The Kansas City Chiefs' decision to trade Tyreek Hill this offseason was greeted by many with understandable bemusement.
With Hill sent to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, two fourth-round picks, and a 2023 sixth-round pick, the Chiefs lost the player who, save for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, struck the most fear into the hearts of opposing defenses.
How could the Chiefs' offense be as devastating without him? Surely the Chiefs and head coach Andy Reid had a plan?
Turns out they did, and it wasn't to spend either of their two first-round picks on a wide receiver. The Chiefs opted for defense in the form of Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis, instead filling the void with a pair of veterans in Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and a second-round pick in Skyy Moore.
Moore is quicker than fast and, though Valdes-Scantling was the de-facto deep threat for Aaron Rodgers in the Green Bay Packers' offense, neither can claim to boast anywhere close to the explosive speed Hill possesses.
And yet the Chiefs' offense has actually been more explosive than it was in the 2021 season, suffering no drop-off as Kansas City surged to the number one seed in the AFC and has since overcome injuries to quarterback and receivers alike to progress to Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The Chiefs racked up 249 plays of 10 yards or more in 2021, but that number has jumped to 257 in 2022. On top of that, the Chiefs finished first in the NFL in Stats Perform's Efficiency Versus Expected (EVE) metric on offense.
While much credit must go to All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce – who ended the regular season with 1,338 receiving yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns – and head coach Andy Reid for finding joy running three-tight end formations, there is no doubting the influence of Kansas City's reconstructed receiver corps.
Smith-Schuster ended the year with 933 receiving yards, carving out a role as a dependable possession receiver who – according to Stats Perform data – won his matchup with a defender on a play where he was targeted 74.5 per cent of the time (the average is 60.2).
Valdes-Scantling has been an effective big-play threat, averaging 16.4 yards per reception in the regular season and, though Moore has not had the impact some may have envisaged, sporadic contributions from in-season trade acquisition Kadarius Toney – a former first-round pick of the New York Giants – and Justin Watson have helped ensure the Chiefs have continued to thrive throwing the ball.
How has everything coalesced so effectively for the Chiefs' new-look receiver group? In the view of Mahomes, their success is a tribute to the effort they have each shown since arriving in Kansas City.
"Just a lot of hard work. The guys work their tail off every day," said Mahomes of his receivers.
"It's a tough place to be to learn a whole new playbook and really execute and get better and better throughout the season and have no drop-offs, those guys have done that since OTAs and gotten better and better and that's what's got us in this position, so I'm excited for those guys to go on the world stage and showcase what they've worked all year for."
Kelce similarly praised the way Smith-Schuster and Co. have attacked the challenge, while also hailing Reid for identifying players who could slot seamlessly into an offense that was built heavily around Hill.
"The wide receiver group this year has been absolutely unbelievable," said Kelce. "Being able to come in year one and master this offense the way they have – this isn't an easy offense to figure out – it's just been cool to see the professionalism on top of the leadership that's been brought into this building for a lot of the young guys that are still in that room.
"There were just a lot of specific Tyreek routes, man, routes that only that guy could run. Hats off to coach Reid for creating those routes for the strengths of the guys that are in the building now.
"This offense has had one of its best years, and it's not by surprise, it's not by accident, there's a lot of guys in that room that have the strengths and the abilities to go out there and have success and I'm happy they're going out there and having it."
Having such success may be a tough ask against an Eagles defense that allowed only 4.8 yards per pass play in the regular season, the fewest in the NFL.
But, even if the Chiefs' offense cannot produce the explosive plays to propel them to a second Super Bowl title in four seasons, the receiving group they have constructed has already emphatically expelled all doubts about Kansas City's decision to move on from their superstar wideout.
NFL wide receiver Collins agrees to $72M extension with Texans
Wide receiver Nico Collins took a major step forward last season with C.J. Stroud.
The Houston Texans rewarded him for his production.
The Texans and Collins agreed to a three-year extension worth $72.5million on Tuesday.
The deal, which was reported by NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, includes $52million guaranteed, and holds a maximum value of $75million.
Collins, who was entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract, is coming off his best season in the NFL, leading the Texans with 80 receptions for 1,297 yards with eight touchdowns.
In three pro seasons, he has 150 catches for 2,224 yards and 11 TDs.
Teamed with the rookie Stroud at quarterback in 2023, the Texans emerged as having one of the top passing offences in the NFL.
Houston surprisingly won the AFC South and reached the divisional round - the franchise's first trip to the play-offs since 2019.
The Texans will enter this season with lofty expectations after adding another star wide receiver in Stefon Diggs to a roster that already includes Tank Dell.
Medvedev battles into French Open second round after Koepfer triumph
Daniil Medvedev staved off a Dominik Koepfer fightback to record a battling victory in the French Open first round on Monday.
The world number five raced out the blocks on Court Simonne-Mathieu and eventually triumphed 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3 in Paris.
Medvedev, a five-time major runner-up and 2021 US Open champion, broke Koepfer's first service game in the French capital with that a seeming sign of things to come.
Though the 28-year-old dropped his serve in the first set, Medvedev had little trouble in responding with the score finely poised at 3-2 to claim first blood at Roland-Garros.
The fifth seed has only ever gone as far as the quarter-finals, three years ago, at the French Open but showed his clinical best to snatch the second set after holding all six service games for a narrow triumph.
World number 65 Koepfer battled back in the third but the resilient Medvedev responded by breaking his German opponent early in the fourth set, finally securing victory in just over three hours.
Data Debrief: Medvedev gets better of Koepfer again
Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Koepfer, with his most recent such victory seeing him reach the second round at Roland-Garros for the third time in eight attempts.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Medvedev is 27-1 against players ranked outside the top 50 at major events, with his only loss in that run coming against Seyboth Wild in the French Open first round last year.
Koepfer, meanwhile, extends to 1-17 against top-10 players in his career, earning his only such victory against over Gael Monfils – then ranked ninth in the world – at the 2020 ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.
Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win
Cristiano Ronaldo claimed a piece of Saudi Pro League history after scoring twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 final-day victory over 10-man Al-Ittihad on Monday.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on target in either half at Al Awal Park, moving to 35 goals across the 2023-24 league campaign in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after receiving a long ball from Mohammed Al-Fatil, before doubling his tally – and Al-Nassr's lead – with a header from Marcelo Brozovic's corner.
That second finish after Suwailem Al Manhali was dismissed for the visitors saw Ronaldo eclipse Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – for the most strikes in a single campaign.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb then added another from the penalty spot before Meshari Al Nemer made sure of three points after late goals from Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho had pulled Al-Ittihad back into contention.
Having already been unable to stop Al-Hilal secure the title, Al-Nassr finish second in the table – ending on 82 points after 26 wins from the 34-match campaign.
Data Debrief: Al-Nassr dominance pays off
Much will be made of the record-breaking Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in as many games across all competitions this season.
Yet Al-Nassr were dominant from the off in this one, mustering nine shots on target to Al-Ittihad's three, while accumulating 2.73 expected goals (xG) – far superior to the visitors' 1.43 xG.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
