Chiefs receivers could be biggest beneficiaries of Travis Kelce injury

One of the biggest questions that the Kansas City Chiefs' coaching staff has been getting on a regular basis since 53-man roster cuts: "How are you going to possibly use all seven receivers?" Yes, for the first time since 2013, Chiefs HC Andy Reid opted to keep seven receivers (Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, Justin […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Sep 6, 2023 10:45 AM EDT

One of the biggest questions that the Kansas City Chiefs' coaching staff has been getting on a regular basis since 53-man roster cuts: "How are you going to possibly use all seven receivers?"

Yes, for the first time since 2013, Chiefs HC Andy Reid opted to keep seven receivers (Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, Justin Watson, Richie James, Rashee Rice and Justyn Ross) on the active roster. At first, it seemed like there were a lot of mouths to feed in the passing game, but suddenly it doesn't seem like too much. That tends to be the case when your top receiving threat, Travis Kelce, suffers an injury late in the practice week.

Even before the injury to Kelce, Chiefs HC Andy Reid was considering keeping all seven receivers active in for Week 1 against the Lions.

"We’re kind of going through all of that now," Reid said last Friday. "There’s a chance though that we have all seven up, yeah.”

That chance seems even greater now, given what we currently know about Kelce's knee injury.

Enough snaps and touches to go around

It's hard to imagine a situation where you can find opportunities for all seven receivers in a single game. It was one of the biggest arguments against keeping seven receivers on the 53-man roster ahead of cuts. It's especially difficult to fathom when you have a player like Kelce averaging nine targets and six touches per game.

With Kelce potentially sitting out on Thursday, it's a lot easier to get some of the guys in the back half of that room involved. Sure, guys like Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore are going to come to the forefront with Kelce sidelined, but it also means there's more opportunity to go around for guys like Richie James, Rashee Rice, and Justyn Ross.

Last season alone, Kelce played over 570 snaps aligned either in the slot or out wide compared to his 335 snaps as an in-line tight end. We already know that Noah Gray is the next man up for the true tight end duties, but James, Rice, and Ross have the potential to benefit from increased snaps, targets, and touches aligned in the slot and out wide.

James and Rice in particular should see increased work in the slot, working across the middle of the field. Rice had 56 snaps in the slot during the preseason, while James played over 420 snaps in the slot for the New York Giants a season ago. Ross got the bulk of his work out wide during the preseason, but he could benefit from increased red zone work with Kelce sidelined.

Ross and Rice have the most to gain from this situation and could wind up as the biggest beneficiaries should Kelce sit out. Brett Veach stated that they'll both start the year off as package players, meaning they'll be on the field for specialized packages of plays during specific situations. If they can prove early on that they're capable of handling more volume, it'll only benefit them as the 17-game season continues and more opportunities arise.