Introduction

Recently, Jason Macintyre went on The Herd and told Colin that the Chiefs have a bottom-7 WR corps without Travis Kelce. That seemed way off base to me, but I didn’t go into attack mode. I reflected and did some research. And here’s what I found.

The 5 Tiers

Looks to me like NFL WR rooms can be put into 5 tiers.

1. Awful: These 3 rooms have no proven, good pass-catchers. I expect them to rely heavily on the run this season.

1.1. BUF: Maybe AD Mitchell, maybe.

1.2. NE: Juju didn’t have it last year.

1.3. LAC: Prove me wrong, Ladd.

2. 1 solid guy

2.1. DEN: Courtland Sutton

2.2. NYG: Malik Nabers (maybe he’s elite?)

2.3. ATL: Drake London

2.4. CAR: Adam Thielen (if age doesn’t get him)

2.5. NO: Chris Olave

2.6. BAL: Zay Flowers

2.7. JAX: Christian Kirk

2.8. PIT: George Pickens (Yes, I know, we could’ve had him if we hadn’t traded back. Moving on)

3. 1 great guy

3.1. CLE: Amari Cooper

3.2. DET: Amon-Ra St. Brown

3.3. AZ: Marvin Harrison, Jr. (I’m projecting here)

3.4. IND: Michael Pittman, Jr.

3.5. WAS: Terry McLaurin

4. 2 guys capable of 1k yards

4.1. NYJ: Garret Wilson and Mike Williams

4.2. TEN: D’Andre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley

4.3. GB: not even sure which 2

4.4. KC: Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice

5. 1 elite guy and 1 solid guy

5.1. DAL: CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks

5.2. TB: Mike Evans and Chris Godwin

5.3. SF: Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel

5.4. HOU: Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins

5.5. LV: Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers

5.6. MIN: Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison

6. 2 elite guys

6.1. LAR: Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua

6.2. PHI: AJ Brown and Devonta Smith

6.3. MIA: Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle

6.4. CIN: Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins

7. 1 elite guy and 2 solid guys

7.1. SEA: Metcalf, Lockett, and JSN

7.2. CHI: Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and Rome Odunze

Analysis

By this ranking system, the Chiefs have 16 teams below them and 12 teams above them. Of the 3 teams in their tier, arguments could be made either way about which is better, though I tend to lean towards the Chiefs youth compared to TEN and NYJ. GB could argue a better room overall at this point, but the Chiefs top 2 might be better than theirs. They could fall two tiers if Rice gets suspended or if Hollywood gets hurt. Then again, they could move up in the ranks if Xavier Worthy breaks out.

Conclusion

I am 100% ok with saying the Chiefs have an "average" WR room without Travis Kelce. I don’t see how anyone who talks about football for a living could call it a "bottom 7" room. Sorry J-Mac. Maybe you should look for a real job. Ok fellas, what do you think about the Chiefs WRs?