Question of the Day, Kansas City Chiefs WRs

Photo: Mark J. Rebilas, USA Today Sports

Over the next few weeks, we will ask our staff a single question on a variety of topics ranging from a huge news event to a tough fantasy decision or player evaluation.

Yesterday, we looked at Jonathan Taylor.

If you like this format, come back tomorrow for another Question of the Day. Today, we change gears a bit. Instead of focusing on a single top-end player, we take a look at the entire Kansas City wide receiver corps. The Chiefs haven't had an elite player at the position since Tyreek Hill left for Miami. Can we find one this year?

Here's the question we asked.

Who will end the season as Kansas City's WR1? Where will they finish among all wide receivers? Are they worth targeting in your draft?

Here's a quick glance at the answers:

• Skyy Moore - 12 votes
• Marquez Valdes-Scantling - 3 votes
• Rashee Rice - 1 vote

But - in general - a lack of excitement abounds for any of them.

Here are the full answers. Enjoy!

Dave Kluge: The true WR1 in Kansas City is Travis Kelce, who was sixth in targets among all NFL players last year. As for which wide receiver will step up, that's a much tougher question to answer. Year after year, we're duped into thinking that someone will be fantasy-relevant, and since Tyreek Hill, we've yet to see it. At this point in his career, Patrick Mahomes II is content reading his progressions and finding the open guy. But if I have to pick one wide receiver, I'm willing to give Skyy Moore a pass for a quiet rookie season. He came from a small school, and the learning curve from Western Michigan University to the best team in the NFL was understandably steep. His athleticism and after-the-catch abilities give him a very high ceiling in this offense. However, the ceiling may be an apparition, and Moore could easily be on your league's waiver wire by Week 4. I'll take my chances at his current ADP, but he's not someone worth targeting aggressively.

Jason Wood: Skyy Moore is my choice to lead the Chiefs receivers, although I project him to finish outside the Top 40. I still think Moore is worth drafting because, of all the receivers going in that range, he has a high-end outcome that would make him a top-20 performer. As Dave Kluge Dave mentions, the Chiefs offense has been just fine without an alpha wide receiver and will continue that way as long as Travis Kelce is productive. But it's generally good form to roster pieces of elite offenses, and the cheaper pieces are usually the lottery tickets that can pay massive dividends. I like Moore's profile and think his rookie season isn't damning, particularly with JuJu Smith-Schuster moving on to New England. But by all means, Rashee Rice could be the answer, too, and we need to track camp reports closely to signs in one direction or another.

Jordan McNamara: I don't have confidence the WR1 in this offense will have more than 750 yards. This has the makings of an Andy Reid offense where there is no true WR1 but a variety of options based on weekly game plans. This was on display in the playoffs last year when three different wide receivers led the wide receiving corps in receiving in the team's three playoff games. The best bet would be Skyy Moore, who has the best blend of draft pedigree and college production profile of the receivers on the depth chart. If there is a true difference-making WR1 on the roster, I think Justyn Ross profiles the best, but it is an unlikely outcome.

Jeff Haseley: Which wide receiver will be the most fantasy-relevant option for the Chiefs after Travis Kelce? It's a big question, but what if the answer is none of them? We've seen multiple receivers step up any given week, but not since Tyreek Hill's departure have we seen a consistent option. JuJu Smith-Schuster finished 27th in PPR scoring in 2022, but even he only had four top-25 weekly finishes. If your best wide receiver only has four top-25 finishes, how can you rely on them for weekly consistency? It is possible that Skyy Moore will take a step forward in his second year. Marquez Valdes-Scantling will have his share of limited success. Kadarius Toney might be healthy enough to contribute a few good weeks as well. Rookie receivers usually don't see much action in Andy Reid's system, but we could see Rashee Rice even have a good game or two. The same for Justyn Ross and Justin Watson. If I had to choose one to be the best of the bunch, it would be Skyy Moore. He has adequate size and skill to be a factor in designed plays to get him in space that allows him to excel after the catch. Like Smith-Schuster last year, my gut says the best wide receiver will finish in the top 30 (upper 20s). If I had to draft one receiver on the Chiefs, it would be Moore, but only if the value is there in the draft. If something were to happen to Moore, Richie James becomes my player of interest.

The answer to which Chiefs wide receiver will be the most fantasy-relevant might not be "None of them", but "All of them - in their own way, at their own time." Great for the NFL but bad for fantasy. The Chiefs' wide receivers may all show some pizzazz any given week, but finding one who can be consistently productive is a tall order because the one receiver who can answer that bell is Travis Kelce.

Daniel Harms: Marquez Valdes-Scantling will finish as the Chiefs' fantasy WR1 in 2023. Valdes-Scantling is likely to play the most WR snaps for Kansas City this season, and there were a lot of deep ball touchdowns left of the field between Mahomes and Scantling that should be remedied in 2023. The weapons underneath in KC, along with Travis Kelce bringing defensive gravity wherever he goes, should see Scantling have more one on one opportunities to capitalize on. An added bonus: his current ADP makes him an easy target near the end of many drafts.