Patrick Mahomes Has 'Extreme' Confidence in WRs Despite Chiefs' Injuries

Even down Rashee Rice and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, Patrick Mahomes says he feels that the Chiefs have enough at WR to get the job done.

Oct 7, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) leaves the field after defeating the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Prior to their bye week, the Kansas City Chiefs had perhaps their best offensive showing of the season. With 139 rushing yards and quarterback Patrick Mahomes topping 300 passing yards for the first time all year, the back-to-back Super Bowl champs put together an impressive performance against the New Orleans Saints.

With some extra time to prepare, the club hopes that success will continue against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. As the 2024 NFL trade deadline approaches, how the wide receiver room does could determine whether general manager Brett Veach pushes harder to make a move.

Already without Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and Rashee Rice for at least the regular season (or beyond, in Rice's case) due to injuries, the Chiefs are attempting to get by with options like rookie Xavier Worthy and veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson and Mecole Hardman. Is that a formula for sustained success?

Speaking to the media this week, Mahomes said yes.

“I have extreme confidence with the guys that are on that football field," Mahomes said. "I mean, they’ve won games, they’ve won Super Bowls, they’ve made plays in big moments and Brett Veach does a great job of bringing payers in that can step up whenever their number is called. Every time I step on that football field, I feel like we have the best ability to win. I think that’s a credit to Brett Veach and Coach Reid bringing in guys that really get after it and put in the work to be great every single day.”

One could argue that Mahomes's confidence may not be totally justified on the other end. For example, all it takes is a look back to the 2023-24 campaign to see how Kansas City's lackluster wide receiver room impacted the regular season in a massive way. With Brown and Rice injured, the team finds itself in a similar situation. This time, Worthy is the rookie who will be relied upon instead of 2023-24 Rice and Smith-Schuster is one of the vets who folks have high expectations for (2023-24 Watson or Marquez Valdes-Scantling). It's an imperfect comparison, sure, but the parallels are scary in a not-so-good way.

Despite that, there couldn't have been much more positive early returns than Week 5 provided. Not only did supporting cast members like Hardman deliver contributions for the first time all year, but Worthy got a career-high in targets and flashed his upside. Smith-Schuster stole the show with a vintage seven-catch, 130-yard performance that led all receivers. That, combined with a good game from tight end Travis Kelce, was more than enough to double the Saints' scoring output.

San Francisco's defense, while not what it was a season or two ago, is still quite good. Nick Sorensen's unit will be a more legitimate test to see where the Chiefs are at. With Smith-Schuster popping up on the injury report due to a hamstring ailment, this week isn't off to a great start.

Mahomes, for better or worse, seems to have the belief that this current group is enough to get Kansas City where they want to be anyway.

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