KC Chiefs receiving corps ranked as below average by PFF

The Kansas City Chiefs are ranked in the bottom half of all NFL teams in terms of their wide receiving corps per Pro Football Focus.

According to the folks at Pro Football Focus, wide receiver is one position on the Kansas City Chiefs roster at which the team has “given in”. While it’s obvious that they have less star power without Tyreek Hill heading into the 2022 season, the idea that they’ve fallen so far in their eyes in a single offseason feels a bit much.

PFF recently released their rankings of the wide receiver corps of the National Football League before the ’22 season and the Chiefs have landed in the bottom half overall at No. 19. “The Chiefs had to give in somewhere on the roster after handing out a lot of big contracts over the past several offseasons, and they opted to do so at wide receiver.”

The trade of Hill was the blockbuster move of the offseason for the Chiefs, one that netted them financial flexibility and plenty of draft assets (five total picks) but it also robbed them of their most dynamic offensive weapon after six Pro Bowl seasons. That loss alone should have knocked the Chiefs down any such list—an understandable dynamic given the moves involved.

From there, however, the Chiefs did make a number of new acquisitions to give them greater depth than they’ve had in years. Instead of relying upon Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson, and the like as check down options, the Chiefs bolstered the pass-catching options for Patrick Mahomes by signing JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. They also drafted Skyy Moore in the second round of the ’22 draft and still have Mecole Hardman as a holdover from last year’s team.

There are further contenders vying to make an impact—from veteran Josh Gordon to rookie Justyn Ross—but even with those core four together with tight end Travis Kelce, the Chiefs have more talented weapons overall than they’ve had since Mahomes took over and perhaps even longer than that. Even if there’s not a singular talent like Hill, the presence of so many others should compensate at least in part.

Instead, PFF has sunk the Chiefs’ ship in so many words by dropping them to No. 19 overall, a sign that they’re not too keen on the moves made and that they believe the Chiefs will miss the Cheetah more than most fans believe.