u/Sweaty-Tiger9972

Thought it may be interesting to talk about some receivers on practice squads outside of our own that the Chiefs may be able to unlock something from.

Seahawks: Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (Kansas) and Ricky White III (UNLV)

Buccaneers: Eric Rivers (Georgia Tech)

Saints: Trey Palmer (Nebraska), Cedric Tillman (Tennessee), Jalen Cropper (Fresno State)

Giants: Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee)

Titans: Tyren Montgomery (John Carroll)

Texans: Lewis Bond (Boston College) and Daniel Sobkowics (Illinois State)

Patriots: Cameron Dorner (North Texas)

View Poll

Curious if anyone has any thoughts from Week 1. I mostly paid attention to the receiver prospects

Obviously Jeremiah Smith, Cam Coleman, and Charlie Becker lived up to the hype. I’m not sure if the tier below them consisting of guys like KJ Duff, Nick Marsh, Omarion Miller, Ryan Wingo are going to be for me.

Two more receivers that really impressed me were Deuce Alexander and Javon Tracy.

Regarding OTs, it seems like Trevor Goosby and Jordan Seaton lived up to the hype, but I didn’t pay attention to tackles beyond those two.

Regarding TEs, I like both Jamari Johnson and Treydez Green, but I don’t think I would be interested in drafting either of them where they’re probably going to go unless the board is just bad for receivers

Followed it up with “He’s their best route runner” which we already kinda knew. Clip beings around 39:20

Obviously this is all just my opinion and I’m not a professional for a reason, I’ve just been thinking and I wanted to write my thoughts down. Also, higher picks and larger contracts will be scrutinized more than day 3 picks and cheap contracts. I’ll include a player to watch for each draft pick, because I think it’s important to know what the Chiefs passed up on for the players they selected. I’m also including free agency in here because I think the Chiefs strayed from a lot of their recent tendencies this offseason and I want to propose a question at the end.

Trades:

Trent McDuffie Trade - A : Great return for a player we couldn’t afford to pay and the Chiefs have goodwill from finding corners all over the place over the years. If you were including the process of how we got to the point where we were unable to pay him, I would ding this more. I also think the gap in value is closing between nickels and boundary CBs in the current NFL, with teams playing more condensed formations, heavier personnel, and emphasizing running the ball, so I don’t really agree with the argument that McDuffie wasn’t worth the contract the Rams gave him.

Free Agency:

Kenneth Walker - A- : The run game was obviously a massive issue last year and the Chiefs needed a back. This is the most amount of resources they’ve spent on one since the CEH pick. One knock here is he’s within the top 5 highest paid running backs which is a little rich for him, but Bijan, Gibbs, and Achane getting paid soon will bump him down. The other is that the reason why the Chiefs had to go out and spend big is because they haven’t invested in the position since the CEH pick.

Khyris Tonga - A: Been begging the Chiefs to invest in the 1 tech spot for years at this point and it’s a cheap position.

Alohi Gillman - B: Safeties don’t matter that much. He should be solid.

Tyquan Thornton - A: Great value for what appears to be an ascending player that was maybe the best Chiefs receiver at times last year.

All the other cheap signings - A: There’s no such thing as a bad vet min signing

Here’s where it’ll get spicy.

Draft:

Mansoor Delane - C- : This has nothing to do with the player and more about the process. You earned a top 10 draft pick last year with two very good corners on the roster, so if he hits, you didn’t really get better, you probably stayed about the same. To me, an edge rusher would’ve helped the defense more than replacing McDuffie with a top 10 pick. Player to watch: Rueben Bain Jr.

Peter Woods - B- : I’ve seen the 2024 tape, I don’t quite understand why he was getting top 5 hype coming into the year. He didn’t seem to create pressure as much as I’d like. The grade would’ve been lower but I’m willing to give it a little grace because everyone else mostly loves it so I could just be the one in the wrong here. Players to watch: Omar Cooper Jr., Denzel Boston

R Mason Thomas - B+ : I’m not in love with this player either, but the reason why this grade is higher than Woods is because I love the fact that the Chiefs are trying a new body type in their room AND that they drafted a DPR type in the right range. I wouldn’t have wanted to draft one earlier than this. Hopefully Spags is on the same page with the FO on this one and they have a real plan for him other than asking him to put on 20 lbs. Player to watch: Zion Young

Jadon Canady - A- : Love this player and the range they took him at. Only real knock here is that the NFL is trending towards to larger nickels due to heavier personnel, consensed formations, more running, etc. and Canady is not that, but he’s a dog. Players to watch: Keionte Scott, Jalon Kilgore

Emmett Johnson - B+: This is another player that I didn’t love the tape on, because I don’t see much in terms of stand out traits outside of his lateral agility which is admittedly very good, however, this is another one where my evaluation could just be wrong. With that said, he likely would’ve made my top 5 RBs in a bad class if I took the time to write it down. The Chiefs needed an RB2 and he was the best value available at this draft slot at that position. Player to watch: Kaytron Allen

Cyrus Allen - B+ : Been begging the Chiefs to draft a real route runner and they finally did it. He’s among the best separators in this draft class and might be a top 2(?) pass catcher against man on the Chiefs roster instantly. This pick is getting dinged because he will probably be in Andy Reid rookie receiver purgatory in 2026, and I would have preferred a more serious investment in the receiver room so we didn’t have to rely on Worthy and Rice getting back to 2024 form as much. Players to watch: Kevin Coleman Jr., Deion Burks

Garrett Nussmeier - B+: Good value where we got him, especially if he can get healthy and return to the form that had him in the discussion for the first overall pick preseason. I expect him to be an IR stash in 2026 but he should allow the Chiefs to save money on a backup QB for a few years. One underrated thing to mention is that his dad is the OC of the Saints, so while he isn’t the veteran clipboard guy, there’s a shot he can add something positive to the room in film study. Player to watch: idk lol, I guess DaeQuan Wright

My question: Considering the Chiefs have strayed from many of their tendencies in 2026 in terms of investing in running back and 1 tech along with drafting an edge rusher none of us expected, why can’t Cyrus Allen get serious snaps in 2026?

Thought this would be an interesting through exercise.

Obviously the QB room is #1, I think RB and DB would be behind that, although putting DB that high is somewhat of a bet on the Chiefs track record with that position group

Next three for me would be TE, OL and DL. With TE and OL I think you feel really good about the starters but the team is lacking depth, and I think a blocking tight end would’ve gone a long way for this team. With DL, I think Woods and Thomas will need some seasoning but it’s undoubtable that the DL got deeper this weekend.

My last two position groups on the team would be LB and WR. I’m probably lower on the Chiefs starters at both of those groups than a lot of other people though and I think WR is extremely important, so that’s part of the calculation here too

2027 draft targets: OT, WR, TE, LB, EDGE