2025 Dynasty Football Sleeper Watch: Kansas City Chiefs Rookie WR Jalen Royals

Jalen Royals brings speed, smooth route-running, and serious upside to the Chiefs’ offense—making him a name to watch for fantasy football managers heading into the 2025 season.

Former Utah State wideout Jalen Royals (WO38) during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs quietly added an intriguing playmaker to their offense in rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals, a fourth-round pick out of Utah State. While he’ll go undrafted in most fantasy football formats, Royals’ impressive college production, route-running polish, and open-field burst make him a deep sleeper worth monitoring as the 2025 NFL season approaches. With Patrick Mahomes under center and the Chiefs in need of reliable weapons, Royals could be the surprise contributor who outperforms his draft stock.

Jalen Royals, Kansas City Chiefs

In 2023, Royals was a top receiving option for the Utah State Aggies, thanks to an impressive 15 touchdowns with 71 catches and 1,080 yards. He had an elite three-game run (7/185/3, 6/140/2, and 7/125/2) while scoring a touchdown (13 total) in seven of his final eight starts.  

A left injury last season led to five missed games. Royals had a slow start over his first three matchups (5/77/1, 6/47, and 4/44) before catching fire in his following four contests (10/112/1, 9/211/2, 10/155/1, and 11/188/1). He gained 15.2 yards per catch in his college career.

Royals has a natural flow to his route running and spacing of defenders. He brings a shimmy and shoulder fake after his catches at the second level of the defense, creating yards after catch. His open-field running is an edge, along with his hands. Royals’ route running has a high floor despite needing some refinement off the line of scrimmage. He ran a 4.42 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. His strength is the missing link to his early profile.

I see some CeeDee Lamb qualities in his game, making Royals a value at wide receiver this year in the NFL Draft. The next step in his development is proving that he can perform at a high level against more talented cornerbacks. He projects to be a volume wide receiver who can work the inside part of the field. 

Jalen Royals 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook

The Chiefs added Royals with a fourth-round selection in this year’s draft. He’ll go undrafted in most 12-team leagues, but I view him as a must-follow over the summer. Kansas City will get him the ball in some way, and Royals adds more speed to the Chiefs’ wide receiving corps, another hint that Patrick Mahomes will regain a bounce in his fantasy step.

Royals is currently the 94th-ranked player in our 2025 Wide Receiver Rankings.