KC Chiefs 2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: USC WR Tahj Washington

If Kansas City is looking for a receiver in the middle of the draft, does Washington make sense as a possible selection?

With the 2024 NFL Draft approaching, the Kansas City Chiefs are closing in on the chance to add one or more players to help insulate the depth chart of a Super Bowl-winning offense.

For the reigning champs, bringing in at least one pass catcher by the end of the offseason makes a ton of sense. Kansas City's offense struggled at times during the 2023-24 regular season, largely due to a lack of high-end contributions at the wide receiver position. The signing of Marquise "Hollywood" Brown helps the Chiefs' pursuit of becoming a top-five unit again, although more is likely still needed.

With the draft on the horizon, Arrowhead Report is taking a look at prospects who could hear their names called in late April. Up next is USC wide receiver Tahj Washington.

Background

• Height: 5096
• Weight: 174
• Age at draft: 22
• Relative Athletic Score: 4.70
• 2023: 59 receptions for 1,062 yards and 8 touchdowns
• Played two seasons at Memphis, three at USC

Where Washington creates advantages

Washington's athletic testing numbers, namely a 4.58-second 40-yard dash and 4.22-second shuttle, were surprising considering what he showed on film. He generally appears to be a more than solid athlete who leverages his speed and burst to threaten defensive backs. Despite his lack of height, he plays well given his length and competes for the football.

Washington is an assertive catcher who quickly goes into "runner" mode upon hauling in a pass. There's legitimate upside for him being used on screens and at or near the line of scrimmage on certain passing concepts in the NFL. He works back to the football frequently and should do better than average on scramble drills, making him a quarterback-friendly player. He has kick return experience, mostly from his time at Memphis. Washington brought back 12 kickoffs and averaged 20.2 yards per return in 2020. He had 10 total bring-backs at USC.

Where Washington could be at a disadvantage

Washington's frame is small, which was obvious at USC and backed up by his pre-draft testing. That likely limits his effectiveness against press coverage and over the middle of the field in the NFL. It also confines him to the slot, as he doesn't have elite athletic traits to potentially win on the outside. As a five-year collegiate player who will turn 23 in May, there are questions about Washington's ceiling and whether he can or will reach it.

As far as the nuances of being a receiver are concerned, Washington doesn't do much to stand out. His route running isn't very advanced, and he also fails to find soft spots in zone coverage with consistency. While not as rigid or slow as his RAS score suggests, the former Trojan won't be quick enough to separate from NFL cornerbacks without fine-tuning his skills. Washington makes some catches a lot more difficult than they need to be.

The verdict

It's no secret that the 2024 NFL Draft is stacked at the wide receiver position. For a team like the Chiefs, that's good news as the end of April approaches. There's a flavor for everyone, whether it be a prototypical 'X' wideout, a 'Z,' a slot option or someone who profiles more as a special-teamer.

Washington fits into the latter two categories. His blend of experience operating as a slot archetype with a slight kick return background will appeal to many teams. With that said, he didn't do himself many favors during the pre-draft process and is more of an early Day Three investment than a premier wideout in this current class.

The issue for Kansas City is redundancy. If the team is going to give Patrick Mahomes a new weapon inside, it should be a set-it-and-forget-it level of player who could be tied to the two-time MVP winner for almost half a decade. Washington simply doesn't fit that profile and would be a developmental piece in the middle of the draft. On the other hand, his football character and special teams experience could pique the interest of the AFC's top dog.

Washington's 2023 quarterback at USC, Caleb Williams, has some similarities to how Mahomes operates. If the Chiefs want to take a chance on maximizing the possibility of parlaying that into NFL usage, it'd be challenging to disagree with them too much.