After trading receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins, the Chiefs are taking a different approach to their receivers in 2022.
The team signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster in free agency and selected Skyy Moore in the second round of the draft. Mecole Hardman also remains on the roster and is poised to have a bigger role in the team’s offense this year.
At the conclusion of the team’s minicamp on Thursday, head coach Andy Reid said he really liked the way Valdes-Scantling and Smith-Schuster worked during the offseason program.
“They’ve got a nice connection with Pat [Mahomes] up to this point,” Reid said during his press conference. “I’ll be curious to see how [that continues] when it’s live bullets and all that stuff. So we’ll see how that rolls. But I wouldn’t expect anything much different than what I’ve been seeing. And the other guys, too, that have worked in there — Mecole has upped his game here and done a nice job. And our young kid, Skyy, mixed there has been good. So I like the mixture of what we’ve got going.”
Reid added that Moore has big, strong hands and “catches everything.”
“He looks strong. You see that, the way he’s built physically. But I’d say that transfers,” Reid said. “And he’s a good route runner. Smart kid. Seemed to pick it up well.”
There is a lot of time before the Chiefs begin the season against the Cardinals on Sept. 11 and the offense could significantly evolve by then. But at this point, Kansas City appears optimistic that the receiving corps should be able to compete well in 2022.