Chiefs' Young Rookie Jalen Royals’ Stock is Rising

The Kansas City Chiefs needed to add wide receiving depth this offseason, and they did just that, landing Utah State wideout Jalen Royals in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Royals has already turned the heads of several Chiefs coaches, which is only a good thing for the Chiefs.

Royals has plus speed, great hand-eye coordination, and a room full of Super Bowl champions to learn from. With the Chiefs most likely set to use Royals in several roles this season, the best thing he can do is perform to the best of his abilities.

Adding Royals to a wide receiving room of Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, and more, success is on the horizon for the Utah State product. In fact, head coach Andy Reid has been impressed with what Royals has been able to do thus far since getting drafted, both at rookie minicamp and OTAs.

"He looks like he’s a sharp kid. He works hard, he’s strong – a little bit like Rashee (Rice) in that way," Reid told the media following Thursday's OTA practice. "Probably like Rashee (in more) than one (way). He’s got a little bit more beef to him, (a) thick lower body, but again, (he’s) strong, and he picks stuff up – he doesn’t say a whole lot. (He’s) very, very quiet, but he picks things up and does a nice job with it.”

The Chiefs have many options to use Royals as a rookie. Depending on when Rice returns to the program, Royals could slide into a receiving role. Or Royals can be a member of the offense that gets used in punt returns, as the Chiefs are exploring multiple options.

Chiefs' director of player personnel Ryne Nutt has high hopes for Royals throughout the next four seasons. Heavily compared to Rice, Royals looks to have a bright future ahead of him in Kansas City.

"We look for strength, and he has that. Then we look for route running, and that’s probably an area where Rashee had to kind of develop a little bit, so we kind of thought they were similar in that respect. With Rashee coming back from injury and trying to get right, the hopes are this kid can step in and try to get some playing time and help us out."

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