The Kansas City Chiefs Wide Receiver Touchdown Semi-Myth

TOUCHDOWN NUMBER ONE: Joe McKnight, Week 3, At Miami

The first touchdown caught by a Kansas City Chiefs player that was lined up at wide receiver was by the esteemed Joe McKnight. McKnight saw a bunch of action in week 3 as Jamaal Charles was out with an ankle sprain and Knile Davis was trying to recover from carrying the ball 700 times. McKnight took advantage and had a big game, which included two receiving touchdowns.

One of those touchdowns was caught from what I would consider to be a wide receiver setup. I’ll let you judge by clicking the link to the highlight, a highlight that, Deity forbid, be allowed to be embeddable.

Here’s a picture of where McKnight was when the ball was snapped:

Of the three touchdowns, this one is definitely the most controversial. McKnight is the guy standing up, sandwiched between right tackle Ryan Harris and tight end Travis Kelce, who happens to be in the slot on this play. McKnight originally lines up in the backfield, goes into motion, and settles into where he is on the field in the above picture before the ball is snapped.

One could argue McKnight is really a tight end in this formation. Another could argue he’s still a running back that happened to be in motion. I say he’s a wide receiver in this play. First, he’s not in the backfield when the ball is snapped. Second, he’s not on the line of scrimmage. Third, he appears to be in more of a ‘bunch slot’ formation only with Junior Hemingway virtually playing on the sideline.

If you want to debate the validity of this one, that’s fine by me. But the next two you certainly cannot debate the validity of where the player was lined up.