The Kansas City Chiefs went into Friday's game already shorthanded at the receiver position with Rashee Rice slated to miss the first six games of the season. Things grew instantly worse with Xavier Worthy colliding with Travis Kelce and suffering a right shoulder injury. It put a new Kansas City cast of depth receivers under instant pressure, with Hollywood Brown doing much of the heavy lifting. However, it wasn't just Brown who stood out, with Tyquan Thornton making good on his camp and preseason performance.
Before the first half expired, the Chiefs were desperate to make the most of the waning seconds, and Thornton took advantage of his chance. Patrick Mahomes hit a perfect deep ball to get into field goal range, with Thornton making a perfect over-the-shoulder catch. It was an incredibly difficult throw and catch that was perfectly executed on both ends.
Chiefs Clearly Made the Right Decision Keeping Surprise Contributor Tyquan Thornton
Thornton finished his night with two catches and 41 yards in what was a great performance. While the numbers aren't eye-popping, the receiver made arguably the biggest play of the night for the Kansas City offense. Finally, having Mahomes hit on a deep ball allowed the quarterback and offense to take a sigh of relief. This can now stop being a storyline with it becoming clear the ability is still there, but the lack of consistency from Kansas City's playmakers has been the issue.
With this in mind, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Thornton continue to play a bigger role in the next weeks of the season. Worthy's injury status won't be known until the Chiefs are able to return to Kansas City and get an MRI. However, it seems incredibly unlikely that he will be able to return in the next weeks. Watching how the trainers and coaching staff reacted to the injury, it seems that it will be a multiple-game issue.
This is incredibly frustrating for the Chiefs, but it allows Thornton a chance to continue to carve out a surprise role. Going from a fringe roster piece to one of the more important playmakers on Kansas City's roster helps drive home both the urgency of the situation at the position and how important an opportunity this is for the veteran.
Thornton's career started as a 2nd Round selection with the New England Patriots. After two seasons of frustrating football, the franchise turned the page, and the pass catcher was added to the Chiefs' practice squad. It clearly allowed an advantage of learning the system, offering an advantage that allowed Thornton to stand out throughout camp and the preseason. This continued in Week 1 and could allow for a surprise contributor to emerge.
Kansas City needs speed and the ability to hit big plays with slower targets remaining among active options. Thornton can stretch the field just as he did on Friday night, making it clear, even amid the frustration, there were positive takeaways and signs of the deep ball consistently coming back to the Chiefs' offense.