KC Chiefs’ Wide Receivers Will Make or Break Rest of 2023 Season
The Kansas City Chiefs' offseason strategy was centered around banking on their in-house talents at wide receiver and adding rookie Rashee Rice to the fold. Through nine weeks, to say those risks haven't necessarily paid off would be accurate.
Players like Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney haven't taken off in their second years in the system, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling has underwhelmed as the calendar flips to November. Rice and veteran Justin Watson have been completely respectable in 2023, but that's not enough to carry the expectations of the entire room. The Chiefs desperately need more out of their wideouts, and how they perform in the second half of the year could make or break the club's season.
Joshua Brisco and Jordan Foote start an Arrowhead Report bye-week discussion to assess where Kansas City is at with the position as the season passes its midpoint.
Biggest success
Brisco: If you can come up with an answer other than just "Rashee Rice," I'll be impressed. The rookie has led Chiefs wide receivers in snaps taken over the last two games, which is a relatively amazing achievement in an Andy Reid offense. He's also leading KC's WRs in receiving yards, targets, and receptions, though his usage has been frustratingly inconsistent. Ups and downs notwithstanding, Rice seems perfectly on track to take even more responsibility in the back half of the year, building on some excellent highlights from the first nine games.
Foote: Yeah, it's got to be Rice. He's already surpassed what I thought he'd contribute as a rookie. Justin Watson is a sneaky good pick, though, who's worthy of consideration. The sixth-year man ranks sixth on the team in targets and is eighth in receptions, yet he's third in receiving yards with 276. His ability to break off big plays and get "trust" throws from Patrick Mahomes has been critical for the off-schedule success of Kansas City's offense. Moving forward, even with the rest of the room in flux, Watson deserves most of the snaps he'll garner.
Biggest shortcoming
Brisco: Well... at least we have more options to choose from here? It's tough not to start with second-year wide receiver Skyy Moore. This offseason, Andy Reid said the Chiefs "are expecting Skyy Moore to step up" in the absence of JuJu Smith-Schuster, clearing Moore's path to take KC's No. 1 receiver spot. Since then, he's had 16 catches for 201 yards and one touchdown in nine games while taking almost 56% of KC's offensive snaps. If it's a lack of separation, a lack of trust with Patrick Mahomes, or needing more time to develop after coming to the NFL out of Western Michigan, it just hasn't clicked.
Last week against Miami, he played a season-low 15 snaps (25%), taking him below 52% of the Chiefs' offensive snaps in a single game for the first time this season. I think he'll average more than 25% of the snaps the rest of the season, but his role has to be reassessed during the bye week to find smart ways to keep him on the field while figuring out what's gone wrong so far.
Foote: Moore is a good one, but again, I'll pick someone else because there's plenty of blame to go around. Because Toney was touted as a potential wideout No. 1 during the offseason, I'm rolling with him. He's managed to play in every game this season yet is still getting phased out of most of the action, and the Chiefs' in-season acquisition of Mecole Hardman didn't bode well for him one bit. The Toney hype was serious a few months ago, but that train appears to be coming to a near-full stop barring a post-bye change or two.
Biggest question(s) remaining this season
Brisco: Have the Chiefs given up on Kadarius Toney? He had one of the worst games in NFL history in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, but he was a primary target to open the season. Now, through nine games, he's played just 23% of the Chiefs' offensive snaps. In the last eight games, he's had 23 targets and 19 receptions, with just three total targets in the last three games. He clearly has an electric skill set that makes him one of the Chiefs' most dangerous weapons with the ball in his hands, and along with Moore, Toney got some hype as a potential No. 1 WR option in the Chiefs' eyes before the season. Now he's barely touching the ball? Missing training camp due to knee surgery was certainly a setback, but I want to see Toney have a chance to do more in this offense and get back in Mahomes's good graces.
Foote: It's incredibly weird to see Reid, Mahomes and Travis Kelce leading a unit that isn't one of the five best in the NFL. It seems like that collection of brilliance in brains and talent should be able to figure out a solution to the team's problems. Will they? Was the bye week enough time for Reid to think up some tangible changes to his rotations and scheme on offense? How much will some time off help Kelce recharge? How much can Mahomes himself improve and make others look better? Ironically, many of my questions indicate that the receiver room itself is what it is — it's on the future Hall of Fame players and head coach to mask that.
