KC Chiefs: Fans shouldn’t worry about wide receiver

Sitting about a month out from the draft, the only locks for the Kansas City Chiefs at wide receiver are Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, and Kadarius Toney. After JuJu Smith-Schuster signed with the New England Patriots in free agency, he’s out of the picture after being Kansas City’s leading wide receiver last season.

The Chiefs have been relatively quiet in the free agent wide receiver market thus far. They chose not to match the offer that New England gave Smith-Schuster and there hasn’t been much word about them aggressively pursuing anyone. At this point, the cupboard is pretty bare with not many options that make sense.

We’ll have to wait and see whether a DeAndre Hopkins trade or a move on Odell Beckham Jr. is made, but neither are imminent, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Kansas City did neither and just rolled into the draft with what they already have.

KC Chiefs deserve benefit of the doubt on wide receiver position

Given the situation, many fans are a little worried that the team is lacking heavily at receiver. It isn’t that what they have is bad. It just feels like they need more. Another experienced, productive receiver.

Valdes-Scantling is a solid piece, but he’s not a No. 1 receiver by any means. Skyy Moore might be a promising young player, but the track record for a rookie receiver having as little production as Moore had in year one and then being really good in year two isn’t great. Lastly, everyone loves Kadarius Toney and what he brings to the table but there is major concern around his ability to stay healthy.

Is this really the group that the Chiefs are going to roll out in 2023? It wouldn’t be ideal. Especially since Travis Kelce has continually talked about how physically exhausting it has been the last couple years to keep going at the pace that he is. It’s really important that the Chiefs get him some serious help so he can get a breather as he gets into his twilight years.

Fans have a right to be a little bit worried looking at things on the surface. However, they really shouldn’t worry. Around this time last year, the Chiefs only had cornerbacks Rashad Fenton and L’Jarius Sneed under contract. The team was desperate for help at cornerback. Then, general manager Brett Veach hammered cornerback in the draft and the rookies in the secondary were an integral part of the team’s Super Bowl run.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the answer at receiver is to just throw draft picks at the position, but Brett Veach deserves the benefit of the doubt after winning his second championship in five seasons. There may be a move out there that no one is thinking about right now. We just don’t know. After all, fans should feel comfortable knowing Veach has a plan at wide receiver. The team isn’t ignorant to their situation and Veach has been adamant about constantly adding weapons for Patrick Mahomes.