Las Vegas Raiders 2022 opponent offseason review: Kansas City Chiefs
By Nick Bailey
Las Vegas Raiders 2022 opponent offseason review: Kansas City Chiefs
Offensive Changes
The Jaguars signing Christian Kirk to his massive $75 million contract and the Davante Adams trade and contract extension sent a ripple effect throughout the league’s wide receivers, which led to a couple more of them getting traded to get paid one of those trades in particular weakened the Raiders top rival very severely.
The Kansas City Chiefs traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks. Three of them coming in the 2022 NFL Draft a first, second, and fourth-round pick, and two 2023 picks a fourth and a sixth-rounder.
Compare that to the 2022 first and second-rounders that the Packers got for Adams and the Chiefs made out like bandits. Hill also received a massive four-year $120 million contract extension from the Dolphins with $72 million of that guaranteed.
To replace Hill the Chiefs brought in several players knowing they can’t replace all of Hill’s production and the first player brought in was former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Juju Smith-Shuster. Smith-Shuster has been heavily criticized these past couple of years in Pittsburgh due to his increased activity on Tik Tok combined with his drop in production when on and injuries that have kept him off the field.
The Chiefs also signed Marques Valdez-Scantling from the Green Bay Packers. Valdez-Scantling brings the deep threat that the Chiefs lost with Hill but he has also dealt with injuries and inconsistencies despite already playing with one of the league’s best quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers.
They also brought in former Cleveland Brown Corey Coleman who most recently spent time with the New York Giants in 2020. Coleman was out of the entire 2021 season after getting suspended for the first six games due to violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policies.
Running back Ronald Jones was brought over from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jones struggled last season after having a solid 2020 season in helping the Buccaneers win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Jones played in all 16 games last season but only had three starts and finished the season with 428 yards and four touchdowns on 101 carries.
In retrospect, he had 978 yards and seven touchdowns on 192 carries in the 2020 season in 13 games started and only 14 played. Jones could be a solid addition for the Chiefs if they stick with him and give him carries.
The final piece to the Tyreek hill puzzle was found in the 2022 NFL Draft’s second round when the Chiefs drafted a small but fast receiver in Skyy Moore out of the University of Western Michigan. Moore ran a 4.4 forty at the NFL combine and finished his final season at college with over 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns.