Kansas City Chiefs: A move for a wide receiver should still be a priority

The Kansas City Chiefs have their 53-man roster, but they need to get another receiver soon.

The Kansas City Chiefs met the 53-man roster deadline Tuesday afternoon by making the necessary cuts. Some new players made the team while some older guys didn’t. We saw some surprises and we all let out a sigh of relief when the players we were all personally rooting for made the roster.

One name that made the team yesterday that most of Chiefs Kingdom was crossing their fingers for was former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Daurice Fountain. Fountain had a strong preseason and showed off his ability to make tough contested catches.

While fans should be excited by the upside of Fountain as well as other receivers on roster, it is still evident that this receiver group leaves more to be desired. If you simply look at the depth chart beyond Tyreek Hill, things get risky.

Mecole Hardman may or may not make a leap this year. If he doesn’t, the Kansas City Chiefs know what they have: a big play receiver who hasn’t been consistent. Players like Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson, and Fountain are guys who will have potential to perform really well here and there.

However, expecting a player from that group of unproven guys to explode into a bonafide No. 2 receiver with sufficient stats is a pretty large leap of faith.

It’s not that those players are bad, it’s that a lot of fans question whether any of them can step up if Tyreek Hill isn’t in the game or if they can separate themselves from the rest of the pack. The Chiefs need someone to replace what Sammy Watkins gave them.

While it isn’t uncommon for people to overstate the value Watkins brought to the table for the Chiefs, when Watkins was on the field the offense appeared to be better, more efficient, and he gave you a legitimate No. 2 NFL wide receiver that could draw attention away from Hill and Travis Kelce.

The Kansas City Chiefs still need to find a veteran wide receiver

The Kansas City Chiefs are aware they need a real No. 2, too. Fans shouldn’t forget how the Chiefs went after Juju Smith-Schuster along with some other options. Surely they didn’t just throw up their hands after missing out on those sweepstakes and think Pringle is close enough to Smith-Schuster, right?

Regardless, they need to address the position and maximize the potential of this offense that now features a stonewall offensive line and a rejuvenated Patrick Mahomes coming off of a Super Bowl loss. The best quarterback in the NFL deserves to have good receivers.

It doesn’t have to be a top-end receiver. It doesn’t even have to be an “X” receiver that the Chiefs would ideally want. It just needs to be a guy with proven production that can take advantage of single coverage.

Luckily for the Kansas City Chiefs, there were a few players released yesterday that could fit that bill. Names that come to mind are John Brown of the Raiders or Keke Coutee from the Texans, who was one of Patrick Mahomes’ favorite targets in college at Texas Tech.

An ideal addition could even come through trade, too. I don’t have a great sense for where that trade would come from but it is something for the Chiefs to consider.

Anyway, we saw in preseason why the Chiefs need to still address receiver. Hardman is clearly still coming along as Mahomes and the offense came up short on multiple drives due to miscues and there was some inconsistent play from the rest of the squad at the position. The Chiefs need to do their due-diligence around the league and bring someone in that can give you 500 yards and a few touchdowns. There’s no reason not to.