Two weeks ago, I projected the 2016 regular season stats for the Kansas City Chiefs running backs. This week, my focus will be solely on projecting the KC wide receivers’ stats for the upcoming season. Before I get to the actual projections though, let’s take a closer and more in-depth look at Kansas City’s young and talented receiving corps.
First off, it’s hard to talk about the Chiefs’ current group of wideouts without mentioning star receiver Jeremy Maclin. The ex-Eagle was signed by KC during the ’15 offseason to a 5-year deal and certainly did not disappoint in his first season with the red and gold. The St. Louis area native caught 87 passes for 1,088 yards and had 8 receiving touchdowns for the same offense that somehow managed to not get a receiving touchdown from a wide receiver during the entire 2014 regular season.
He helped turned a group that was once viewed as arguably one of the worst WR corps in the league to a much more respectable one now. With all of this being said, I see Maclin having another solid year for Chiefs Kingdom.
Two other receivers that are expected to make impacts again this year are third-year wideout Albert Wilson and second-year man Chris Conley. Wilson, one of the UDFAs that KC signed after the 2014 NFL Draft, has had several games in his brief pro career that would make you think that he could be a big time playmaker in this league. However, he has struggled with consistency from game to game during that span. I look for Wilson to have a little more impact in the Kansas City passing attack this year as far as stats are concerned.
Much of the same can be said about former University of Georgia Bulldog and current Chief wide receiver Chris Conley. The rookie had 199 receiving yards and a touchdown in his rookie season with the Chiefs last year. It’s easy to see his talent, but the jury is still out on if he can have sustained success in the NFL. I project him to have slightly better numbers than the ones we saw him have in 2015.
Another player that the Chiefs are planning on getting production from this year at the wide receiver position is the speedy De’Anthony Thomas. Thomas has battled injuries in his young NFL career so far, but definitely has the ability to become a threat in this passing offense. I think that we will see a little more from the former fourth round pick this year in a KC uniform.
Now, we get to the new guys in the KC receiving corps for this season. This group consists of free agent signings Rod Streater and Mike Williams, along with newcomers Demarcus Robinson, Tyreek Hill, Mitch Mathews, Kashif Moore and Kenny Cook.
In all honestly, its hard to expect much out of anyone from this mix as of yet, especially considering that several of these guys might not even be on the roster when the final cuts come around in September. Out of all these new Chiefs, I project Streater and Mathews having the biggest impacts and best stats this year.
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