Marcus Kemp will miss season for Chiefs with torn ACL, MCL
By Matt Conner
The official MRI results are in confirming the fact that Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marcus Kemp will have to miss the 2019 season with a torn ACL.
The Kansas City Chiefs were waiting to hear the news that would confirm their worst suspicions. Now the news has been made known: wide receiver Marcus Kemp will miss the 2019 season with a torn ACL and MCL.
Kemp went down against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the team’s second preseason game on Saturday with a nasty injury initially termed a knee sprain. However, head coach Andy Reid even said immediately after the game that it was a short-term designation and that the team was waiting on MRI results from Sunday.
Throughout the preseason, Kemp has looked very impressive for the Chiefs. His impressive body of work in training camp in St. Joseph put him on track for an active roster spot once again, but as more than just a special teams contributor. Kemp played in all 16 games last season for the Chiefs but only earned 2 targets on offense, earning him a single catch for 7 yards.
This offseason, Kemp looked like an emerging big target the Chiefs lack on offense (not that the offense itself is lacking in any capacity). Kemp looms two inches taller than any other wide receiver predicted to make the team’s final roster and has shown elevated skills in camp this year with the Chiefs, including his routes, his catch radius and change of direction. Now the Chiefs will have to wait another year to find out what he can do.
Moving forward, Kemp will begin to work on a long-term plan for healing and recovery with an eye on 2020 as the Chiefs look at a thinned out wideout corps after the obvious quartet atop the depth chart. Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman, and Demarcus Robinson look safe where they’re at, but now there’s a wide open field behind them.
Next. Looking at the Chiefs roster bubble. dark
It will be interesting who ends up earning key playing time in the team’s next preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, but keep an eye on Gehrig Dieter and Cody Thompson to really begin to stand out.