If it wasn't glaringly obvious that the Kansas City Chiefs need help at wide receiver after a grueling loss to the Seattle Seahawks in primetime, it is now. For years, Patrick Mahomes has had to deal with a revolving door of mediocre to downright abysmal wide receiver play ever since Tyreek Hill got traded.
His best pass-catchers from 2023 on have been a mid-thirties Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, who has been hurt on multiple occasions, suspended, jailed, and has played just 32 of 68 possible regular season games over his four years in the league.
Kansas City needs to face the facts and realize they are not doing enough at the receiver position, and it's been the case for years
Have the Chiefs invested in the position as needed since Hill's departure? Yes, and no. They drafted Skyy Moore and Rice in the second round of the 2022 and 2023 drafts, respectively. Moore was a bust from basically the second he stepped onto the field, and Rice has played well when on the field, but the issue is he's never on the field. And much like the Josh Simmons situation, Brett Veach and the front office knew Rice had character concerns coming out of college and chose to ignore them.
Kansas City made a big splash when they opted to select speedster Xavier Worthy in the first round of the 2024 draft, which, over his first year, looked like a pretty good pick with lots of upside. His rookie year consisted of over 700 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns; then he got hurt in the first game of last season, basically derailing a projected second-year leap. And so far this year, it looks like Worthy is what a lot of 4.2-speed receivers have always been in the NFL. Small, fast for no reason, and largely ineffective.
The Chiefs also spent two day-three picks in the past two drafts on Jalen Royals and Cyrus Allen. And while it's tough to really assess their future, as their careers are still sprouting, it's safe to say that it doesn't seem like either is going to be a difference-maker for whatever reason. At least in 2026.
Contract wise, Kansas City has done next to nothing. Which is frankly inexcusable for a position that matters so much in this league. The only multi-year free agent contract they have given out has been to Tyquan Thornton this past offseason for two years, $11 million. Which was returning tenfold this year, before his ankle bent the wrong way four weeks into the year, effectively ending his season.
Let me get one thing straight. I'm not one of the people who adhere to the "Fire Brett Veach" chants. Every GM has their strengths and weaknesses, just like coaches, just like players. One of Veach's stregnths has nailing the mid and late rounds of the draft, and finding high-level contributing pieces to Super Bowl rosters. He seems to have a keen eye for defensive talent and for fitting Steve Spagnuolo's scheme.
A couple of his weaknesses, however, are quite damaging. He's been pretty hit or miss in the first rounds of drafts, and for this article's sake, it doesn't seem like he really has a science down for finding quality receivers out of college. A way to offset this is pretty easy. Just pay a number one option big money in free agency, as you've already seen them prove they can produce at the next level. The problem is teams usually don't let those guys leave the building. Especially not for nothing in return.
But that's expensive, and KC is not one to push a lot of pain down the road in terms of cap money. At some point, however, you need to take a swing and get Mahomes a new 'DUDE' he can rely on to catch the ball when they need to have it the most.
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