I’ll be curious to see if Kansas City makes a stab at bringing back Tyreek Hill. While it seems overly optimistic to hope he can return to the difference-maker level he was at a few years ago, KC could use a playmaker.
Through some combination of personnel shortcomings and an inability to draw up the right offense, Kansas City has been remarkably ineffective at creating big plays in the passing game.
Over the past three years, 29 quarterbacks have thrown at least 30 touchdown passes. Of that group, Patrick Mahomes ranks last in average length of touchdown, down at 11.1 yards – over a yard below everyone else.
| TOUCHDOWN LENGTH AVG (last 3 yrs) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player ('25 tm) | Avg | TD |
| Derek Carr, none | 21.5 | 40 |
| Joe Flacco, Cin. | 20.9 | 40 |
| Jalen Hurts, Phi. | 19.7 | 66 |
| Kirk Cousins, Atl. | 19.6 | 46 |
| C.J. Stroud, Hou. | 18.7 | 62 |
| Caleb Williams, Chi. | 18.6 | 47 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 18.5 | 86 |
| Aaron Rodgers, Pitt. | 18.4 | 52 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 18.4 | 81 |
| Tua Tagovailoa, Mia. | 18.2 | 68 |
| Baker Mayfield, T.B. | 18.2 | 95 |
| Jared Goff, Det. | 18.0 | 99 |
| Sam Darnold, Sea. | 17.9 | 62 |
| Drake Maye, N.E. | 17.8 | 46 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 17.6 | 77 |
| Russell Wilson, NYG | 17.4 | 45 |
| Geno Smith, L.V. | 17.4 | 60 |
| Brock Purdy, S.F. | 17.0 | 71 |
| Justin Herbert, LAC | 16.7 | 69 |
| Trevor Lawrence, Jac. | 16.7 | 61 |
| Joe Burrow, Cin. | 16.3 | 75 |
| Jayden Daniels, Was. | 16.1 | 33 |
| Bo Nix, Den. | 15.9 | 54 |
| Jordan Love, G.B. | 15.1 | 80 |
| Bryce Young, Car. | 14.9 | 49 |
| Matthew Stafford, LAR | 14.3 | 90 |
| Mac Jones, S.F. | 13.4 | 31 |
| Kyler Murray, Ari. | 12.5 | 37 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 11.1 | 75 |
Some of the blame here, I think, can be placed on the coaching staff. KC shoved Matt Nagy out the door at the end of the season, bringing back Eric Bieniemy to fill the offensive coordinator role. But they’ve got Andy Reid, who’s generally considered one of the best offensive minds in the game.
KC hasn’t had a good running game in recent years, making it harder for them to counter defenses relying heavily on dropping guys into coverage. Better, defenses have figured out, to make KC dink-and-dunk down the field. So some logic behind the speculation that KC might pounce on running back Jeremiyah Love if he’s available with the 9th pick of the draft.
But another receiving weapon (particularly if obtained at a nice price) wouldn’t. As things stand, KC’s main receiving weapons have been Travis Kelce (who’s slowing down) and Rashee Rice (who’s best on shorter routes). They’ve got Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy, but neither is a great deep threat.
—Ian Allan
