The Kansas City Chiefs are set to kick off training camp in just about a few days, and with the annual trek to St. Joseph nearly here, we're examining every position group on the roster heading into camp.
We'll continue with the wide receiver group, where the Chiefs currently employ 13 players. Let's take a look at each, sorted alphabetically by veterans, draft picks and rookie free agents.
Veterans
Marquise "Hollywood" Brown
One of the Chiefs' most significant offseason additions, Brown signed with Kansas City in late March after catching 51 passes for 574 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games for Arizona last year despite playing without starting quarterback Kyler Murray for the bulk of his season. He hauled in 67 receptions for 709 yards and three scores during the year prior, leading Arizona in catches.
Overall, Brown tallied 118 grabs for 1,283 yards and seven scores during his 26 games with the Cardinals from 2022 through 2023, leading Arizona in all three categories during his time with the team.
Before joining the Cardinals, Brown – a former first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens – caught 195 passes for 2,361 yards and 21 scores in 46 games with Baltimore from 2019 through 2021. Keep in mind, Brown assembled those numbers while playing in a Ravens offense that ranked 30th in the NFL in net passing yards-per-game during his three seasons with the team.
Mecole Hardman
Hardman is back for a sixth season in Kansas City after re-signing with the Chiefs in early June. Hardman, who originally joined the Chiefs as a second-round pick in 2019, caught 151 passes for 2,088 yards and 16 touchdowns through his first four seasons as a professional. He then joined the New York Jets as a free agent ahead of last year, but Kansas City re-acquired Hardman in a trade mid-season.
He hauled in 14 passes for 118 yards in six regular-season games after returning to Kansas City, culminating in his game-winning touchdown grab in Super Bowl LVIII.
Now back with the Chiefs, Hardman will have an opportunity to pick right back up where he left off.
Skyy Moore
The No. 54 overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Moore enters his third season with Kansas City after catching 21 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown in 2023. His best performance took place in Week 2 vs. Jacksonville, when Moore hauled in a touchdown reception and a game-sealing, 54-yard catch late in the fourth quarter.
In total, Moore has 43 catches for 494 yards and a score in 30 regular-season games with Kansas City, plus a 4-yard touchdown catch in Super Bowl LVII.
Moore missed the final three games of the regular-season and the entirety of the playoffs due to a knee injury, but he now appears to be healthy heading into camp.
Cornell Powell
Powell is back with the Chiefs after spending all of last season on the practice squad. The former fifth-round pick has spent each of the last three campaigns with Kansas City, appearing in three games (all in 2022). He has otherwise been a steady member of the practice squad in that time.
Nikko Remigio
An undrafted free agent signee last offseason, Remigio was in the midst of a solid training camp when a shoulder injury ended his campaign early. Prior to joining Kansas City, Remigio was a four-year contributor (largely as a return man) at the University of California before transferring to Fresno State for the 2022 campaign. He made the most of his fifth year, too, tallying career-bests in receptions (74), receiving yards (852) and receiving touchdowns (6). Remigio was also tied for the FBS lead with two punt return touchdowns.
Now healthy, Remigio was one of the standouts of offseason practices with several notable moments throughout, and he'll have an opportunity to build on that success during camp.
Rashee Rice
One of the Chiefs' top playmakers last season, Rice caught 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023. His 44 catches that picked up a first down ranked second on the team behind only tight end Travis Kelce (51), and his 669 yards after-the-catch last season ranked third among all players.
Additionally, Rice's 26 catches in the playoffs were an NFL record for a rookie. His final postseason grab – a 13-yard reception in Super Bowl LVIII – moved the chains on third down during the Chiefs' game-winning drive in overtime.
Justyn Ross
Originally an undrafted free agent signee in 2022, Ross made the team out of training camp last summer and went on to appear in 10 games, catching six passes for 53 yards.
Before joining the Chiefs, Ross was a star at Clemson who took the country by storm as a freshman in 2018. He caught 46 passes for 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns that season, racking up 12 grabs for 301 yards and three scores during Clemson's College Football Playoff victories over Notre Dame and Alabama.
Ross' strong performance led to rumblings that he could be an eventual first-round pick when he became eligible, but injuries unfortunately got in the way. Ross missed the entirety of the 2020 campaign due to spinal surgery, and while he was back on the field in 2021 and played well with 46 grabs for 514 yards and three touchdowns in 10 starts, a foot injury sidelined him for the final three games of the year.
The man has dealt with some bad luck during his career, but after making the team out of camp last year, he'll have a chance to do so once again this summer.
Kadarius Toney
The 25-year-old Toney, who the Chiefs acquired in a trade mid-season with the New York Giants in 2022, caught 27 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in 13 games last season. The former first-round pick was primed for a larger role in 2023, but a knee injury suffered on the first day of training camp sidelined Toney for the entirety of the Chiefs' time in St. Joseph.
Toney then suffered a hip injury in Week 15 that ended his season early. Now healthy, Toney will have a chance to earn a role on the Chiefs heading into 2024.
Montrell Washington
Washington returned to Kansas City as a "Reserve/Future" signee in mid-February after appearing in six games for the Chiefs last season, serving primarily as a return man. Washington returned eight punts and one kick for the Chiefs between Week 3 and Week 6, averaging 7.6 yards-per-return as a punt returner.
Prior to joining the Chiefs, Washington – a fifth-round pick by the Broncos in 2022 – appeared in 15 games (1 start) for Denver that year.
Justin Watson
Watson put together the top statistical season of his career by virtually every metric last year, tallying single-season bests in catches (27), receiving yards (460) and receiving touchdowns (3) in 16 games. Additionally, his 460 receiving yards last season ranked third on the team behind only Travis Kelce (984) and Rashee Rice (938).
Watson was consistently productive, too. He recorded at least 40 receiving yards through the air in seven games last year, which ranked third on the team.
Draft Picks
Xavier Worthy
The Chiefs selected Worthy with the No. 28 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft earlier this offseason after he caught 75 passes for 1,014 yards last season at Texas – both career-bests – while finding the end zone five times and earning Second-Team All-American honors.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Worthy hauled in 197 catches for 2,755 yards and 26 touchdowns in 39 starts during his three-year career at Texas, and he was remarkably consistent, too. In fact, Worthy tallied at least 60 receptions, 750 yards and five touchdowns in each of his three seasons in Austin.
Worthy also has blazing speed, as evidenced by his ridiculous 4.21-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this offseason. It was the fastest recorded 40-time in the history of the event.
Undrafted Free Agent Signees
Phillip Brooks
A native of nearby Lee's Summit, Brooks – who signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent this offseason – caught at least 40 passes for 500+ yards and multiple scores in each of the last three seasons at K-State. He set career-bests in all three categories in 2023, logging 53 grabs for 589 yards and five touchdowns.
The 5-foot-7, 175-pound Brooks finished his career in Manhattan with 182 catches for 2,127 yards and 14 touchdowns in 65 career games.
Jaaron Hayek
The Chiefs signed Hayek, an undrafted free agent out of Villanova, following a successful tryout at rookie minicamp.
Hayek was one of 38 rookies who attended the three-day camp on a tryout basis. He was one of the standouts of the weekend from a production standpoint with multiple catches at various levels of the field, and as it turned out, his performance clearly impressed the Chiefs' coaches enough to earn a contract.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Hayek played five seasons for Villanova from 2019 through 2023, catching 170 passes for 2,744 yards and 29 touchdowns in 48 career games.
The Bottom Line
One of the major questions heading into last year's training camp was how many wide receivers the Chiefs would elect to keep for Week 1, and in a bit of a surprise – at least as far as historical precedent is concerned – Kansas City kept seven for the 2023 campaign. That was a significant uptick from the 2022 season in which the Chiefs kept five receivers for Week 1, but it's worth mentioning that Kansas City held on to six receivers for Week 1 in both 2021 and 2020.
So, with all that in mind, it's reasonable to assume that Kansas City will keep between five to six receivers for the 2024 season. The trio of Brown, Rice and Worthy each figure to be significant contributors from this group, while Watson has been one of the Chiefs' unsung heroes during their run to back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
If those four players make up the first four spots in the receiver room, that leaves one to two spots (or even three, as last summer indicated) for nine players. It's certainly a good problem to have, as the competition within this group should be one of the top storylines to follow throughout camp.
