With Tyreek Hill gone, what’s next for KC Chiefs at wide receiver? Here’s a look ahead
.jpg "The Chiefs’ in-house options at wide receiver following the trade of Tyreek Hill to Miami on Wednesday include (clockwise from top left): Josh Gordon, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman, Corey Coleman, Gehrig Dieter and Daurice Fountain.")
One of the biggest questions entering free agency this year was who the Chiefs might be able to add as their new No. 2 wide receiver. The answer arrived in the form of former Pittsburgh Steelers veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster, who signed a one-year deal with Kansas City in free agency.
A week later, that question, infused with some new urgency, is even more pressing: Who’s the Chiefs’ No. 1 now?
The Chiefs are left looking for a new leading man at wide receiver following Wednesday’s trade of star wideout Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in exchange for Miami’s first-, second- and fourth-round picks in next month’s 2022 NFL Draft and fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 draft.
Hill is one of the NFL’s elite playmakers, and three-time All-Pros and six-time Pro Bowlers don’t exactly grow on trees. But the Chiefs have time to identify a suitable successor, and that determination will likely wait until after this year’s draft, which takes place in late April.
In trading away Hill, Kansas City came away with a bounty of draft picks, adding three to their nine previous selections. Five of the team’s picks will occur in the top 100 slots, including back-to-back picks in the first round (29th and 30th overall).
Simply put, there will be talent — and perhaps even a Day 1 starter — at the wide receiver position, should the Chiefs elect to go that route in the first three rounds.
But before diving into the draft, let’s look at the Chiefs’ roster of remaining wide receivers in the wake of Wednesday’s blockbuster trade.
WHO’S ON THE ROSTER NOW?
The Chiefs have 12 wide receivers on their offseason roster:
- Mecole Hardman
- JuJu Smith-Schuster
- Corey Coleman
- Josh Gordon
- Daurice Fountain
- Gehrig Dieter
- Cornell Powell
- Omar Bayless
- Gary Jennings
- Mathew Sexton
- Chris Finke
- Justin Watson
Among this group, Hardman is the lone man returning from last season’s active 53-player roster. Gordon appeared in 12 games but finished the season on the practice squad. Fountain bounced back and forth between the active roster and practice squad.
With the 2021 season in the books and a full offseason to better acclimate themselves to coach Andy Reid’s scheme, Gordon and Fountain are dark-horse candidates to step up in Hill’s place. Not as direct replacements, but perhaps with enhanced responsibilities.
Smith-Schuster and Coleman, a former first-round pick with the Cleveland Browns, joined the Chiefs during free agency.
Gordon, Fountain, Powell, Dieter, Bayless, Jennings, Sexton, Watson and Finke are signed to reserve/future contracts.
Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson, two key contributors for the Chiefs last season, signed elsewhere during free agency. Marcus Kemp, a special teams standout, remains an unrestricted free agent.
POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS
The Chiefs began free agency without a lot of spending money, which put them behind the power curve in signing some of the top available free-agent wide receivers.
Before the Chiefs could blink, the likes of Allen Robinson, Mike Williams, Christian Kirk and Russell Gage were off the market.
There are options still available, such as Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr., but both turn 30 in November and wouldn’t be long-term solutions to replace Hill. Beckham is also recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the Super Bowl with the L.A. Rams.
The Chiefs are scheduled to host Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a free-agent visit.
THE DRAFT
Sensibly speaking, this is where the Chiefs are most likely going to be able to address their wide receiver needs now that Hill has moved on to South Beach.
This year’s draft is widely regarded as loaded with talent at multiple positions, a point that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach made clear during the NFL Scouting Combine.
“I really like this draft,” he said in Indianapolis. “I think it’s a deep draft.”
Rob Rang, a respected long-time NFL draft analyst currently with FOXSports.com, agreed.
“Very deep,” Rang said of the wide receiver class in a text exchange with The Star. “Doesn’t have the consensus guy at the top, but otherwise is very similar to recent classes with starting-caliber players likely to still be available in mid rounds with some fun Day 3 sleepers.”
If wide receiver is on the Chiefs’ first-round menu, they’re likely to miss out on USC’s Drake London or Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, both of whom are projected as early selections — unless they trade up.
Barring a move higher up in the order (which the Chiefs have the ammunition to pull off), patience until the end of the first round or into the second and third rounds could be the way to go. Those stages of the draft could produce the likes of Alabama’s Jameson Williams, Georgia’s George Pickens, Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson, Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore or Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce.
Talent and fit in the Chiefs’ offensive scheme will help dictate what the team ultimately does with its wide receiver corps before next season begins.
The period between the present and the start of the late-April draft allows for two important things to happen:
1. The dust from Hill’s surprising departure can settle, and ...
2. the Chiefs can fully immerse themselves in the talent-evaluation process to make the best decision about how to proceed — especially now that it is clearly an identified and pressing need.
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "With Tyreek Hill gone, what’s next for KC Chiefs at wide receiver? Here’s a look ahead."
