The Chiefs are hoping DeAndre Hopkins will be the final component needed for a Super Bowl run.
The Kansas City Chiefs are adept at making wise wide receiver transactions in the middle of the season.
They sent a few draft picks to the New York Giants in 2022 for Kadarius Toney, who scored one touchdown and set up another with a long punt return in the fourth quarter of that season’s Super Bowl game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The New York Jets’ Mecole Hardman was acquired last season. The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII after Hardman grabbed the touchdown pass in overtime.
These transactions tend to go as planned, which is why the Chiefs attempted it once more this season when they dealt with the Tennessee Titans.
For this move to benefit the Chiefs, Hopkins, 32, who is an established albeit aging talent in contrast to Toney or Hardman, will need to do even more. In order to strengthen a receiving group following the Tyreek Hill trade, the Toney deal was more forward-looking. The Chiefs terminated Toney at the conclusion of this year’s training camp because that aspect didn’t work out so well.
For depth, Hardman was acquired. Hopkins must be the Chiefs’ top wide receiver by the time the playoffs arrive, if not earlier.
Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown, the first contenders to be the starting wide receiver, are sidelined due to injuries. Rice’s right knee injury has ended his season. Brown might make a comeback by the postseason after suffering a sternoclavicular injury in the preseason.
The Chiefs had Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, Hardman, and Skyy Moore at wide receiver before to the Hopkins deal. There isn’t a standout wide receiver among them, at least not at this stage of their careers.
Although Worthy, the Chiefs’ first-round draft selection, is now a rookie at age 21, he may someday reach that stage. At this point in his career, the Chiefs anticipated that he would be a high-impact but low-volume receiver. At an average of 13.2 yards per grab, he has 15 receptions for 198 yards and two scores.
Smith-Schuster was sidelined in the first quarter of last week’s game against the 49ers due to a hamstring ailment that developed during practice. He will not play against the Raiders on Sunday in Las Vegas, according to the Chiefs. The Chiefs did not bring him back with the assumption that he would be their top wide receiver, but he will return at some point later in the season.
DeAndre Hopkins
Hardman and Watson are also included in the complimentary group. Since he joined the Chiefs in 2022, Moore hasn’t produced much.
Hopkins cannot, then, be a piece of equipment that is unveiled on plays that are specifically designed for him, like Toney was. He cannot be a backup who, like Hardman, was in the right position at the right moment on the last play of the last Super Bowl. He must create in large quantities, which he has done before. Including the Titans’ season last year, Hopkins has received 1,000 yards or more in seven of his 11 league seasons. He has also been named to the first or second team All-Pro five times.
Although the Chiefs reached 6-0 with this bunch of receivers, did they have enough to defeat a string of elite opponents in the postseason, as general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid are paid to do?
By making the Hopkins deal, the Chiefs made their position on that matter quite apparent. Hopkins and what they may gain from him will determine if the Chiefs look back on this transaction the way they do now that they have traded for Toney and Hardman, and more significantly, whether they win an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl triumph.
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