Meet Jalen Tolliver, the Kansas City Chiefs new wide receiver

The Kansas City Chiefs have signed a new wide receiver in Jalen Tolliver to take over the roster spot once occupied by Marcus Kemp, who is on injured reserve.

It’s official. Marcus Kemp’s season is over before it got started. The Kansas City Chiefs announced the move to place him on injured reserve and followed it up with word on his replacement on the roster in wide receiver Jalen Tolliver.

Kemp went down earlier in the preseason in the team’s second game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Initially termed a knee sprain, head coach Andy Reid stated the injury designation was temporary as they waited on Kemp to get an MRI. The hope was that the injury wasn’t as severe as initially feared, but unfortunately those worries were on point. Kemp was lost for the season with a torn ACL and MCL.

Moving forward, the Chiefs will now introduce Jalen Tolliver to their high-powered offense, giving him a short window within which he hopes to learn the playbook and turn heads.

Tolliver comes to the Chiefs as another taller target, a la Kemp, at 6’3, 210 lbs. He initially entered the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals last offseason as a rookie free agent who landed on the team’s practice squad once the season began. He made NFL debut in December and even started a game by season’s end. He finished the year with 3 catches on 6 targets for 37 yards.

The Cardinals cut Tolliver but the Tennessee Titans came calling this spring. However, the stint was short lived and Tolliver was cut on August 10.

With the Chiefs, he’s going to have a hard time standing out to a coaching staff still trying to familiarize themselves with the likes of Jamal Custis, Cody Thompson, Rashard Davis, Felton Davis, and more. However, it’s good to be in a camp this late and at least give himself a chance to be noticed.