Go Bold Or Go Home: Six Bold Stat Projections For 2022 Chiefs

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We are just over a week away from seeing the Kansas City Chiefs open their 2022 regular season. Included on the schedule, are elite quarterback matchups, plenty of playoff teams from last year and more. Soon enough, everyone will be finalizing their predictions and projections for each team.

Today, we will be following a similar path. While we will not be going game by game to predict the overall record of Kansas City, we will still be going bold with some prognostications. Some of these are rather reasonable for the 2022 season. On the other hand, some of the projections are bolder and could test the ceiling of a certain Chiefs player or position group. Here are six fun and bold projections that we are locking in for the Kansas City Chiefs during this upcoming season. Let’s kick it off.

Patrick Mahomes Tops 5,000 Passing Yards And 40 Passing Touchdowns

Patrick Mahomes has only topped these marks once in his first four years as Chiefs starting quarterback. Of course, that came in his illustrious 2018 MVP campaign. He notched 5,097 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns that year. So much has changed from a personnel standpoint with the Kansas City offense. Namely, the Chiefs open the season with four of their five wide receivers being new additions. Two of the running backs are also newcomers.

So with all of that change, why is this the year that Mahomes will top his recent production? We have obviously heard the doubt surrounding the supposed less talented pass catching group. Furthermore, many people believe that defenses have finally figured Mahomes out. In contrast, these changes were absolutely necessary in proving those doubting questions wrong. With a wider and deeper cast of weapons, the Chiefs quarterback has a better chance of spreading the ball around. This keeps defenses on their toes more than if he were to constantly look at his first read, like the departed Tyreek Hill.

We also know that Mahomes is on a mission. Just when people start to doubt him, he becomes more poised. Kansas City did see him slightly improve on taking what was given to him as a passer late last season. On the other hand, there is immense pressure in a tighter AFC conference. Mahomes is anxious to show what he can do with a larger chip on his shoulder.

Travis Kelce Sets New Single-Season Career Highs In Receptions, Receiving Yards And Receiving Touchdowns

Like fine wine, Travis Kelce continues to get better with age. The tight end has seemingly not been stopped. At the same time, Kelce continues to be more nuanced with his routes and separation moves, as his career grows.

The career high numbers for Kelce in a single season under those categories are 105 receptions, 1,416 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns. All of those marks were set in 2020. He has continued to hover right around those marks in many recent seasons as well.

As much as Mahomes may spread the ball around more often this year, his chemistry with Kelce creates one of the best duos in the league. As long as he continues to get open, there is no reason to think that Kelce cannot top those career best marks in 2022. That is especially true when you look at how Kansas City may attack defenses differently, while still running through number 87.

Skyy Moore’s Stat Line: 62 receptions, 785 receiving yards, six receiving touchdowns

Projecting stat lines for anyone is always a fascinating challenge. Yet, projecting stat lines for incoming rookie skill players is a totally different animal. This is even more exciting to tackle, given it is a new wide receiver in a diverse offense like Kansas City.

Andy Reid matching up with a player like Skyy Moore is absolutely perfect. Reid will not hesitate to use him both in the slot and out wide. Because of that, Moore will be allowed to run a full, expanded route tree. Rookies can sometimes take a while to get going. And in the case of Moore, he could certainly be someone that gets hotter in the second half of the season. That is not really due to ability. But, the Chiefs are likely looking to get other veteran additions going first.

Say Moore averages around four catches per game in the last 10 games of the season, which are all after the bye. He could very well start to see a clearer role around that time. Could he outperform that mark? Certainly. This feels like a safe projection for Moore in a deep offense, nonetheless.

George Karlaftis Breaks Chiefs Rookie Sack Record

The current record for most sacks by a rookie in Chiefs history is 10. Derrick Thomas, arguably the best pass rusher in franchise history, still holds that mark, setting it in 1989. His game and the style of George Karlaftis are quite different. Thomas won with speed and bend around the edge. Whereas with Karlaftis, he is known more for his physicality and relentless motor.

The Purdue product may be subject to rotating playing time and varied snap counts each week. Nonetheless, his tenacity is part of the reason as to why he is a tremendous candidate to break this record. Karlaftis gives the Chiefs a prototypical player that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo loves to invoke on opposing offenses. To boot, we know how creative Spags can be with his pressure packages and how often he dials them up. Karlaftis has the never say die attitude and underrated closing burst that can help him break the Kansas City rookie sack record. Finally, he simply penetrates into the backfield smoother than most incoming rookie pass rushers.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire Tops 1,000 Rushing Yards For The First Time In His Career

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This may be one of the bolder predictions that anyone could have for a Chiefs player in 2022. A big problem for Clyde Edwards-Helaire has revolved around injury luck. Overall, he has missed a total of 10 regular season games in his first two seasons. CEH has also had inconsistency with items like reading blocks properly and not hitting the open hole hard enough.

If you look at his first two regular seasons, Edwards-Helaire has accumulated 1,320 rushing yards on exactly 300 carries. As a result, he has averaged 4.4 yards per carry in his career. His personal best for rushing yards in a season is 803 on 181 carries.

Why could Edwards-Helaire eclipse 1,000 rushing yards for the first time this season? For one, the Chiefs have talked for a couple of years about needing to run the ball more. Balance could open the door for other runners too. However, Edwards-Helaire is primed to receive a higher amount of touches in a crucial season. Coach Reid could give him more of a runaway before a possible make-or-break season. With more touches and his career clip continuing, do not rule this one out for CEH.

A Rookie Defensive Back Leads Kansas City In Interceptions For 2022

The Chiefs added 10 total draft picks this past April. Nine of those made the initial 53-man roster for 2022. Meanwhile, Kansas City has four rookie defensive backs that are ready to shine come Week 1. For the most part, all of these names should receive significant playing time. Trent McDuffie is set to start on the outside. Whereas with Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson and Bryan Cook, the Chiefs will likely rotate them in a fair bit, due to the heavy use of the dime package by KC.

There are a few reasons as to why I believe a rookie will lead the team in interceptions for 2022. First off, both Justin Reid and L’Jarius Sneed each have a career high of three interceptions for a single season. Those are the top two leaders in the Kansas City secondary. Though, that could be a somewhat low bar to climb. Add in the presumed playing time of these rookie defensive backs, the chances will be there to see opportunities for interceptions each week. Quarterbacks are generally not shy about targeting rookie defenders heavily, either. Watch for the rookies in the Chiefs secondary to come through.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis in the coming days. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.