WKU’s Malachi Corley showed at Senior Bowl he can give Chiefs perfect one-two punch at wide receiver
The wide receiver position is coming into focus for the Kansas City Chiefs at the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl. Even with the team preparing for Super Bowl LVIII, their college scouting staff is hard at work evaluating the next wave of NFL talent. They just might find the next great K.C. receiver in Mobile, Alabama. One of […]
The wide receiver position is coming into focus for the Kansas City Chiefs at the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl.
Even with the team preparing for Super Bowl LVIII, their college scouting staff is hard at work evaluating the next wave of NFL talent. They just might find the next great K.C. receiver in Mobile, Alabama. One of those players rising to the top of the pack is Western Kentucky WR Malachi Corley, and he was squarely on Kansas City's radar even before a strong week of practice at the Senior Bowl.
A source tells A to Z Sports that Chiefs co-director of college scouting Pat Sperduto is a big fan of Corley. The 21-year-old is also one of the many players that the team's scouts have met with at the Senior Bowl.
What does Corley bring to the table at the next level?
Weighing in at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, the big thing that pops off the screen is Corley's physicality. He's not afraid to take on contact and run straight through a defender.
During the above play, Corley showed off easy acceleration, proving yet another aspect of his game. He reached 20.04 MPH on the play, which was only the tenth-best mark in Senior Bowl practices by a wide receiver. All of the receivers ranked ahead of him are at least three pounds lighter. Corley also reached 4.57 max acceleration during the practice week per Zebra Technologies. That type of acceleration at his 215-pound weight is extremely impressive.
His physicality also extends to beating press coverage and run-blocking. On multiple occasions he challenged defensive backs and got physical with them, blurring the lines with offensive pass interference and physical play. What's abundantly clear is that he won't be bullied by physical play. Instead, he wants the bully himself.
"Malachi Corley just trucked the life out of a DB in the middle of the field during his one on one rep," A to Z Sports' Destin Adams wrote. "It drew a flag but it was an unreal show of strength."
Corley says he's more than just a YAC guy
Corley has a reputation for his yard-after-catch ability. 975 of his nearly 1,300 receiving yards came after the catch in 2022. He leads for the most career YAC of any wide receiver in the 2024 NFL draft class. During his career at WKU, he forced 69 missed tackles.
At the Senior Bowl, he's out to prove that his game has greater depth.
"I've been feeling good," Corley told The Blue Stable's Jay Robins. "I've been kind of breaking that narrative and putting a lot of stuff on film and really showing guys what I'm made of down here. That I'm not just a yards-after-catch guy."
He says that he shook that narrative by winning five of six one-on-one reps during his first day of practice.
"Being able to show that I can run the complete route tree," he continued. "Run a dig, run a post, getting a chance to run options, run slants. Being physical in my routes and my releases and even just coming off the ball and being physical. Making hands catches and stuff like that. Those are things that I really got to put on film, as well as punt returning this week."
In his one-on-one reps, Corley was able to showcase contact balance, multiple releases, and elite short-area quickness.
Corley models his game after a 49ers star
One of the top comparisons that gets floated for Corley is 49ers WR Deebo Samuel. While Corley is certainly his own player, he embraces the comparison and even models aspects of his game after Samuel.
"Obviously, it's impossible not to say Deebo Samuel," Corley said. "Just having similar body types and playing the game in that bull-dozing fashion. Being real tough and physical guys who block in the run game and also can catch screens and jet tosses and stuff like that. It's impossible not to have that comparison."
Being compared to one of the NFL's best receivers is never a bad thing. I'd go as far as to say he has some Tyreek Hill, Golden Tate, and Kendall Wright in his game as well.
How does Corley fit with the Chiefs?
You might be looking at Corley's skillset and think that it's rather redundant given what rookie WR Rashee Rice has shown in 2023. He led the NFL with 818 yards after the catch this season, also averaging the highest YAC per reception in the league per PFF.
I think his fit is about three key things. The first is seeing how physicality worked within the Chiefs' offensive scheme this season. Isiah Pacheco and Rashee Rice run with a vengeance and it wears out defenses. Having another player on the roster who invites contact and has success with that physical playstyle could be a major boon to the offense.
Next, what Corley is out to prove of his game is true. He's more than just a YAC guy. He's a Swiss Army Knife-style player who can contribute in all areas and levels of the field. His short-area quickness was on full display in the red zone at the Senior Bowl.
On offense, he can align in the slot, in the backfield, or out wide. Beyond that, Corley has special teams value as a punt returner.
Finally, I think Corley offers Kansas City a gadget-style player that they lacked in 2023. The team hasn't been able to run a lot of the screen passes, end around and jet tosses this season because Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman haven't been healthy and reliable. A selection of Corley in the 2024 NFL draft would give the team that player they've lacked and if Toney turns things around, it'd be a nice bonus.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach reveals he sought to take a WR earlier in the 2023 NFL draft
The Kansas City Chiefs had some different plans for the wide receiver position.
