Monday marked the Kansas City Chiefs' first padded practice of training camp on a cool 80-degree day in St. Joseph, Missouri. Through the team's first four non-padded practices held last week, we learned a lot, much of it probably overreaction. But today gave us our first real glimpse of how the coaches see the current roster shaking out.
And with all the injuries at wide receiver right now for the Chiefs, 2025 undrafted free agent Andrew Armstrong has continuously been at the forefront of discussion. Even today, with no Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, or Cyrus Allen in for 11-on-11, Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest reported that Armstrong got the nod in the first-team offense.
First team wide receivers in team to start: Jalen Royals, Tyquan Thornton and Andrew Armstrong.
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) August 3, 2026
Granted, Andy Reid has said time and again that training camp is the time to experiment with various players and personnel packages, but the fact that Armstrong has begun to stack days is notable. The 25-year-old receiver out of Arkansas did not get the phone call he wanted on draft day, but found his way to Kansas City after a short stint with the Dolphins and a season-long practice squad spot with the Lions.
Chiefs fans, get familiar with the name Andrew Armstrong as the receiver continues to flash in camp
At nearly 6'4" and over 200 lbs, Armstrong is easily the biggest Chiefs receiver on the current 90-man roster and has drawn early comparisons to former KC pass-catcher Demarcus Robinson. Armstrong, after three forgetful years at East Texas A&M, spent two years as a Razorback, accumulating 134 catches for over 1,900 yards and six touchdowns.
He scored an impressive 9.44 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) out of a possible 10, which ranked in the top sixth percentile since 1987. Athleticism is not everything, and Armstrong is not at all a pristine route-runner or separation technician. He's a big guy who can run fast downfield and high-point the football.
Mahomes fires it into Armstrong in 7on7 pic.twitter.com/EXBDhhr633
— Ron Kopp Jr (@RonOnChiefs) August 3, 2026
That's an aspect of the Chiefs' offense that has been missing for a while, and while Kansas City thought they may have tried the same concept with a guy a couple of years ago in Justyn Ross who could fit that prototype, that was proven wrong as Ross never quite panned out. Hopefully, Armstrong can have more success in the big leagues than Ross.
So far, he seems to have captured the attention of the coaching staff. The next step is to build chemistry with the Chiefs' three-time Super Bowl-winning signal-caller, a task that is necessary but doesn't come easily.
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