the team’s contributions.

Other WRs

Other WRs include: Nikko Remigio, Justyn Ross, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, Montrell Washington, and others. WIll any of them make a huge difference. It’s doubtful.

I basically agree with PFF’s ranking of our WR group. What do you think?

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne