The Kansas City Chiefs' wide receiver carousel has been active for nearly four months. Counting the amount of experimentation and evaluation during the offseason, that period could be even longer. Many shuffling pieces, in-season development, injuries and the like have all impacted what's been a largely underwhelming group thus far.
One minor bright spot late in the season, though, is veteran Richie James. The 28-year-old is now five games back after returning from a knee injury and is beginning to make more and more of an impact as the season goes along.
James's primary production takes place on special teams. He's brought back a combined eight punts and three kickoffs in the last three games, with each week featuring a nice return of some sort. In Monday's loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, James returned Daniel Carlson's opening kickoff to the Kansas City 32-yard line. He also had a pair of punt returns with double-digit yardage.
Speaking to the media this week, Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub said James is improving every week and is on the verge of breaking off a game-altering return.
“He’s doing a solid job," Toub said. "He’s fielding the ball, he’s making good decisions and he’s getting better and better each week and he’s getting closer and closer. The guys are blocking it up pretty good for him and I’m happy where he’s at right now going to where we are here at the end of the season.”
The other area in which James is making an impact, albeit on a less consistent basis, is on offense. Following a two-snap outing against the New England Patriots in Week 15, head coach Andy Reid admitted that he needed to do a better job of getting James involved. He did just that on Monday, giving the veteran pass-catcher 25 snaps. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes targeted him three times, and James converted on all of them. He ended the afternoon with 54 receiving yards, including a nice 45-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter.
It's been a bumpy season for James, as he entered the year as a perceived key depth piece but then suffered the aforementioned injury early on. There was even some buzz around the trade deadline that he could be moved, but he remained in Kansas City and has been praised by the team for his professionalism and patience as a result. Coming off a 70-target, 57-catch, 569-yard 2022 campaign, he's been unable to sniff that per-game production on his third career team. With that said, he does currently rank third on the Chiefs in yards per route run with 1.52 and is right around the middle in passer rating when targeted in a small sample size.
Moving forward, it's unclear what James's exact role will be in the Kansas City offense. With Justyn Ross now back in the fold and Mecole Hardman potentially returning very soon, there are only so many reps to go around. On the other hand, James is beginning to show that he's worthy of at least some opportunity despite not being the most dynamic player. Special teams has been his meal ticket to offensive snaps — a path that likely won't change. With the support of the coaching staff, don't necessarily expect James to fade off as the most important part of the season arrives.
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