5. Marquez Valdez-Scantling, wide receiver
The box score against the Lions will not tell you much about Valdez-Scantling’s performance, but the eye test did. He had two catches on two targets and one catch he found a soft spot in the defense to move the chains on a 12-yard gain. That was not part of his game much last year.
At times last year he struggled with drops and coming down with contested catches. However, his other catch on Thursday night he caught a 34-yard strike from Mahomes while getting hammered by a Lions defender.
He is on a 3-year, 30-million-dollar contract with Kansas City and by far has the most experience of any other receiver on the team. He has 1,951 more snaps at wide receiver than anyone else on the team.
He and Mahomes seem to have developed good chemistry and it is time for Andy Reid to dial up some more opportunities for Valdez-Scantling. The Chiefs need reliability at wide receiver and he could be that guy, if given the chance. That would help alleviate the pressure off of Travis Kelce when he comes back as well.