Which Kansas City Chiefs players passed the preseason hype test vs. Saints?

The 2023 Kansas City Chiefs played their first game against another team on Sunday. It was great to finally watch a Chiefs game again, even if it was preseason and the Chiefs lost to the New Orleans Saints by a final score of 26-24. At the end of the day, there are a few big-picture takeaways from the game, but preseason is mostly about individual player evaluations. The Chiefs have had several players get a lot of buzz in training camp and now we finally got to see if their play in a game lived up to the hype.

While there are a lot of players that deserve recognition (good or bad) for their play versus the Saints, I'm going to focus on the five players that I feel were talked about most during the first three weeks of training camp. Those five players are all on offense and four of them are at the wide receiver position. I'm talking about Skyy Moore, Rashee Rice, Justyn Ross, Richie James, and Deneric Prince.

I'm not saying those were the only five players receiving lots of fan and media hype, but it certainly feels like those five have been talked about the most. It makes sense that there would be lots of receivers on the list. Playing time and roster spots are up for grabs at the position and all four of the players I listed have been making plays during camp. At running back, Isiah Pacheco hasn't been practicing at full contact and they've been trying to limit Jerick McKinnon's reps, so undrafted rookie Deneric Prince has had a chance to get a lot of work and make a name for himself.

So how did these five do? Well let's start by looking at the player that saw the least action on Sunday.

Skyy Moore, wide receiver

As of press time, I don't have the snap counts for the game available, but I feel confident in saying that Skyy Moore played, by far, the least amount of snaps of the five "hyped" players in this piece. He didn't have any receptions and I don't believe he was targeted at all. So it's safe to say that Skyy Moore didn't pass the hype test, right? Well, not so fast.

In addition to Moore making some nice plays in camp, the real buzz around him has been that he has been ahead of the other "hyped" receivers and seems to be a clear starter at this point. The fact that Moore came out of the game at the same time as Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling is actually a major development for him.

The number one thing going against Moore last season was that he wasn't up to full speed with the offense/playbook. If Andy Reid still felt that way about Moore you would assume he would have kept playing when the next wave of players came in to help him get more reps and build his familiarity with the system. The fact that the Chiefs didn't feel that was necessary and went right on to guys like Ross, Rice, and James is a good sign that his starter reps in camp aren't just a seniority thing.

So while this is kind of passing by default...

Verdict: Passed The Hype Test

Now let's talk about a wideout that received a lot more playing time.

Justyn Ross, wide receiver

There probably isn't a player that has received more training camp hype than Justyn Ross. The former Clemson star who was basically a medical redshirt last season has been getting nothing but praise from the media, including the Chiefs' own PR team. Every week there is more and more buzz that Ross may finally be returning to the elite form he showed early in his college career.

There were numerous positives from this game for Ross as well. First off, I believe he was on the kick coverage unit on K.C.'s opening kickoff. Going into camp I wrongly assumed that the Chiefs may keep Ross off of their special teams units because of his injury history. However, if Ross is going to be one of Kansas City's wideouts, he may need to play special teams and the fact that he is makes him that much more of a lock to make the team.

On offense, Ross had 2 receptions for 29 yards and 1 touchdown. Both of his catches were nice plays as well. On his first catch he was sudden enough on a comeback route to have enough separation to make the catch and then broke an arm tackle to pick up more yards. Then later on his touchdown grab from Shane Buechele, he showed a great feel for where there was space in the zone coverage, snagged the ball out of the air, and found the end zone.

It's hard to argue the hype wasn't justified with plays like that. There was a play where Shane Buechele tried to force a ball to Ross and he tipped it up and it was intercepted, but after watching the play a couple of times, I put that one on Buechele.

Verdict: Passed The Hype Test

Next up, what about KC's rookie wideout?

Rashee Rice, wide receiver

The Chiefs second-round pick, Rashee Rice has also received his fair share of hype throughout camp. Rookie receivers often don't contribute much to Andy Reid's offense. However, Rice has been rotating in with the first string along with Justyn Ross and Richie James and providing an equal share of highlight-reel plays in camp.

With Rice passing the eyeball test in camp, his next step was to carry it over that production into the preseason. Thankfully, Rice had a solid debut against the Saints. He had 3 receptions for 30 yards. One of his receptions was a great contested catch in traffic. Shane Buechele probably shouldn't have forced it to him, but Rice made a great catch and got Buechele off the hook (until he threw an interception on the next play).

The other play that stuck out to me was a screen pass to Rice where he got upfield quickly and picked up some nice yards. Rice looks like a running back with the ball in his hands and, on that play, it wasn't hard to imagine Rice getting some of the designed touches that Mecole Hardman used to get. Rice isn't as fast as Hardman, but he's bigger and stronger and can still be effective on those kinds of plays.

Like Ross, Rice also got a few snaps on special teams and that will help his cause too, but I think we all know Rice's roster spot is a lock after K.C. used a 2nd round pick on him. While he didn't score a touchdown like Ross (and James) did, I still thought Rice looked good in his debut.

Verdict: Passed The Hype Test

We've got one last wideout to talk about.

Richie James, wide receiver

Richie James has gotten a lot of buzz during camp, but going into the first preseason game there was still a split between many Chiefs fans. While both sides seem to agree on his special teams return ability, not everyone sees his potential as a receiver the same. Some argue that after his solid production last season in New York that he's a viable option to get real playing time on offense, while others see him more as a last resort that's mainly just a return guy.

James made a strong case for himself in his Chiefs debut with 2 receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. Both receptions were highlight-reel plays, too. The first was a 43-yard downfield pass where James dusted his man and then tracked the ball well enough that he slowed down and secured the ball despite the defensive back catching up to him and making a play on it.

Then a few plays later he finished the drive off by making a great catch on a ball that was a little too far above his head. He snagged the ball and still managed to get two feet inbounds while stumbling forward because of the overthrow. It was another great play. He didn't get a chance to return a punt, but he did have the best kick return of the game, a 31-yarder.

The hype around James has been he is K.C.'s best return man and someone that could be a weapon in the passing game as well and nothing we saw on Sunday proved either of those things wrong.

Verdict: Passed The Hype Test

Finally, let's look at KC's much hyped rookie running back.

Deneric Prince, running back

Next to Justyn Ross, there might not be a Chiefs player that has received more hype than undrafted running back Deneric Prince. With Isiah Pacheco being eased back after his injuries from last season and Jerrick McKinnon being over 30, the Chiefs have chosen to give most of their first-string reps in camp to Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Prince. In camp, Prince has made the most of those opportunities, but could he do it in an actual game?

I still have a lot of hope for Prince and believe he will make the roster, but compared to the last three receivers who really made standout plays, that wasn't really the case for Prince. He was very mediocre on his two kick returns (a place where the Chiefs seem to want to give him a real shot). He averaged just 18 yards per return and failed to get the ball to the 25 either time.

On offense, Prince had 4 carries for 14 yards (3.5 yards per carry). He had a couple of runs where he looked physically strong, but nothing that was really head-turning. If there hadn't been any buzz around Prince going into the game he wouldn't have really been notable in this game. Does that mean he can't still impress in the games to come? Of course not, it just didn't happen in this one.

Verdict: Didn't Pass The Hype Test (Yet)

So there you go Chiefs fans. The Chiefs came in with five offensive players that had a bunch of hype around them and I've got four of the five passing the hype test in this first preseason game (even if Skyy Moore did it by default) and I still haven't given up hope on Prince yet based on what we saw against the Saints. Do you agree with my assessments? I'd love to read what you thought of these five in the comments below.