Kansas City Chiefs getting good look at retooled wide receiver corps during OTAs
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Megastar quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a known commodity in the Chiefs’ offense.
Exactly who Mahomes ends up throwing to at wide receiver this fall, though, is an entirely different matter.
Aside from veteran holdover Mecole Hardman, multiple pieces to the wide receiver puzzle have yet to be put together as the Chiefs seek to replace Tyreek Hill, who was traded to the Miami Dolphins in March.
“If you’re in this business long enough, change is inevitable, it happens,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said Thursday. “You can always replace the player, but you can’t replace the person. Tyreek was loved; he’ll be missed.
“But now it’s time for us to make sure we’re developing the people that we have and getting them to do the things that we need. I thought (general manager Brett) Veach and his staff did a hell of a job of selecting the guys that we brought in.”
Gone from the 2021 regular-season roster are wide receivers Hill, Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson and Marcus Kemp. Pringle signed with the Chicago Bears during free agency, Robinson joined the Las Vegas Raiders, while Kemp remains an unrestricted free agent.
Hardman returns along with Josh Gordon and Daurice Fountain, both of whom had stints on the active 53-player roster and practice squad in 2021. Cornell Powell, the Chiefs’ fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, is also back after spending last season on the practice squad.
As for the rest of the position group, which currently boasts 13 players through two weeks of organized activities (OTAs), the Chiefs have plenty of competition.
In are JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, second-round pick Skyy Moore and a collection of veteran players signed to reserve/future deals or as free agents, including Corey Coleman, Justin Watson, Gary Jennings, Matthew Sexton and Omar Bayless. The Chiefs furthered bolstered the wide receiver group by signing Justyn Ross as an undrafted free agent.
“They all bring something different to the table and that’s the unique part about it,” Bieniemy said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of diversity because everybody presents something different, so it’s going to be new. It’s going to be exciting.”
Hardman, who enters the final year of his contract, will likely get the first chance at the No. 1 wide receiver spot. He knows the system and has played in Hill’s shadow over the past three years, a span where Hardman totaled 126 catches for 1,791 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Chiefs pursued Smith-Schuster during free agency in 2021 before he elected to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but Kansas City finally secured him on a one-year deal in March. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Smith-Schuster arrives with proven production, amassing 323 catches for 3,855 yards and 26 touchdowns in five seasons with the Steelers.
Then, the Chiefs signed Valdes-Scantling to a three-year deal a day after trading Hill. With the 6-foot-4, 206-pound Valdes-Scantling, the Chiefs have a player who produced 123 catches for 2,153 yards and 13 touchdowns in four seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
Hardman, who is currently dealing with a hamstring injury, Smith-Schuster and Valdes-Scantling project as the top trio among the wide receiver group. Moore, who also has a hamstring injury, will get his opportunities to show why he’s a second-round pick once he’s healthy.
But when it comes to clearly defined roles or even the fifth and potentially sixth wide receiver to round out the initial 53-player roster, the guessing game is truly on.
Never fear because that’s what OTAs, the upcoming three-day mandatory minicamp and next month’s training camp are for.
“We’re still trying to figure that out as we go and let those guys kind of dictate kind of where we go with it as opposed to saying, ‘You’re (No.) 1, 2 and 3 and this is what you can do,’” Chiefs wide receiver coach Joe Bleymaier said Thursday. “We want them to show us and showcase their abilities.
“And as they grow and get comfortable with our quarterback, with our offense, with the roles they’ve carved out, then we can narrow down how to attack a defense or game plan for a specific opponent. But right now, it’s kind of everybody feeling it out and writing their own story.”
So far, so good for the Chiefs’ retooled wide receiver group.
“I’ve seen a pretty talented group,” Bieniemy said. “We got a lot of guys out there who can do a lot of different things.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City Chiefs getting good look at retooled wide receiver corps during OTAs."
