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With JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman signing elsewhere during free agency, the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver room has become much younger and inexperienced this offseason. But that didn’t cause head coach Andy Reid to express any pessimism when asked about the state of Kansas City’s receiver room at the Annual League Meeting.
Instead, Big Red expects one player, in particular, to step up among the receivers in wake of two key losses.
“We are expecting Skyy Moore to step up,” Reid said, via NFL Media’s Steve Wyche on March 25. “We’ll just see how everything else works. We got the same guys coming back that we had, and we like that group with the exception of JuJu. Mecole was banged up a little bit… We’ll work out the thing without JuJu. Somebody will have to step up and take that spot.”
After one season and a Super Bowl victory with the Chiefs, Smith-Schuster signed a three-year, $25.5 million contract with the New England Patriots, which is currently the third-highest contract given to a receiver this offseason based on total value, according to Spotrac.
Hardman’s rookie deal with Kansas City expired this offseason and he opted to join the New York Jets on a one-year, $6.5 million deal.
Chiefs Have Large Target Vacancy to Fill
No JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman means the Chiefs have a 135-target vacancy to fill during the 2023 season, which Andy Reid seemingly expects in some capacity to be filled by 2022 second-round pick Skyy Moore.
As the 54th overall pick in 2022, Moore, 22, was groomed slowly during his rookie season due to Kansas City having so many other playmakers on offense. That’s why in 16 regular season games he registered just 22 catches on 33 targets — 66.7% catch rate — for 250 receiving yards according to Pro Football Reference. He also had 3 carries for 24 yards.
It wasn’t until the Super Bowl LVII victory over the Philadelphia Eagles that Moore recorded his first NFL touchdown, which came on the infamous “corndog” play. During the postseason, Moore recorded 5 receptions on 7 targets for 17 yards and that touchdown.
As it stands, the Chiefs have three wide receivers on the roster that played meaningful snaps during the 2022 season and are under contract for the 2023 season: Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, and Moore.
The defending Super Bowl champions also have John Ross, Cornell Powell, Justyn Ross, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Jerrion Ealy, and Ty Fryfogle, who will all work with the team this offseason and battle to remain in Kansas City come September.
Twitter Reacts to Andy Reid’s Comments on Skyy Moore
Twitter users reacted to Andy Reid’s comments on Skyy Moore at the Annual League Meeting.
“Last year people wrote off the chiefs after hill (Tyreek Hill) left. How did that turn out,” one Twitter user wrote. “There is a long ways to go before ota’s. In veach we trust.”
“Watched some Moore highlights last night. He actually was good at working the underneath stuff,” another user wrote. “I can see why Andy would think that.”
“I hope so, I have been waiting for him to break out. Maybe this will be his time. Skyy’s the limit. Let’s freakin go,” another user wrote.
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