If I were Brett Veach; an argument for one more WR
Looking at the current state of the receiver room in Kansas City and how I'd address it if I were the Chiefs' GM.
Forgive me for taking a brief (very brief, I swear!) break from 2024 draft pick film breakdowns. Here’s hoping you’ve already seen the stuff I’ve written on Xavier Worthy (first before the draft, then after), Kingsley Suamataia (who has a ton of talent), and Jared Wiley (who is not Kelce, but is highly intriguing as a “normal” TE).
However, something came to my attention today thanks to
my colleague at . He shared a quick blurb from Steve Smith’s podcast in which James Palmer let it slip that the Chiefs are expecting wide receiver Rashee Rice (whose legal issues you are familiar with) to be suspended by the NFL for “half a season at least.” That’s news, at least a little bit, and it creates an issue for Kansas City.We do know, based on reporting during the draft, that the NFL may well not take action any time soon as they wait for the legal process to play out. It may well be that this feared suspension doesn’t occur until 2025. However, with no way of knowing how long the court matters will last (particularly with the criminal matter, which feels like the most dispositive in terms of what the NFL will do), that leaves the Chiefs in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to the wide receiver room.
To think about the current problem, one needs to take a trip down (bad) memory lane.
It’s no secret that Kansas City’s WR’s struggled last year, to the point that it actively affected the offense in a negative way. That was true in ways that were obvious/direct, such as drops in big (and small) moments that took yards and points of the board. But it was also true in ways that were less obvious but even more impactful than individual drops that led to lost yards (or poor routes that led to missed connections).
Remember when I was writing about snaps like this?
The Chiefs lacking the ability to consistently threaten deep led to teams being able to play more aggressive coverages (with fewer 2-deep safety looks) and more guys close to the line of scrimmage than they had in years against Patrick Mahomes. An inability from most receivers to separate against man coverage invited even more aggressive looks. Travis Kelce was given more attention than ever. And even the usually unflappable Mahomes’ play was affected after enough games, as he stopped trusting what he was seeing and became significantly more hesitant to make certain throws.
In other words, the WR room struggles had a domino effect on the offense in which every facet struggled. And while, yes, the year had a happy ending despite those problems, that was generally DESPITE the WR room, not because of it. The greatness of Mahomes, Kelce, Jones, Reid, and Spags was enough to drag the team across the finish line (with of course a strong overall roster contributing a ton). But everyone knew that the WR room needed a significant upgrade if they wanted to get back to being a great offense to complement a terrific defense.
After releasing underperforming veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling (I’m sorry, two-time playoff hero Marquez Valdes-Scantling) , Veach went to work on the WR room. He started with signing Hollywood Brown, a receiver who fits perfectly with what the Chiefs need on offense.
As I wrote in Brown’s film review, his ability to separate at all three levels of the field are desperately needed in Kansas City. Adding him into the mix makes the room better in 2024 than it was in 2023 even if nothing else changed.
And then, of course, the Chiefs drafted Worthy, who was my second favorite of the “other” WR’s in the draft (leaving off MHJ, Nabers, and Rome). Without re-hashing a bunch of stuff about Worthy, he’s a guy who separated at all three levels in college while providing a dangerous deep threat.
All this is well and good, but (and here we come to the crux of the matter) the Chiefs still have a deficiency at receiver, especially if Rice ends up missing significant snaps in 2024. Here’s every WR on the Chiefs roster at the moment:
Brown, Worthy, Rice, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Justyn Ross, Cornell Powell, Nikko Remegio, Anthony Miller, Jacob Copeland, Shi Smith, Montrell Washington.