Chiefs hoping for breakout campaign from sophomore wide receiver
The Kansas City Chiefs wide receivers room is undergoing another offseason of change and they are counting on one of last year's rookies to take a step forward to help fill the void left by some significant free agent departures.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said at an annual league meeting, via NFL.com, that he expects second-year wide receiver Skyy Moore to make an improved impact on offense, adding, "we'll just see how everything works."
Moore only caught 22 passes for 250 yards during the 2022-23 regular season before adding five catches (for 17 yards) during the Chiefs' Super Bowl run. He did, however, catch a touchdown in the team's Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs initially selected Moore out of Western Michigan in the second round -- No. 54 overall -- last April's draft.
The Chiefs could use the wideout in a larger offensive role in the fall if he is ready for it, especially after losing veterans Juju Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman to free agency this offseason.
"We got the same guys coming back that we had, and we like that group with the exception of JuJu," said Reid. "Mecole was banged up a little bit so he didn't have a chance to play as much as he would have wanted. We'll work out the thing without JuJu. Somebody will have to step up and take that spot."
The Chiefs also underwent a significant overhaul to their receiver group after trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins last spring. While that seemed like it could be a massive loss, the Chiefs ended up going to (and winning) another Super Bowl without him.
It helps having an all-time great head coach in Reid to design an offense and the best quarterback in the NFL in Patrick Mahomes to make those designs work. As long as the Chiefs have those two all-timers in the fold, it might not really matter who plays wide receiver for the team.
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