The wide receiver position has been in the spotlight for most of the season. Kansas City Chiefs fans this offseason. It was widely viewed as the weakest unit on the team that won the Super Bowl last season. Consequently, the Chiefs used their First-round draft pick: wide receiver Xavier Worthy and arguably his biggest free agent signing was wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” BrownWhen you add in all the offseason drama with second-year wide receiver Rashee Rice, it’s easy to see why the position has dominated the Chiefs’ offseason coverage.
The additions of Worthy and Brown have certainly bolstered the ceiling of the Chiefs’ wide receiver room. That’s especially true because the only real loss from last season’s group was Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who signed with the Buffalo Bills in free agency After an up-and-down stint in Kansas City, the Chiefs should theoretically be much better off with the Worthy-Brown combination than they were last season with MVS. If Rice avoids a massive suspension, the quality of positional depth should be much better this season.
The improvements at the top of the depth chart will get most of the press come training camp time, but the other thing they will do is create more competition on the roster at wide receiver than Chiefs fans have seen in several years. Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice and Justin Watson can already be locked into the 53-man roster if they are all healthy (and Rice isn’t suspended). That only leaves a couple more spots for several other wide receivers to compete for.
Some people might argue with including Justin Watson on the can’t-miss list, but at 6’1″ and 210 pounds, Watson is the only experienced wide receiver who is built to play true X-receiver reps, where they line up at the line of scrimmage and physically take on defensive backs. Yes, Brown, Worthy, and Rice can all line up on the outside, but none of them are known for their blocking prowess and all function better out of the slot or behind the line to give themselves more room to move freely. Valdes-Scantling played a lot of those X-plays last year, and Watson is going to take some of those reps. When you mix in his special teams value, he becomes a safe bet.
That means if Rice is available, the Chiefs likely have just two (maybe three) spots available for Kadarius Toney, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, Justyn Ross and Nikko Remigio to face. That’s a much higher level of competition than we’ve typically seen at the bottom of the Chiefs’ roster. Let’s go over the key information for those contenders heading into training camp.
Toney Kadarius Toney is entering his fourth NFL season and so far hasn’t lived up to the hype of the first-round pick the New York Giants spent on him. In three seasons, Toney is averaging just 27.3 receptions and 253.3 yards per season. His career drops (9) far outnumber his career touchdowns (3).
Toney has the potential to return kicks on special teams, but he’s averaged just 7.0 yards per punt return in his NFL career and has yet to return a kickoff in the NFL. That could change with this season’s new kickoff rules, but as you’re about to see, KC has someone with an even better resume as a return specialist.
There’s no doubt that Toney has the most potential of anyone on this roster, but at some point he’ll run out of opportunities. Living up to that silver lining.
Mecole Hardman Hardman is entering his sixth NFL season, and while he’s never proven himself worthy of a starting role, he has shown some value as a role player. Hardman is averaging 33.2 receptions and 442.4 receiving yards in five seasons. Those numbers are higher than Toney’s, as is his 13.3 yards per reception (compared to Toney’s 9.3). Hardman also has significantly more receiving touchdowns (10 to 3). Hardman’s career punt return average is 8.9 (with one touchdown) and he’s also averaged 23.5 yards per kick return (with one TD).
The only thing going against Hardman in a head-to-head matchup with Toney is his higher fumble rate. Other than that, Hardman has outperformed Toney in the NFL in every measurable way. There may be room for Toney and Hardman on the roster, but they’re similar enough players that it’s also possible they’re competing for the same job.
Brett Veach may have invested a valuable draft pick in Skyy Moore It’s only been a few years, but Moore may also be running out of opportunities to prove he can live up to his draft capital. Moore is entering his third NFL season, but he’s averaged just 21.5 receptions and 247 receiving yards in his first two seasons despite KC’s dearth of wide receiver talent during that time. Moore also struggled as a return specialist when he was tasked with that role, averaging just 6.1 punt returns and fumbles on the way.
I felt compelled to include Moore on this list, but unless he makes huge strides as a reliable short-to-intermediate pass receiver, it’s increasingly difficult to see him playing a role on the roster next season with KC having so many other options out of the slot that are better choices to contribute in the return game.
Justyn Ross He’s an interesting contender on this list because he only competes with himself. He’s not an option for return specialist, but he’s the only player on this list who could potentially split X-receiver reps with Justin Watson. The Chiefs could use another receiver with size to play at the line of scrimmage and also challenge downfield. While Ross hasn’t proven anything in the NFL, that was exactly his game in college before a serious back injury during his off-field career.
Ross had his own off-field issues last season, so there’s Reasons to be worriedBut the opportunity is still there to be taken advantage of. If Ross proves himself worthy, there will likely only be one spot open for smaller players/return specialist options. If Ross doesn’t live up to expectations, then the Chiefs will likely be stuck with two of those smaller players.
If you want a true wild card for the final wide receiver spot on the roster, that would be it Nikko Remigio. This will be Remigio’s second camp with the ChiefsLast year, Remigio was already making noise in training camp before a shoulder injury landed him on injured reserve. He had an unspectacular four-year college career at California. He used his Covid-extra fifth season to go to Fresno State and it paid off big time, as he hauled in 74 receptions for 852 yards and 6 touchdowns. He was also a great college return specialist, averaging 10.3 yards on punt returns with 2 touchdowns and 25.1 yards on kickoff returns with a touchdown.
Remigio has the toughest path to earning a spot on the 53-man roster, as he’ll likely have to beat out one or two similar players like Toney, Hardman and Moore who have far more NFL experience. That said, those three players have had their opportunities and haven’t always produced, so Remigio has a chance to prove he can excel where they’ve fallen short.
So there you have it Chiefs fans, those are the five contenders for KC’s final two wide receiver spots. If Rashee Rice starts the year suspended, then maybe three of them make the opening day roster, but either way, these five guys have a serious battle in training camp if they want to stay in Kansas City. I’m glad that this year these guys are fighting for the final roster spots instead of counting on them to help hold down the position like they did last year.