Getty Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams celebrates a first down on January 10, 2022.
All season, it felt like the Kansas City Chiefs were missing that true third weapon on offense.
The Cincinnati Bengals knocked them out of the playoffs with a trio of talented wide receivers in Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins — not to mention RB Joe Mixon out of the backfield and TE C.J. Uzomah before his injury.
To be blunt, Patrick Mahomes does not have that. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce make a tremendous one-two punch but if you can take them out of the equation like the Bengals were able to do in the second half of the AFC championship game, you can stop this Chiefs offense.
General manager Brett Veach addressed the idea of adding a “third offensive weapon” this spring.
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Alabama Speedster Could Solve Offensive Issues
During his press conference following the AFC title defeat, Veach expressed that adding playmakers is always a priority if the funds allow it.
He elaborated: “I think you guys know how we’re wired. If it makes sense to us and it doesn’t put us in any long-term binds in regard to future caps and structure, but if there’s any way we can get better and there’s any way we can get Pat Mahomes more weapons, we’ll do that… I don’t think we’ll ever shy away from trying to get one percent advantage and that’s kind of how we approach things. If it makes sense for us, even if it’s just a little better, we’ll pursue it and that was the case [at the trade deadline]. Maybe it would’ve made a bigger difference than just that one percent given different roster constructions on different teams, but we’ll always pursue talent and if it makes sense, we’ll be aggressive in that fashion.”
Unfortunately, Kansas City just doesn’t have the money to pursue a high-end wide receiver in free agency right now with key extensions like Orlando Brown Jr. and Tyrann Mathieu at the forefront of the to-do list.
That’s why it makes sense for Veach to pursue this extra offensive weapon in the draft and well-respected analyst Daniel Jeremiah had the perfect solution in his first mock of 2022.
At pick No. 30 of the first round, Jeremiah has Alabama speed demon Jameson Williams falling to the Chiefs of all teams. Keep in mind, the stud wide receiver led his draft class up until tearing his ACL in the National Championship.
“This just seems too perfect to not happen,” Jeremiah wrote. “Williams will slide after tearing his ACL in the College Football Playoff National Championship. God help the rest of the AFC if this speed merchant lands with Patrick Mahomes.”
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Scouting Jameson Williams
Before his injury, Williams was a top prospect that some were mocking in the first 10 picks. If he dropped to KC, that would be Christmas in April for Veach, Andy Reid, Mahomes and all of Chiefs Kingdom.
The Draft Network described the Alabama product as a “smooth route-runner that has the quickness to win early in route progressions and quickly makes himself available for the quarterback.”
JAMESON WILLIAMS IS GONE
@AlabamaFTBL strikes back.
They continued: “He’s a quick accelerator that pushes routes vertical then has the ability to sink his hips and quickly snap off routes. Excels at running deep routes. He understands how to properly leverage defenders on deep routes and then make a cut and use his speed to run away from them. Williams is a big play waiting to happen that seamlessly made the transition into the Alabama offense.”
Basically, he’s what Mecole Hardman was intended to be, except with better hands and better route-running ability. Imagine that across from Hill in this scheme?
BRYCE YOUNG 94-YARD TD TO JAMESON WILLIAMS 🤯
(via @SECNetwork)
TDN analyst Keith Sanchez compared him to Jerry Jeudy, but with more speed. He wrote: “Williams is a big play waiting to happen. His ability to properly stem defenders and uncover on deep routes makes him a consistent big-play threat. Possesses great deep speed to flat-out run away from defenders.”
Many draft experts thought of Williams as an NFL WR1 before his injury. As Mahomes’ third option in 2022, this Chiefs offense would be legitimately unfair to play against.