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The Kansas City Chiefs enter 2023 with a handful of spots up for grabs. Once again, wide receiver will be fascinating to watch, in terms of who steps up and produces consistently. Kansas City will also have many opportunities for a defensive line that is extremely young, overall.
Every team has just one cut day this year. NFL squads will be down to 53 players by Tuesday, August 29th. In roughly two weeks, we will officially know who ends up making the Chiefs roster for 2023. In the meantime, we are going to do our best to try and predict who makes the cut, going position by position.
We have already listed both quarterbacks and running backs. Next up, we move on to the wide receivers, which casts a challenging set of decisions. How many wide receivers make it to the 53-man roster? Let’s kick it off.
Wide Receivers currently on the roster: Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, Rashee Rice, Richie James, Justin Watson, Justyn Ross, Nikko Remigio, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Cornell Powell, Ty Fryfogle, Kekoa Crawford, Jerrion Ealy, Ty Scott
Top Three Options
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The top three wide receiver options appear to be essentially set. Despite some question marks surrounding the position for the second straight year, the roles appear to be mainly clear at the top. There are uncertainties about all of Toney, Valdes-Scantling and Moore that must be answered.
From Toney’s perspective, he has all of the talent in the world. His yards after catch ability, speed and spatial awareness are perfect elements within an Andy Reid offense. Yet, his injury history is lengthy and concerning. He has already missed time in training camp after tweaking his knee while shagging punts. This led to another knee surgery for Toney, as a result. As of now, recent reports indicate that the Chiefs are hopeful that he will be ready for Week 1 of the regular season.
Valdes-Scantling endured some ups and downs in his first season with Kansas City last year. He had some crucial catches and some explosive plays in some weeks. Elsewhere, the results were pretty dormant for the veteran. That is not much different than what he did while with the Green Bay Packers, though. MVS only hauled in about half of his targets on the year. That is congruent with what he did in most seasons while with Green Bay. Positively speaking, Valdes-Scantling had a pretty strong showing in the playoffs.
Moore did not see much offensive action as a rookie last year. All indications are that he has made the necessary improvements entering his sophomore year. His separation quickness and route running were items that created excitement when coming out of Western Michigan. If he can take the next step that everyone is expecting, Moore could quickly become one of the trickier receivers to defend in this offense.
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Potentially Sneaky-Good Addition
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As the offseason and training camp has progressed, Richie James has grown into a solid depth addition for the Chiefs. His experience as a wide receiver may be limited at the NFL level. But from training camp, it is easy to see how he immediately fits within KC’s offensive attack.
James can be utilized both on vertical shots and on horizontal stretch patterns. On the flip side, the Middle Tennessee State product offers excellent tempo when releasing off of the line of scrimmage and when making transitions. He may not blow anyone away in the stat sheet. But by the time the season ends, James could end up being a fine piece to count on in specific moments.
Rookie Darling
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The top offensive rookie darling for the 2023 Chiefs is wide receiver Rashee Rice. After a productive career at SMU, Kansas City is looking for this player to add a unique spark. His size and strength may not have initially stood out while in college. But against NFL competition already, you can see just how effective that size can be in contested catch situations.
The ball skills, yards after catch ability and route running are the top traits that Rice offers as an incoming rookie. It is difficult to predict how much production he may offer right away. But compared to past Kansas City rookie wide receivers, Rice feels to have caught more of the coaching staff’s attention.
Final Decisions
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The final decisions at wide receiver may be the most strenuous decisions that the team will have to make. All told, Kansas City has never kept more than six wide receivers under Coach Reid. This may be the year in which they keep seven at the position, though. If the Chiefs do indeed keep seven wide receivers, it appears to be between three different names.
Admittedly, I did not think that Justyn Ross was going to have much of a chance to make the roster. It was key for him to stand out numerous times throughout the offseason programs and training camp. And so far, Ross has done just that, especially in training camp. It is always going to be different when you face opposing teams, compared to your teammates in a practice setting. But clearly, Ross has proven that he has what it takes to be trusted by the Chiefs. I think it would be shocking if he did not make the 53-man roster at this point.
Justin Watson was re-signed on a two-year deal. To boot, he appears to be one of the favorites of special teams coordinator Dave Toub. That usually helps anyone’s case in making the Kansas City roster. There is just so limited upside as a pass catcher, mainly coming on vertical shots.
Nikko Remigio had a tremendous showing in the first preseason game. His training camp performance has only improved as time has gone on as well. There is part of me that would give Remigio a chance over someone like Watson. Possibly, that may still happen in the final cut. We just think that Watson will get the edge, due to past special teams roles, however.
PROJECTED FINAL DEPTH CHART:
Toney, Valdes-Scantling, Moore, James, Rice, Ross, Watson
Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs 53-man roster prediction articles throughout 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.