Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs.
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The Kansas City Chiefs had a difficult 2025-26 season, but it's not all bad news. Patrick Mahomes and the team have some positives.
The Kansas City Chiefs watched their offense sputter in 2025 as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, leaving a looming need this offseason.
The team’s once explosive wide receiving corps brought only mixed results, and one of their best players faces a big question mark as the next season approaches. One analyst believes that the position has become an area of concern for the team, which could impact quarterback Patrick Mahomes in his return from a season-ending injury.
Chiefs Need to Find Help for Patrick Mahomes
SI.com writer Caden Letsche identified the three biggest positions of need for the Chiefs, putting wide receiver among them. Letsche warned that the team needs to spend some draft capital, or could see the offense further grounded in 2026.
“Mahomes needs another draft prospect that can allow him to feel more comfortable in the pocket,” Letsche wrote. “The past couple years it looked like the Chiefs couldn’t always trust their young wide receiver core to make a play when it mattered most. It would be a shock if Kansas City didn’t draft another receiver.”
The need could become even more urgent if top receiver Rashee Rice faces further NFL punishment after being accused of domestic violence by a longtime partner. Rice was hit with a six-game suspension in 2025 related to felony convictions for a street-racing incident, and the league could choose to suspend him again, even though he faces no charges from the latest allegations.
The good news, Letsche shared, is that this is considered a deep draft for wide receivers both in the first round and beyond.
“There are plenty of options to choose from in the draft,” Letsche wrote. “There are players like Jordyn Tyson in the first round, or they can look at an Eric McAlister in the later rounds if they want a guy that has size and reliable hands.”
Chiefs Could Find WR Help in Draft
Bleacher Report predicted the Chiefs would use their first-round draft pick to address the receiving corps, identifying the team as a top landing spot for Notre Dame wide receiver Malachi Fields.
The report noted that Fields could add an important size element that would be an asset for Mahomes. The Chiefs have lacked proper size in their wide receiving corps, though tight end Travis Kelce more than made up for it.
“The 23-year-old would be a great fit in Kansas City, where speedy receivers like Rice and Worthy could create space on underneath routes for him to work,” the report noted. “He’d also give Mahomes a legitimate go-to possession receiver aside from Travis Kelce. Fields could continue being that gotta-have-it target after the 36-year-old Kelce decides to call it a career.”
The Chiefs did get some good news when Kelce officially decided to return, signing a three-year contract this week with the expectation that he could retire after this season. Kelce’s presence could help a player like Fields develop without the pressure of becoming a top target.