Kansas City Chiefs fans are starting to look ahead to the offseason and the 2026 campaign after the franchise was officially eliminated from playoff contention last week.
With three games remaining in the regular season, some within the Chiefs kingdom want to see other players on the roster play and show that they deserve a role in 2026. One of those guys is rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals.
The 22-year-old wideout created a lot of buzz after the NFL draft and in the preseason, but a knee injury has slowed his progression, and he hasn’t played much to this point in the year. That said, with the Chiefs’ WR room banged up right now, this seems like a perfect opportunity to get Royals on the field in Week 16.
However, the Chiefs’ coaches are putting out mixed messages regarding the rookie, which is leaving fans wondering what the actual plan is.
"You want to see more time for him if possible... Some of it is just a numbers thing for him. It's almost like a redshirt year... I'm excited to see what he's going to do in these next three games and in the future,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said, via Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports.
Chiefs Toying with Jalen Royals as Regular Season Winding Down
As you can imagine, Chiefs fans weren’t exactly thrilled to read this from Nagy, as they feel that if you want to see Royals more, all the staff has to do is play him. Additionally, the idea of this year being a redshirt season is interesting, as he was a fourth-round pick rather than a Day 3 sleeper.
Meanwhile, Chiefs wide receiver Connor Embree said something similar about his rookie counterpart, leaving the door open to whether he’ll play.
According to Goldman, Embree mentioned that Royals has stayed locked in the last few weeks and said they’ll see if he gets any opportunity over the next three weeks. Embree chalked up Royals’ knee tendinitis as “bad timing,” but he likes where he’s at.
Again, all of this sounds promising, but the fan base is quite tired of coach speak and wants to see the rookie on the field. If he does not play, then the Chiefs are doing a disservice to themselves by not seeing how Royals fit into the offensive puzzle.
Looking ahead to next season, there is no guarantee that Tyquan Thornton or Hollywood Brown will be back. In the scenario that they don’t, Royals could be depended on to take on a bigger role in his second season as a pro.
That would be great for Royals and Chiefs fans, but if they don’t see him play over these next three games, there will be a ton of questions left to be answered.