NFL Draft: Wide receiver prospects perfectly suited for the Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are in need of a wide receiver that can play in the slot and also gives them some insurance for Tyreek Hill.

The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in an interesting situation when it comes to their wide receiver position this offseason. The Chiefs possess one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL thanks to quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his trio of high profile targets Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Sammy Watkins. The defense on the other hand, is in the midst of a complete and total rebuild so it would make sense for the Chiefs to focus on that side of the ball early and often in next month’s NFL draft. However, with the loss of their number three receiver Chris Conley in free agency and the uncertainty surrounding Tyreek Hill and allegations of child abuse at his home it puts the Chiefs in a bit of a dilemma.

The Chiefs could certainly target a true number one wide receiver in the first round. That would alleviate some of the fear surrounding the Hill situation. However, should Hill be completely exonerated ,you could then argue that the Chiefs used their most valuable pick on what turned out to be a luxury, an extra weapon to play with on an already elite offense. Meanwhile, the defense still looks to be short on true impact players.

However, should the Chiefs ignore the wide receiver position all together and Hill be found guilty of these allegations (I’m not here to debate if that will happen today and continue to believe we don’t know enough to make a well informed assumption on the issue) then suddenly the offense would find itself in danger of taking a step back from last season in the same year they are completely overhauling the defense. That doesn’t sound like a good way to go about winning a Super Bowl.

It is my belief that the smartest thing the Chiefs could do would be to target a wideout in rounds 2-5 that could potentially fill a couple of rolls. First, if Hill faces no discipline over his current situation the draft pick could compete for the third wide receiver spot vacated by Conley. However, if Hill were to miss some time (or worse) they would possess some of the same big play ability that could help fill the void of not having him on the field.

Now a first round receiver like Iowa State’s Hakeem Butler could certainly accomplish both of those things but if the Chiefs would like to be able to focus on the defense with their first pick (or picks) I’ve identified four other targets that could be had starting in the second round that could still help the team in both departments. I feel like any of these picks would be a great fit for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Let’s start with the prospect that is likely to go first of the four.