When you think Kansas City Chiefs, immediately head coach Andy Reid comes to mind, as does all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
And who can forget future first-ballot Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce. That’s the K.C. brain trust on the offensive side of the football. Both Mahomes and Kelce are an extension of the brilliant Reid, and it shows every Sunday on the gridiron.
In fact, Reid, Mahomes and Kelce have been so good that other elements of the dominant Chiefs offense often get overlooked. They’re routinely one of the best rushing teams in the NFL yearly, and although they traded away the dynamic Tyreek Hill after the 2022 season, all they did was go out and win the Super Bowl with now-former Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster as the team’s top receiving threat not named Kelce. With JuJu now in New England the door is open for someone else to be a security blanket in the passing game when teams gameplan to slow down Kelce.
Enter Richie James, the former New York Giants wideout who led that team in receptions in 2022 with 57. That was a career-high for the former Middle Tennessee State star. He also set career highs in yards with 569 and touchdowns with four. Not exactly gaudy numbers, but he was playing in a run-heavy system with Daniel Jones.
James Excited To Make Mark In K.C.
James‘ breakout season was good enough to land him a one-year deal with the reigning Super Bowl champions. James will join a receiver room that’s looking for a leader but does have plenty of talent. In a recent interview with the Kansas City Star’s Jesse Newell, James had this to say about the move:
“It’s very similar offenses. And you got the smartest and greatest head coach you could possibly ask for.”
While the Chiefs and Giants’ offenses mirror each other as far verbiage goes, they’re being run by two totally different quarterbacks. One’s a two-time MVP and Super Bowl MVP, having won both awards in 2022. The other is a rising QB who showed more promise in one year under Giants head coach Brian Daboll than he’d shown in his first three NFL seasons combined.
In a receiver room that will feature Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdez-Scantling as the top two options on the perimeter, someone will have to man the slot, and that’s where James could make his mark. He’ll be competing with second-year wideout Skyy Moore and rookie Rashee Rice for playing time, but neither has proved they can handle the position at this level, while James has.
James, who’s excited for the opportunity, told Newell this in the interview.
“Wherever they put me at, I’m just here to contribute to whatever they want me to do.”
James says he likes “everything” about his K.C. opportunity, and the speedster is relishing in it.
James Is Very Sure-Handed
Coming into the 2022 season, according to Next Gen Stats, James had an expected catch rate of just over 70 percent. He exceeded that by 11 percent, catching over 81 percent of his targets. Of his 70 targets only 13 were incompletions. And the passer rating of QBs who targeted James was over 119. The most impressive part of James’ catch percentage was a number like that usually is seen from backs out of the backfield. Not often does a receiver have one that high trying to get open against defenses downfield.
