Are Justin Watson and Jody Fortson legitimate weapons for KC Chiefs?

Jody Fortson

Jody Fortson and Justin Watson both had to transition to the NFL from smaller schools that were very successful while they were there, but that’s where their similarities end. While Watson put up prolific numbers at Penn, Fortson never really got to make his mark at Valdosta State. Fortson spent one year at a community college and then showed some promise in his first year at Valdosta State with 23 receptions for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns. Then he lost the next season to academic ineligibility and his final year was a bit of a letdown with 14 receptions for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns.

While Fortson lacked the production to be a big time NFL prospect, I’m guessing it was his size and redzone production (7 touchdowns on 37 career receptions) that caught the Chiefs attention. Fortson is listed at 6-foot-4 and he looks like that could be underselling him by an inch. He’s a huge long target that the Chiefs decided to convert from wide receiver to tight end. While last season was the first time Fortson made the Chiefs regular season roster, this is actually his fourth offseason with the team after signing as an undrafted free agent back in 2019.

Fortson was active for the first six games last season before an injury ended his season. While he finished with just five receptions, two of them were for touchdowns. That means between last season and this preseason, four of Fortson’s nine receptions have been touchdowns. Plus, his snap counts were trending upwards last season before he got hurt, with him playing double digit snaps on offense in his last three games.

When I was at training camp this year it was evident that Mahomes trusts Fortson (another thing he has in common with Watson). In fact, it appeared to me that Fortson is near the top of the list of players that Mahomes is comfortable throwing to when they are covered. Fortson’s size allows him to box out defenders and he has shown incredibly reliable hands. I believe that is why we’ve seen Fortson get a high percentage of looks near the goalline when the defense is packed in tight and wide open targets are hard to come by.

I don’t know if we’ll ever see Fortson put up huge reception and yardage totals, but I feel very safe in saying that Fortson will have a role on this team as someone that KC will utilize both in the redzone and possibly even on third downs when Mahomes needs someone reliable besides Kelce to throw to in order to move the chains.

If Justin Watson and Jody Fortson have truly solidified roles in KC’s new “spread the ball around” passing attack, that gives Patrick Mahomes seven different dependable pass catching targets to use in different combinations (Juju, MVS, Moore, Hardman, Watson, Kelce, and Fortson) and that doesn’t even include guys like Noah Gray, Blake Bell (if he’s healthy), Michael Burton, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jerick McKinnon, and Isiah Pacheco. If you include them, that’s THIRTEEN different guys that defenses may have to account for at any given time when facing the Chiefs passing attack.

So what do you think Chiefs fans? Do you agree that it looks like Justin Watson and Jody Fortson are guys that have earned roles in KC’s new offense this season? Are you as excited about this new offensive philosophy as I am? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.