Five Chiefs who could make Kansas City unstoppable in 2022
Juju Smith-Schuster
At this point, it has been well established that the Chiefs offense is prepared to spread the ball around to multiple targets in 2022. I even wrote a piece this summer about how it would be relatively easy to replace Tyreek Hill’s production if there were multiple targets that were more involved in the offense than in previous seasons. That all having been said, there is certainly a possibility that the Chiefs could still have a true number one receiver in Juju Smith-Schuster.
Juju is just 25 years old and in the two seasons in Pittsburgh where he played a full 16 games, he averaged 104 receptions, 1,129 yards, and 8 touchdowns. Those are fantastic numbers and you can certainly make a strong case that he will be playing in an even better offense with an even better quarterback now that he is in Kansas City. The question isn’t if Juju is capable of putting up those numbers again, he is. The question is if he can stay healthy and earn Patrick Mahomes’ trust.
The health question is anyone’s guess, but when I was at training camp I did feel like Mahomes was developing a pretty good connection with Smith-Schuster. Juju didn’t play much in the preseason because he was a little banged up (not the best sign), but I think because we didn’t see it play out in the preseason we may be underestimating how many targets Juju might see when the games count starting this Sunday.
While Juju doesn’t possess the special traits to alter how a defense plays the Chiefs in the way that Tyreek Hill did, it doesn’t mean that Juju couldn’t replicate most of his receiving production. Last year Hill had 111 receptions for 1,239 yards and 9 touchdowns. If you compare those numbers to the ones I gave for Juju in the years he played 16 games, Juju is just 7 receptions, 110 yards, and 1 touchdown shy of what Tyreek did in KC last year. Again, defenses won’t key on Juju the same way they did Tyreek, but production is still production.
If the Chiefs can have a star tight end in Travis Kelce and a highly productive number one receiver in Juju Smith-Schuster it will just open up the field that much more for guys like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore, and Jody Fortson. The Chiefs will definitely have more targets to account for this season, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still have a true number one wideout to account for. If Juju can stay healthy and prove to be that guy it will make KC’s offense that much harder to stop.
Finally, the defensive player I think is poised to have a huge breakout this season.