KC Chiefs offense ranked No. 6 overall for 2022 season
By Matt Conner
The easy assumption, made year after year at this point, is that the Kansas City Chiefs are going to have one of the best overall offenses in the National Football League in a given season. This year, however, there are questions for the first time since Patrick Mahomes took over as quarterback—at least to whether or not they will be supreme in the NFL.
Ever since Andy Reid became head coach of the Chiefs, the team has become used to living in the upper echelons of the offensive rankings at season’s end. That’s even more true once the team installed Mahomes as their starting quarterback. Going back to Mahomes rookie season, when Alex Smith had a career year in his final campaign as a starter, the Chiefs have never finished lower than 6th in points scored or total yardage.
Over at the NFL’s official site, they’re counting down the league’s best offensive units for the coming season and the Kansas City Chiefs are No. 6.
This year, the Chiefs will be tested a bit more than ever before knowing that familiar offensive personnel is now elsewhere and that the dynamism offered by Tyreek Hill at wide receiver is gone. The Chiefs traded Hill for five draft picks, and they’re now hoping that new faces can thrive in new places—a group that includes running back Ronald Jones and wide receivers Skyy Moore, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Due to the number of changes, and the loss of Hill in particular, NFL reporter Cynthia Frelund has listed the Chiefs at No. 6 overall in her preseason offensive rankings heading into the 2022 season. That comes in as fourth-best in the AFC behind the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, and Cincinnati Bengals. She explains:
"The Chiefs’ receiving corps looks a lot different, and their schedule starts off with a punishing set of opponents. Last season, Kansas City used motion on an NFL-high 808 snaps, which indicates that they have lots of wrinkles in their playbook, so it could take some time for the overhauled WR group to get up to speed."
The good news for the Chiefs is that the best tight end in the game is also in place with Travis Kelce’s reliable presence and connection. The Chiefs also put together one of the league’s best offensive lines last season and bolstered it with greater competition at right tackle for 2022. With Clyde Edwards-Helaire also balancing out the backfield and Mecole Hardman much improved in ’21 and coming into a contract year, the offense might not take the sort of expected dip that Frelund and others are predicting.