Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is still one of the smartest offensive minds in the NFL.
The Kansas City Chiefs flaunted the NFL’s best offense in 2022 — placing first in both points and yards per game.
Despite that fact, their “playmakers” are getting very little respect heading into the new season. Outside of wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, running back Ronald Jones and fullback Michael Burton, the Chiefs didn’t lose many skill position players this offseason.
That didn’t matter to long-time ESPN staff writer Bill Barnwell, who dropped KC’s combined WR/RB/TE ranking to 19th in the NFL on June 26. That doesn’t include MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes II or the offensive line, but it does include the top tight end in the league in Travis Kelce — who Barnwell did praise accordingly.
“Here’s the last of the teams built around one star pass-catcher, because he’s the best of the bunch,” Barnwell began, continuing: “Travis Kelce benefits from playing with Patrick Mahomes, but anyone who has played even casual attention to the Chiefs over the past few seasons has seen Kelce routinely get himself open and create after the catch on a weekly basis.”
Kelce’s premier status didn’t help the rest of the none-QB or OL offense, however, and the wide receiver room took the brunt of the criticism in 2023.
NFL Writer Bill Barnwell Says Chiefs WRs Are ‘Even Sketchier’ Than Last Year
If Barnwell disrespected anyone on the KC offense, it was the WR corps.
“So why did the Chiefs fall back from their 16th-place finish [in 2022]?” He asked in a rhetorical nature. “The wide receiver depth chart is even sketchier.”
“The nominal top wideout at the moment is Kadarius Toney, who has played 70% or more of the offensive snaps exactly once in two NFL seasons,” Barnwell detailed. “Skyy Moore, a second-rounder last year, failed to make an impact before scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl. While the Chiefs added another second-round wideout in Rashee Rice, they lost two regulars in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman.”
To be fair, he did acknowledge that Mahomes will probably “do just fine” with this group based on his MVP campaign in 2022, but he also warned that “if [Kelce] were to decline or suffer an injury, or if they didn’t have Mahomes to conduct the orchestra for any period of time, this would look like an underwhelming set of wide receivers.”
Barnwell’s points aren’t totally invalid, but they are a bit generalized. Even if head coach Andy Reid and Mahomes aren’t taken into account in these rankings, you have to at least factor in that the staff will most likely improve and develop these wide receivers as they’ve done in years past — as will the quarterback.
How did a No. 1 offense’s skill position group finish 16th in 2022 anyway (according to Barnwell)? Mahomes and Reid are tremendous, but are they really good enough to elevate a group from 16th in projections to first in production?
Also unaccounted for is the Chiefs depth at tight end, running back and even wide receiver. Players like Noah Gray, Jody Fortson, Jerick McKinnon, Justin Watson, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Moore always stepped up whenever they were needed most in 2022.
In 2023, you can likely add Richie James, Justyn Ross and Rice to that list. That’s an underrated strength that Barnwell appears to be ignoring.
Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco Called ‘Upgrade’ by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell
Aside from Kelce and Mahomes, Barnwell did compliment running backs Isiah Pacheco and McKinnon.
“The Chiefs also found an upgrade at running back last year in Isiah Pacheco, who gave them the power back they needed to challenge teams that tried to face them with light boxes,” he wrote. “Jerick McKinnon also stepped up as a receiver and became an unlikely threat near the red zone, more than doubling his career totals by putting up nine receiving touchdowns.”
Availability is still the greatest concern for this unit, however. Pacheco is currently working his way back from two offseason surgeries and McKinnon has a long injury history of his own.
“McKinnon’s knees likely limit him to a change-of-pace role, but his partnership with Pacheco represents a major improvement on the limp style of Clyde Edwards-Helaire,” Barnwell concluded.