Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver corps is difficult to rank before '24 season

The Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver corps is a tough one to figure out.

Last year, the Chiefs were so excited by the potential among a young batch of competitors that they kept seven receivers on the active roster coming into the regular season for the first time since Andy Reid took over as head coach. The unit was also the single most disappointing position group when all was said and done.

The good news is that the unit wasn't dysfunctional enough to keep the Chiefs from winning a second consecutive Super Bowl—a scary proposition for the rest of the NFL. But it does make things difficult when trying to survey the present and future at wideout. Is Rashee Rice really the only young wideout of real value out of that entire group? Will the new additions be enough?

The latest rankings from Pro Football Focus have the Chiefs WRs ranked at an interesting spot.

Perhaps that's why Pro Football Focus threw the Chiefs right in the middle of this year's wide receiver rankings around the NFL. That feels like a safe and secure place to stash a team with a potentially dynamic offense who, unfortunately, had one of the league's worst WR rooms just a year ago.

The promise here begins with Rashee Rice's development, who emerged a year ago to put together one of the best rookie campaigns in Chiefs franchise history. Then again, Rice is part of the problem because the NFL is likely going to levy a lengthy suspension his way which will limit his availability.

From there, the Chiefs have to feel very good about the signing of Hollywood Brown, a free agent signing who felt like a perfect fit before seeing his automatic chemistry in this offseason in offseason workouts and minicamp. His additiion along with the drafting of Xavier Worthy in the first round of this year's draft creates a higher ceiling than any cadre of pass catchers the Chiefs sent into a game last season.

Between Worthy and Brown, the Chiefs have significant vertical threats to go alongside Rice and tight end Travis Kelce in the intermediate passing game. That's an exciting bunch on paper that deserves a higher ranking—and yet. The truth is Brown is new, Worthy is green, Rice will be suspended, and after that, the Chiefs are thin.

Justin Watson, Justyn Ross, Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Nikko Remigio and more make up the rest of competitors at the position that was exposed last year. It's possible a player emerges to deepen the unit; it's also possible the unit remains lacking and an injury makes the entire room frustrating once again.

Putting the Chiefs right around No. 16, given all of this, sounds about right—or at least safe. The potential here is wonderful, but it's also hard to judge. Last preseason taught us that much.