Sad news for Kansas City Chiefs:i wish to return..
The wide receiver choices made by the Chiefs have come back to haunt them.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ 2023 offseason featured a number of divisive narratives, one of which being their underwhelming investment in their wide receiver core. While some expressed comfort riding with a group that was largely similar to 2022, others cautioned that the team lacked sufficient depth at the position.
As of now, thirteen games into the season, we are aware of who was right. There are many problems with the 2023 Chiefs, such as poor wide receiver play, a lack of accountability, and inconsistent running games, but the most obvious one might be the poor wide receiver play.
“The team is playing with fire, and while they may stay warm for the entire winter, they also run the risk of getting burned,” I wrote at the start of training camp.It appears that they suffered burns, which could potentially cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.
What was the group’s primary worry heading into the season? Initially, there wasn’t even a single prominent participant. Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling were known to us. Both are (or were) solid veterans for a deep shot now and then, but neither is a consistent high-end choice. Richie James is a journeyman in his career. Then there’s Justyn Ross, Rashee Rice, Kadarius Toney, and Skyy Moore. Talented young players, none of whom were regular pass-catchers
How many of the seven players I just mentioned did you think exceeded their preseason expectations? Personally, Rashee Rice, I’d say just one. the novice. How many players are performing to the level that one could reasonably expect them to? Justyn Ross, Richie James, and Justin Watson are my top three picks (though some may argue Ross hasn’t lived up to expectations for reasons other than football). Of the seven, how many have performed worse than expected? Definitely three. Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Skyy Moore. In contrast to Moore and Toney, who are still quite young, MVS is a seasoned veteran. This makes him different from the other two.
With this group of wide receivers, what on earth were Brett Veach and Andy Reid thinking? This is what They were adamant that Rashee Rice could be used as a rookie, that Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney would advance in their development, and that MVS, Justin Watson, and Richie James would be reliable backups for their developing pass-catchers.
They never gave it much thought that Moore and Toney would be the same players they were a year ago, or that MVS would regress as much as he has. It’s almost a given that the team would have performed better at the position if they had known those three would be dead weight. But they never gave that possibility any thought. During the offseason, what did the fans hear? We learned how much Skyy Moore improved in the offseason, how impressive they were with Rashee Rice, and that Kadarius Toney was expected to be their #1. The latter proved to be accurate, much to their credit.
It’s no secret that many people have questions like, “How come they’re struggling so much since it’s basically the same wide receiver group as last season?” Although the group appears to be similar to 2022, are they really the same?
First, let’s discuss the most significant alteration. Rashee Rice took JuJu Smith-Schuster’s place. Rice is at precisely 51 yards per game in 2022, while JuJu averaged 58.3 in the regular season. Although the numbers are fairly similar, there are two notable variations. Initially, Smith-Schuster did not have as much of a drop issue as Rice has this year. Secondly, Andy Reid found it easier to open the playbook because JuJu was able to run a more sophisticated route tree than Rice has done thus far. In the grand scheme of things, Rashee Rice’s replacement of JuJu Smith-Schuster was a great move, but as of 2022 and 2023, it’s essentially a wash.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling comes next. Regarding MVS, every Packer supporter I knew or saw on social media had similar opinions. His long-distance speed is good, but he made a lot of stupid mistakes and had trouble with drops. In 2023, both have been a major problem. However, when comparing 2022 to 2023, he has really declined. Pro Football Focus ($) reports that MVS’s yards per route run decreased dramatically this year, from 1.26 in 2023 to just 0.82, despite his drop rate remaining essentially unchanged at 9.3% to 9.5%. He’s a worse player and isn’t getting open as much as he did the previous season.
How about Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore? The problem is that both of them are essentially the same players as they were the previous year. Both are, if anything, worse than the previous season. According to PFF ($), Moore’s yards per route run has decreased from 1.28 to 0.87, but his drops have also gone up. According to PFF ($), Toney’s yards/route run has decreased from 2.60 to 1.25. The fact remains that both players have declined from a year ago. For the Chiefs, not taking the eagerly awaited next step is a double-edged blow.
Mecole Hardman, Justin Watson, and Richie James were not anticipated to be major players this season, even though Hardman was acquired during the trade deadline. James and Watson are both less effective than they were a year ago. Richie James was never meant to be a reliable player; rather, he was always intended to be a reliable depth and gadget player rather than a possible solution to Kansas City’s issues.
Despite the players’ similarities, the group as a whole is simply worse this season when comparing 2023 to 2022. In addition to drops being a more common problem, the team has also had trouble creating separation, which has forced Patrick Mahomes to hold the ball longer and resulted in needless sacks and fumbles.
There’s still more to be asked: Has Travis Kelce lost his footing? Some think the wide receiver issues have gotten worse because he hasn’t played as well as he did the previous season. But is that really the case? Kelce’s yards per route run this season (2.23) are about the same as they were last year (2.27), according to PFF ($), so I don’t think it’s fair to blame an aging Kelce. Travis Kelce’s production has actually suffered as a result of the wide receivers’ subpar play because defenses are no longer scared to double team him and go man-for-man against the lowly wide receivers.
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that the Kansas City Chiefs will win anything this season, and their own conceit is the only thing to blame. They concluded that all they had to do to stay in contention for the Super Bowl was to replace Mecole Hardman (before he was re-acquired) and JuJu Smith-Schuster with Rashee Rice and Richie James. They were in error. They thought they could turn Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney into respectable starting wide receivers. They were unable to. They expected MVS to be a player on par with the one from the previous season. They were not correct.
To their credit, there were rumors that the Chiefs tried to sign both DeAndre Hopkins and Odell Beckham Jr., but given their ages and past injury histories, those players were considered risky picks at the time. The top two wide receivers available as free agents, excluding those two, were Jakobi Meyers and JuJu Smith-Schuster. JuJu hasn’t had a good season in New England, and both players are decent but not outstanding. In the first round of this past draft, there have been rumors that Kansas City tried to trade up. Were they aiming for any of the four wide receivers selected prior to the Chiefs’ selection with the 32nd overall pick?
The fact that Brett Veach has a history of traveling to scorched Earth to correct a fatal flaw is one bright spot in an otherwise dismal season. Veach went all in to rebuild the team after a dismal defensive season in 2018, and it paid off as they won Super Bowl LIV. He replaced all five offensive line starters after the Chiefs were humiliated in Super Bowl LV, and as a result, their pass-protection unit became one of the best in the NFL. Veach rebuilt a large portion of the defense after it grew stale in 2021, and it helped them win Super Bowl LVII. Is he going to repeat it in the off-season?
We can’t waste time crying over spilt milk now. The Chiefs’ wide receiver group is flawed, and they won’t be able to improve it in time to salvage their season. Taking a chance on their inexperienced and youthful players. They didn’t win big; instead, they rolled snake eyes.
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