Chiefs Wide Receiver Room

Laddie Morse

Early on Friday morning Brett Veach re-signed WR Justin Watson to the Chiefs. This was an important signing because Watson gives Patrick Mahomes another WR who he’s worked with previously. Plus, Watson has now had a year under his belt in Andy Reid’s system and playbook.

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What surprises me here is that Veach signed Watson for “two” years, when I was hoping he’d do that with RB Jerick McKinnon (who remains unsigned). The question now is, does this signing give the public at large – including other team’s GMs – the impression that the WR cupboard is now full? If that’s what Veach was trying to do, I don’t think he succeeded:

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Re-signing Justin Watson does raise other questions, like:

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The answer to these three questions are all –> NO. No… the Watson signing does not take WR off the draft board. No… MVS should not be released as a result. No… we are still likely drafting two WRs in this draft (at least one), after all, K.C. does have ten picks.

However, I can understand why Veach re-signed him, as can our newest writer,

David Ferguson:

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What this means for the Chiefs WR room is, there are now 11 WRs on the roster vying for 6 (probably) WR spots on the 53 man roster, including:

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The WRs in black are the one’s most likely headed for the 53 man roster. The ones in red will have to step their game up to even be considered. When you take into account that the Chiefs are likely drafting more WR(s) to the team, it means there will be fierce competition among all WRs going into the 2023 season, and this doesn’t even take into account… what happens if… Veach trades for a WR.

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Many see Toney as a risk because of his injury history. DraftSharks.com calls him a “High Risk” player with a 2 out of 5 ranking on their Durability Scale and if you look at all the places he’s had an injury (see below) you can understand why:

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Toney missed time in college because of injuries and then also missed the Giants Training camp because of a hamstring injury. After that, here’s a record of his NFL Injury History from DraftShark.com:

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Otherwise, when Kadarius Toney is on the field, he is as dynamic as any WR in the game. He can make one handed catches, has a wicked jab-step (perhaps the best I’ve ever seen), has great hands, and runs sharp routes (0:07).

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He says he likes playing for Kansas City so that could make a world of difference. In the 2022 season, Toney had 14 receptions in 7 games for the Chiefs for 171 yards.

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Moore is a second year wide receiver in the Chiefs system who was drafted in the second round (54th over all) last year in the 2022 NFL Draft. I’ve been saying that Moore could one day be the Chiefs #1WR and although I’ve been saying he would be that #1 guy by the end of the 2022 season, people are now seeing that he could be that guy, this year. Moore has 22 catches for 250 yards receiving last season and although that doesn’t sound like the kind of numbers that would make you confident he was going to make that jump, please consider that both JuJu Smith -Schuster and Mecole Hardman are now gone, so his path to becoming the #1 guy is wide open. What about Kadarius Toney you ask? Well, I just expect (and hope) Toney can be what he was last season, a Mecole Hardman type who brings the juice when it’s needed.

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Toney had his first TD catch in the Super Bowl (above, 2:08) in a reverse corndog play originally meant to go to the other side of the field. Now, with that first TD catch out of the way, his time to focus on being the man is here.

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Marquez Valdes-Scantling (MVS) had a good season in his first year for the Chiefs. He gained 687 yards on 42 catches and I’m not sure why there are those who keep insisting on predicting that he will be released. Perhaps it’s the three year deal they don’t like… or maybe it’s his drops earlier in the season. It could also be that he doesn’t have the prototypical WR frame, as he stands 6-foot-4 and only weighs 206 lbs.. However, there is plenty of evidence that he can boast so that he could stake his own claim to becoming the Chiefs #1 WR. His height may be the very reason the Chiefs signed him in the first place (0:42):

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Maybe you can begin to see a pattern emerging here –> all the Chiefs current WRs put together make a solid group of pass catchers, enough that the need for designating a #1WR is a moot point. All together these three (Toney, Moore and Valdes-Scantling) have gained: 1,108 yards on 83 catches and Kadarius Toney only played in 7 games for the Chiefs.

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Watson was used as a role player last year, but he was critical to the Chiefs passing attack as he helped Patrick Mahomes reach his milestones of 5,000 yards passing. Patrick Mahomes averaged 12.1 yards per reception in 2022, but Justin Watson averaged 21.0 yards per reception. He helped Mahomes make magic happen when no one was looking. Watson had 15 catches for 315 yards in 2022, but it seems his caches mostly came at important moments (0:13).

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Although Watson is tall at 6-foot-3 and weighing in at 216 lbs., he is not a replacement for MVS. Not sure how the phenomena of moving on from MVS with Watson on the roster came about — maybe it has to do with their height being similar — but it seems silly to me.

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James is 5-foot-9, and weighs 185 lbs. and he just came to the Chiefs as a free agent last week. Here’s sportract.com on Richie James’ deal with the Chiefs:

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“Richie James signed a 1 year, $1,232,500 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a $152,500 signing bonus, $552,500 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $1,232,500. In 2023, James will earn a base salary of $1,080,000 and a signing bonus of $152,500, while carrying a cap hit of $1,092,500 and a dead cap value of $552,500.”

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Many are saying Richie James is on the upswing in his career as a WR in the NFL. Here’s what people mean by that:

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James was drafted by the 49ers in the 7th round of the 2018 NFL Draft and his yards gained for each season has steadily risen, from 130 to 165 to 394 to 569 last season. James spent the 2021 season on IR which is also likely the reason the 49ers moved on from him.

Now, many Kingdom fans would like to know if James is good on broken plays and if he still runs his routes so that he finds the open spots where Patrick Mahomes can find him? Here’s a play that may seem to answer that question (0:49):

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Richie James has 4.48 – 40 yard dash speed and he uses it when he’s asked to return kickoffs and punts. Here’s a look at a successful kickoff return he had when he was with the 49ers (0:54):

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Ross is attempting to not only make the Chiefs 53 man roster, but become a forced once again on the football field. When Ross was a Junior at Clemson he learned he had a congenital condition (meaning, he was born with it), a spine disease called Klippel-Feil syndrome. From the National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NIND) comes this: “Klippel-Feil syndrome is a rare disorder where two or more vertebrae in the neck are fused together from birth.” When Ross first learned that he had this disorder, he was told by the NIND that he should try to avoid activities that cold injure his neck (1:30).

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So, Justyn Ross had neck surgery and he hadn’t played in a game since the 2019 season for Clemson. From ESPN comes this quote by the doctor who performed his surgery, Dr. Okonkwo (team neurosurgeon for the Steelers):

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“Justyn has a condition that is very rare, and to my knowledge, there is no precedent of another high-level American football player with this condition playing football,” said Dr. David Okonkwo, who performed the surgery on Ross that allowed him to return to play. “So we were paving new road as we went through the process.”

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Ross hasn’t felt any “stingers” in his neck or spine for over a year now, so his road to success in the NFL may be a long one, but it is filled with hope, as the Chiefs have one of the best physical support staffs in the NFL.

From the 2019 until the 2021 season, Ross recovered and was ready to go back into the game at the beginning of 2021… but then he got a foot stress fracture. He wanted to play so badly, he allowed trainers to wrap his foot even though it was swollen, just so he could play. The season didn’t go as planned for the team so he prepped for foot surgery and he ended the 2021 season with 46 receptions and 514 receiving yards… and he was expecting to be taken in the 2022 draft.

After his foot surgery he continue training at EXOS athletic training facility in Frisco, Texas. Since he couldn’t do all the exercises (because of his foot) he worked on his upper body. Jordan Brown, a trainer at EXOS Training, said of Ross:

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“He’s a phenomenal athlete, and he’s

someone who works his butt off.”

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Ross was cleared to go full tilt last February — over a year ago now — and he has raised expectations across Chiefs Kingdom for his 2023 campaign. Ross wasn’t selected during the 2022 NFL Draft, but eventually signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent (UDFA). When training camp began last year, Ross was placed on the injured reserve list (IR). His workouts have already become Twitter legend (0:45):

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From Charles Goldman at USAToday.com comes this:

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“The Chiefs have perhaps the best training staff in the NFL, so I’m confident that they have a level of comfort and a plan for his injury. This is a boom-or-bust swing for Kansas City, though. If it works out, Ross could be a key weapon as they look to rebuild the receiving corps for a post-Tyreek Hill roster. If it doesn’t, at least they can say that they tried.”

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From Sportrac.com which has info on Justyn Ross’ Salary:

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“Justyn Ross signed a 3 year, $2,560,000 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including an average annual salary of $853,333.”

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The Remaining Wideouts

The rest of the Chiefs WRs will all be vying for a spot on the final 53 man roster and looking to bump one of the above covered WRs off their reserved spot. IOW, “Take a grown man’s job.” Here’s the list of remaining WRs:

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Who, on this list, do you think has the best chance of bumping one of the above WRs off their 53 man spot? For me, it’s John Ross or Cornell Powell… because John Ross has a wonderful 40 time (4.22) and Cornell Powell was drafted by Veach two years ago in the 5th round. Plus, which WR do you like in the upcoming draft who might be a foregone conclusion to make the 53?

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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