Everyone loves having Jody Fortson back in Chiefs end zone
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Jody Fortson is back at home in the end zone in the team’s second preseason game against the Washington Commanders.
It wasn’t that long ago that Jody Fortson realized he was not going to be playing football for several months, a bit of news that meant he was going to face another significant hurdle in his goal to become a reliable presence on the Kansas City Chiefs offense.
On Saturday in the Chiefs’ second preseason game against the visiting Washington Commanders, Fortson had the chance to haul in a touchdown pass on a short fade from Patrick Mahomes to put the home team up 7-0 in the first quarter. Just like that, Fortson had rightfully reclaimed his home as an impactful threat in the end zone for one of the league’s most dynamic offenses. He wasn’t done there.
In case you missed the touchdown passes from Mahomes to Fortson on Saturday:
WELCOME BACK JODY FORTSON pic.twitter.com/BcmNVWBKzM
— 📽️ Red Tribe Cinema (@ClayWendler) August 20, 2022
Mahomes finds Fortson again for the TD!pic.twitter.com/Nqj3wyE6R0
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 20, 2022
Fortson first signed with the Chiefs as a rookie free agent out of Valdosta State and held on to beat out other competition for practice squad spots in both 2019 and 2020. In 2021, he finally broke through with an unforgettable preseason performance that forced the Chiefs to keep him on the active roster or lose him to another team through a likely waiver claim.
It wasn’t long before he was providing rewards for the Chiefs’ faith in him with two impressive early touchdown passes in the season’s first five games. Given the number of other weapons on the Chiefs, Fortson looked like a luxury behind Travis Kelce as a lengthy target who creates mismatches with his size and hands, a power forward’s build among smaller defensive backs. And then came the Achilles injury that ended his pursuit of further production in Week 6. This preseason, Fortson has looked great only to then miss further time with a quad injury that kept him out of the team’s first preseason game.
Now, though, Fortson is clearly back with that touchdown catch and everyone is psyched to see it. Check out some of the reactions on Twitter.
Touchdown Jody Fortson!!!! pic.twitter.com/pSy9bbndrU
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) August 20, 2022
Happy for Jody Fortson. Dude deserves his time … even if it’s preseason. Awesome to see.
— BJ Kissel (@BJ_KCSN) August 20, 2022
If Mahomes is going to start throwing back shoulder stuff more frequently, that's just another thing teams will have to worry about. Especially with targets like Fortson.
— Kent Swanson (@kent_swanson) August 20, 2022
Jody Fortson is going to have 17 career catches and 10 of them will be for touchdowns.
— Carrington Harrison (@cdotharrison) August 20, 2022
Jody "impactful play" Fortson
— Jordan Foote (@footenoted) August 20, 2022
With Fortson healthy, this team will be better in the RedZone.
— Aquarian Ealy (@emceereach) August 20, 2022