Andy Reid Addresses Current State of KC Chiefs’ Wide Receiver Room
The 3-1 Kansas City Chiefs have rattled off all three of their season victories in a row, so there's plenty going right for Andy Reid and company. With that said, the wins aren't stopping anyone from breaking down what's going wrong for Patrick Mahomes and the offense.
Four weeks into the year, the Chiefs boast the NFL's ninth-best scoring offense on a per-game basis. That's not too far of a cry from what Reid-led offenses have historically averaged with Mahomes at quarterback, although it's still not what many expected entering the season. A lack of consistent and quality success at the wide receiver position is a major reason why, as a young and unproven group has yet to show that it has what it takes to contribute to a league-leading cast.
Reid, who expects a variety of looks from the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday's Week 5 matchup, spoke to the media on Wednesday and was asked about the inconsistent play at wideout. When prompted with the possibility of not enough receivers getting open on certain plays against the New York Jets, Reid took the opposite approach.
Sep 17, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid looks on from the sidelines against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
"Well, I mean, it looked like [they were open]," Reid said. "We had a couple hundred yards in the first quarter — that wasn't bad. Four hundred yards the week before. I mean, somebody's getting open."
As things currently stand, Kansas City is relying on young players such as second-year Skyy Moore, third-year Kadarius Toney and rookie Rashee Rice to help lead the receiver group. On the other hand, veterans Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are also seeing the field plenty but aren't putting out quality production. Reid is a fan of Rice and Toney, saying he believes in the former's ability to gain yards after the catch and says the latter's injured (sprained) toe is feeling better. When asked about Moore, Reid said he's doing a good job but also shifted the conversation to the room as a whole not featuring one specific player:
"We're rotating a bunch of guys in there," Reid said. "Nobody's got an extreme amount of catches on this, but that's just how it's going to be. We have six, seven guys that can play, so we'll put them all in here and there. But I like what I've seen from him, yeah. He's doing good."
Through Week 4, the Chiefs' wide receiver snap counts on offense are ordered as follows:
- Moore: 175
- Valdes-Scantling: 175
- Watson: 124
- Rice: 103
- Toney: 54
- Justyn Ross: 48
- Richie James: 26
Of that group, Rice is the leader in both targets and receptions. Watson's 163 yards rank first, and multiple wideouts are tied with one touchdown on the year (Rice and Moore). Rice and Watson rank among the NFL's top 40 receivers in yards per route run, although everyone else ranges from 65th (Toney) to 149th (Ross) out of 156 players in that metric. Results against man versus zone coverage vary depending on the player.
Despite these struggles, Reid said he was "fine" with the current group and argued that an external addition via free agency or the trade market wasn't necessary. Barring a surprise, this is the collection of talent Kansas City will rely on for the next handful of weeks as it attempts to adjust and improve on the fly. There's hope that the youth and inexperience will soon turn into consistency, although signs in the first month of the season of it happening have been few and far between. Both Reid and Mahomes are refraining from hitting the panic button at this point, so it's on the Chiefs' pass-catchers to step their respective games up.
