When former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was released from the New England Patriots a few weeks ago, many deemed it a good idea to bring Smith-Schuster back to add insurance to a very young wide receiver group. Fast forward to now, and the former leading receiver for the 2022 Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs is back in the fold for 2024. Only this time, he'll be expected to play a much different role.
The top three receivers next year for Kansas City are pretty much set with Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, and Xavier Worthy being the top options. That said, there's a lot of youth and inexperience among that group and JuJu Smith-Schuster is someone that provides depth and familiarity to the offense.
Not only that, but it seems like a good fit based on locker room vibes and veteran leadership that Smith-Schuster provides as someone who found success and instant chemistry in the Chiefs offense just a couple of seasons ago. That's really what this move is about.
Last year, the Chiefs lacked dependable targets for Patrick Mahomes which led to frustration and poor offensive performance for most of the season. The loss of Smith-Schuster to the Patriots in free agency meant the Chiefs lost someone who knew the nuances of playing with Patrick Mahomes and last season's wide receiver corps just never quite grasped that same concept.
At worst, Smith-Schuster keeps the floor from bottoming out with this group of pass-catchers like it did a year ago. However, it would be naive for Chiefs fans to expect the same JuJu Smith-Schuster who had over 900 yards receiving just two years ago. Injuries and disappointing play are reasons why the New England Patriots decided to cut him just a year after signing a sizeable three-year deal to give a boost to that offense.
If we're being completely fair, though, that Pats' offense was nothing short of a dumpster fire with a revolving door at quarterback and a head coach who was essentially fired at the end of the year. There were certainly factors at play outside of Smith-Schuster's control. Nonetheless, expectations will be different this time around for the veteran receiver. The question is, what do those expectations look like?
As mentioned, we're going to be seeing a very different Smith-Schuster this time around. His best days are most likely behind him, especially with ongoing concern about his lower leg injuries, but there's still plenty of value in someone who knows what it takes to win a Super Bowl and contributed heavily to a game-winning drive in said Super Bowl. Smith-Schuster may have lost a step physically, but he has shown that he knows how to sit in a zone and get to the right spots when Mahomes is looking for him and he is still a bigger body, X receiver that Kansas City didn't currently have on roster. Smith-Schuster was never the type of receiver that won consistently by separating against man coverage or won with speed, but he's very good against zone and plays smart. Not to mention his ability as a run-blocker.
Those are the types of traits that can be passed down to younger Chiefs receivers such as Rashee Rice who is most similar to Smith-Schuster in that he'll likely be used a lot over the middle of the field while Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy take the top off of the defense. Speaking of Rashee Rice, Smith-Schuster provides a fallback option to Rice if he, for some reason, were to be suspended prior to next year or if he were to get hurt as their play styles overlap some.
Even if Smith-Schuster isn't the same guy he was in 2022, the Chiefs would still take him over Kadarius Toney or Skyy Moore on the field, given the floor he provides. Many of us wanted to see the Chiefs bring in multiple veterans at wide receiver anyway in addition to Hollywood Brown, but Smith-Schuster is probably just as good of an option as anyone the Chiefs could have signed in the latter waves of free agency.
Yes, Smith-Schuster fits the definition of what you would call a free agent bust in New England, but he's not being asked to be what he was in New England in Kansas City. Opposing teams could easily put their best defender on Smith-Schuster and pretty much shut down the New England passing game. If Kansas City lines up with three or four receivers with Smith-Schuster being that third or fourth guy, odds are he's beating whoever that defender is that's lined up across from him.
As far as production goes, Smith-Schuster likely isn't coming anywhere close to 900 yards receiving this time around, but he's also probably a little bit better than what he was in New England, and catching passes from Patrick Mahomes instead of Mac Jones is surely to provide a bump in productivity. A more realistic number for Smith-Schuster is probably about somewhere between 200-400 yards which again, is a far cry from what he was in 2022, but 200-400 yards as your WR4/5 is pretty valuable. There is still plenty of use for Smith-Schuster on third down and red zone packages when the Chiefs need another big body out there. A good situational player in this new-look Kansas City offense.
Smith-Schuster most likely knows exactly what he's signing up for. He's not going to be a top guy in the pecking order, but he's an experienced veteran who can mentor those around him while raising the floor of the wide receiver room. It's a signing that doesn't necessarily mean the difference between a three-peat or losing, but it solves any last remaining question marks that people had about the wide receiver depth and dependability.