USAT: Chiefs Wire audio clip

USAT: Chiefs Wire

Mar 21, 2022

The Kansas City Chiefs have a new receiver in the building, with JuJu Smith-Schuster formally signing his new deal with the team on Sunday. - The signing has been met with a lot of praise because it gives Patrick Mahomes a consistent third option that he seemingly lacked during the 2021 NFL season. But how exactly does Smith-Schuster fit in with the group of players that the team already has and what are some of the new things that he’ll bring to the table in Kansas City? - Asked how he envisioned his fit with the team, Smith-Schuster explained that he’s a different flavor compared to the type of players the Chiefs already have. He considers himself closer to Travis Kelce than to players like Mecole Hardman and Tyreek Hill. - “I’m a different type of guy, I’m a little bit more built,” Smith-Schuster told reporters. “You’ve got Tyreek and Mecole, speedster guys who can run down the field. I’m the type of guy, great hands, a little bit like Travis, great hands, big dude that can run and block, physical blocking in the run game. There’s so much I can do to help this team.” - The physicality is noted and something that clearly interested Brett Veach and Andy Reid from the jump. He’s known as a strong blocker, but he also plays well through contact. Hands will definitely be an underrated part of what Smith-Schuster brings to Kansas City, though. - In his 25 targets last season, Smith-Schuster didn’t drop a single pass. If you go back to 2020, when he played a full 16-game season, it took nine games and 128 targets before Smith-Schuster dropped a single pass. Had he been on the team that year, he would have been second on the team in dropped pass percentage behind only Kelce. Given the frequency of drops from guys like Byron Pringle, Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman, that’ll be a noticeable difference for a team that struggled to extend drives at times in 2021. - If you look at the types of routes Smith-Schuster has excelled at during his career, it’s the short-to-intermediate route combinations. That’s another area where the Chiefs really didn’t find a lot of success in 2021. He’s going to be working across the middle of the field against zone coverage with slants, flats, crossers, curls and out routes. He also has the physicality to be successful in Andy Reid’s quick screen game, both as a blocker and a receiver. - - Think JuJu has weirdly gone from one of the more overrated WRs in the game to one of the most underrated slot guys. Has been one of the best zone-beating WRs in #ReceptionPerception and thrives as an underneath chain-mover. KC needs that. - Full RP profile:

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