Kansas City Chiefs grade card: The offense
Wide Receivers
Key Players On Depth Chart:
Jeremy Maclin
Albert Wilson
Chris Conley
Rod Streater
Tyreek Hill
Demarcus Robinson
De’Anthony Thomas
Mike Williams
Mitch Mathews
Positional Grade: B
For what felt like an eternity the Chiefs had major issues at wide receiver. There was no elite NFL starting talent (sorry Dwayne Bowe, but its true) and while Bowe was lacking as a number one receiver the depth was even worse. The arrival of Jeremy Maclin in KC changed all of that. The Chiefs now have a legit NFL number one receiver.
While Maclin may not be as flashy as an Odell Beckham Jr. or drafted as early in your fantasy football draft as some other wideouts, the truth is that Maclin is as dependable as it gets. As far as grading the number one wideout spot goes I’d give Maclin an A-. He may not be seen as one of the elite at the position but he isn’t that far behind.
The rest of the KC receiving corps behind Maclin is a question mark and kind of hard to grade. You have some returning young players in Albert Wilson and Chris Conley who could potentially take steps forward this season (fingers crossed for Conley). You have some intriguing rookies with talent and personal issues in Tyreek Hill and Demarcus Robinson. You have a couple of NFL vets looking to revive their careers in KC in Rod Streater and Mike Williams.
Then you have a couple of complete X-factors in De’Anthony Thomas and undrafted rookie Mitch Mathews. The Chiefs may not have a proven second and third wideout but they have a TON of options that look promising. You can’t give them an A for depth because of the lack of proven production, but I certainly wouldn’t give them a bad grade either because of all the possibilities.
Side note: If you’re thinking I forgot about Frankie Hammond…..I didn’t.
Bottom line, the Chiefs have a good number one receiver and a lot of possibilities after that. I wouldn’t put them amongst the best wide receiver units in the NFL but I no longer feel like they are one of the worst either. I feel like a solid B grade is pretty fair for this group heading into training camp and I’m excited to see how the depth chart fills out as the regular season nears.
Next up, the tight ends.
Next: Grading KC's Tight Ends