A position group that was thought to be assuredly changing in 2020, will remain the same for the Kansas City Chiefs.
They’re set to return their entire receiving corp from their Super Bowl LIV championship roster. That was made official today when news of a restructured contract for WR Sammy Watkins was revealed. The Chiefs also brought back WR Demarcus Robinson on a one-year deal earlier in the free agency period. As we approach the 2020 NFL draft, the Chiefs have kept their group together in hopes of repeating a Super Bowl title in 2020.
Here’s a look at the 2020 receiving group and their regular-season stats from 2019:
- Tyreek Hill – 58 catches for 860 yards and seven touchdowns in 2019.
- Sammy Watkins – 50 catches for 673 yards and three touchdowns in 2019.
- Demarcus Robinson – 32 catches for 449 yards and four touchdowns in 2019.
- Mecole Hardman – 26 catches for 538 yards and six touchdowns in 2019.
- Byron Pringle – 12 catches 170 yards and one touchdown in 2019.
- Gehrig Dieter – 2 tackles on special teams in 2019.
- Jody Fortson – Practice squad in 2019.
- Felton Davis – Injured in 2019.
This doesn’t even include the Chiefs’ receiving leader Travis Kelce, who is technically a tight end. The news that Kansas City is returning their entire group of pass-catchers should strike fear into the hearts of NFL defenses. The Chiefs had the fourth-most receiving yards in the NFL in 2019 with 4,690 yards throughout the regular-season.
Watkins, in particular, has played a huge role in the Chiefs’ postseason success over the past two seasons. When teams sought to take away players like Hill and Kelce, Watkins always was the guy to come up with the clutch plays. During the postseason, he’s caught a total of 24 passes for 464 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is 24 of 34 when targeting Watkins in the postseason, good for a 71% completion rate.
Now that Mahomes will have his full complement of weapons for the 2020 NFL season, it’ll allow the focuses in the NFL draft to shift in Kansas City. They won’t necessarily have to look for immediate contributors on the offensive side of the ball at the receiver position. They can look for players later in the draft or in undrafted free agency who could be ready to take on a bigger role in 2021.
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