It seems like with each passing year, the competition among the Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receiver group increases. Brett Veach and Andy Reid have done a great job of bringing in guys to create a competitive depth every year. In 2019, wide receivers coach Greg Lewis has a big group that he’s trying to coach up. Early returns say that this group will make roster cut day a very difficult one in Kansas City.
“I like all 13 guys that we have here,” Lewis said. “I think they have a chance to be great in the NFL. There’s been a lot of competition and we’re only getting better and making each other better as an entire group. It’s going to be a tough decision down the line, but I’d rather have it that way.”
Right now, it feels like with everything the Chiefs have shown us, there are five players who are virtual locks to make the roster at WR. Those players are Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, Marcus Kemp and Mecole Hardman. That leaves presumably one spot, unless the personnel team decides to carry more than six receivers.
So how will the Chiefs make a decision on the sixth receiver? It’s all going to come down to how much a player is capable of doing. You can only have 46 guys active on game day. Versatility is going to play a key role in how they go about deciding things down the line.
Below, you’ll find updates on where some of these receivers currently stand heading into Week 2 of the preseason.
Gehrig Dieter
Expectations were high for Dieter heading into training camp. He was coming off his first season spending time on the active roster, where he was a multitool player for the Chiefs. He made contributions on offense and special teams in 2019.
He’d spent the offseason working out with Tyreek Hill. They even hyped Dieter up a bit during the Chiefs’ documentary series, “The Franchise.” Things were looking up for the third-year veteran, that is until he injured his back on the first day of training camp. He hasn’t yet returned to practice and has virtually missed the entirety of training camp with only one day left to practice.
Lots of people have this idea in their heads that the Chiefs will hang onto Dieter solely because of his friendship with Patrick Mahomes. The problem is the Chiefs have shown no indication in the past that this is how they do business. Dieter has been waived and sent to the practice squad twice in his career, meaning the Chiefs took the risk of another team signing him twice already. If it benefits the team, they won’t hesitate to break up the bromance between Mahomes and Dieter.
If Dieter’s back doesn’t improve soon, I fully expect the Chiefs to stash him on injured reserve and try again next year.
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Byron Pringle
Pringle has been one of the more hyped up receivers for the Chiefs this offseason, but when the pads came on, things seemed to change for the second-year wideout.
Against the Bengals, Pringle showed he has vertical speed, but unfortunately, he was unable to get a good ball out of his QB. He went 0-for-3 on his targets during the game. At training camp, the story has been similar for Pringle.
He’s lost focus on the easy throws or has trouble separating on short routes. He’s beginning to look like a one-trick pony of sorts. He’s only really lining up as an outside receiver and he seems to find the most success on fly routes and fade routes. It’s very disappointing after he had such a good end to the preseason in 2018 for the Chiefs, before suffering an injury that kept him out for the season.
Pringle does have a saving grace working in his favor. He’s a very talented kick returner, which he was able to showcase with a 50-yard return against the Bengals during preseason Week 1. He’ll need to climb up the depth chart there if he wants a shot at making this team.
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Cody Thompson
Thompson is probably the most highly anticipated undrafted free agent receiver the Chiefs have. His adjustment to the NFL is going swimmingly, according to special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
“Oh yeah. Football is football,” Toub said. “If you make plays in college, they’re hopefully going to transfer over and make them here. A lot of these guys, some of them never play special teams. Now they’re starting to play special teams. There’s a lot of untapped potential in some guys and hopefully, we can see it in everybody.”
Luckily for Thompson, he was a stud special teams player before getting to the NFL. Toub has him playing on a handful of different units and thriving for Kansas City. As for the offensive side of the ball, he’s been the most impressive of the undrafted free agent class. Against the Bengals, he played primarily in the slot and went caught 2 of 2 targets for 19 yards, with a long catch of 11 yards. He also had a 20-yard reception called back due to a penalty on the offensive line.
Thompson is showing a good amount of consistency all around, which will certainly help make a case for the 53-man roster.
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Rashard Davis
Davis is a bit of a sleeper to make the roster, but he’s also a do-it-all player. Toub gave some thoughts on how Davis looked recently.
“Good,” Toub said. “We gave him a couple (returns) in the game. He got a kick return and a punt return. The punt return really stands out in my mind because it was a short kick, he’s got the coverage coming down on him in a hurry and he still was able to focus and make a good catch and save us like 15 yards there with no fair catch. It was impressive what he did there.”
He plays more than return man on special teams, which could potentially help him get an opportunity with the Chiefs.
“He can play gunner,” said Toub. “That’s where we’re working him. We’re working him on the edge on punt return. He’s also a returner in both phases. He can be what we call a ‘fast five’ on kickoff. He’s got opportunities. He’s a good player. He would be a starting punt returner on a lot of teams, probably not this one, but on other teams he probably could be.”
It speaks to the amount of depth the Chiefs have that Toub says he won’t be a starting punt returner. Still, this a guy who can do a lot of different things on special teams and he’s flashed on the offensive side of the ball. He played in the slot and was 1-for-2 for 7 yards against the Bengals in preseason Week 1.
Each of these players has more work to do to prove that they’re the guy, and I’m not sure that anyone has the early lead. Make sure to keep an eye on all the different things these players do in the upcoming preseason game against the Steelers.
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