NFL Draft: Five wide receiver targets for the Kansas City Chiefs

Big-Bodied Options

If the Chiefs were to lose Watkins this offseason, it would leave their top returning wideouts as a pair of 5-foot-10 options in Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman. While I’m a big fan of both Hill and Hardman and what their speed brings to the Chiefs offense, it leaves K.C. in need of a larger wideout to cause physical matchup problems both on the outside and across the middle of the field. Here are a couple of prospects that could instantly fill that roll next season.

Antonio Gandy-Golden – Liberty – 6’4″ – 223 lbs

If you go watch highlights of Gandy-Golden on YouTube, many of them look like a star NFL receiver going up against high school kids. The 6’4″ wideout is a physical freak and at Liberty was often going up against defensive backs that were simply not tall enough, strong enough, or fast enough to handle him.

While Gandy-Golden’s timed speed at the combine was just okay (4.6 second time in the 40-yard dash), his tape shows a guy with an NFL caliber first step that allows him to create separation. While I certainly wouldn’t call him a polished route runner, he shows some upside there and I think with good coaching he could become the complete package.

Gandy-Golden has a great catch radius and does a nice job of using his hands to pluck the ball out of the air. He’s a physical blocker that gives good effort. He’s a little raw, but I love his potential. In a normal draft he might be a 2nd round pick, but the depth in this class could push him to the 3rd or even the 4th round, and I think he’d be a fantastic pick for the Chiefs if they could get him in that range.

Collin Johnson – Texas – 6’6″ – 222 lbs

If you think the Chiefs need to add some height at wide receiver, you won’t find a true wideout with more height to offer than Texas’ Collin Johnson. Typically you see guys listed at 6-foot-6 as hybrid wideout/tight end types, but Johnson plays like a true wide receiver. That’s not to say that he’s fast, but he moves like a possession receiver. He didn’t run at the combine, but even at his pro day, I wouldn’t expect him to light up the stop watch.

Johnson isn’t an elite route runner but you can tell he puts in effort there and works at it. He doesn’t have the elite change of direction skills of other prospects in this draft class, but he runs good enough routes that he’s able to take advantage of his size. Johnson is great at positioning himself between the defender and the incoming pass and using his size to screen out the defender. He also has a great catch radius and uses his hands to snag the ball.

Johnson is another good effort player that blocks well and plays smart too. I don’t think he has the upside that Antonio Gandy-Golden does, but would still bring a much needed size dimension to the Chiefs wideout group. Johnson (like Gandy-Golden) would give the Chiefs a weapon for Mahomes to target on jump balls down the field as well as a possession type target over the middle. Both guys would also make fantastic red zone targets too. Johnson is probably more of a 4th or 5th round option for the Chiefs in this draft class.

If the Chiefs aren’t worried as much about adding that much size and would rather prioritize route running, there are a couple of great options for them that we’ll look at next.