Wild Tyreek Hill stat proves Chiefs have a serious WR problem

Now in South Beach, Hill is rewriting the NFL record books en route to a potential historic 2,000-plus yard season. With a 112-yard performance against the New England Patriots in Week 8, Hill became the first player in the Super Bowl era to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving in his team's first eight games. 

Hill is on pace to set the NFL single-season record with 2,154 receiving yards. In comparison, Kansas City's four leading wide receivers last season (JuJu Smith Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman) combined for 2,250 yards. In the end, the Chiefs got by without a true running mate for Travis Kelce, winning their second Super Bowl in four seasons. However, the play of this year's receiving corps may be too much to overcome. 

After a career-high 42 receptions in 2022, Valdes-Scantling is on pace for a career-low 25 receptions in 2023. Rookie Rashee Rice's 361 receiving yards rank first among Chiefs wide receivers this season but tied for just 51st across the NFL. Kadarius Toney, who Kansas City hoped would stake claim to the WR1 spot this offseason, has been an utter afterthought. He's failed to eclipse 35 yards receiving in any game this season, putting up single-digit receiving yards in half of his games. 

Kansas City doesn't need to replace Hill's production outright — that's an almost impossible task. Yet, it desperately needs to upgrade the talent at receiver to take coverage away from Kelce and make life easier for their superstar quarterback. Mahomes has tossed six interceptions over his last five games, posting a quarterback rating of 63.6 or below twice. 

With proven commodities like DeAndre Hopkins and Davante Adams possibly up for grabs at Tuesday's trade deadline, it's time the Chiefs get their signal-caller a bonafide WR1.