Chiefs rookie could reach first real goals of season after Jody Fortson injury

In recent years, success has kept the Kansas City Chiefs from returning home.

Last postseason, the Chiefs won their second straight Super Bowl for a number of reasons – a legendary head coach, the best player in the game at quarterback, the best defense in the world – but part of the offense’s success in the NFL playoffs was based on the team’s ability to make big plays. with your staff.

In Chiefs parlance, the package is called “Rhino” and is a 13-man package (meaning 1 running back with 3 tight ends). If the Chiefs want to expand to 14 personnel (and add another tight end), it’s called a T-Rex. Either way, it can be a matchup nightmare in the right situation, and the Chiefs have found this grouping to be quite helpful along the way.

A year ago, it made sense for the Chiefs to advance to a higher level in the playoffs. The wide receiving corps has been pathetic all season, so any way to minimize reliance on a disappointing unit is a wise path. The game also becomes more physical as the weather gets colder. In those situations, a guy like Noah Gray is more likely to have more success than someone like Devon Wiley in certain situations. (A tip for die-hard Chiefs fans on this one.)

The Chiefs are taking things to the next level this season. In 2023, the Chiefs were already well above the league average, having 13 personnel in 7.1% of all games (more than double the NFL average of 3.2%). However, they took things up a notch in 2024 to 16.1% while the NFL average remained the same.

The Chiefs demonstrated this with a couple of moves this offseason. First, they unexpectedly locked up Noah Gray for several years while others like linebacker Nick Bolton and defensive end Trey Smith were still waiting. Second, they selected tight end Jared Wiley out of TCU in the fourth round of this spring’s NFL Draft.

Most recently, they even re-signed Jody Fortson after he couldn’t stick with the Miami Dolphins after leaving for South Florida as a free agent. From that point on, the Chiefs began experimenting with the T. rex and relying on 14 men. Unfortunately, Fortson was sidelined after just three games upon his return to Arrowhead due to a serious leg injury.

While the stats are minimal, Fortson has earned at least three hits during his time with the Chiefs, while any hitting for Wylie is still up in the air. The rookie has the only target on his resume, a 7-yard catch in Week 2, despite playing in every game in 2024. In fact, Wiley has already played on 20 percent of all offensive snaps. never sees the target.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see if that changes for the Chiefs. The trust on Wiley’s part is clearly not there yet, and other targets are obviously in play given the limited snaps he gets. But given his playing time, it makes sense that he would score at least 1-2 goals per game instead of the zeros that occupy the stat sheet week after week.

As the second half of the season approaches and Fortson gets better, it will be interesting to see if Wylie becomes a secondary target for the Chiefs at all in larger offensive packages. The ball skills have always been there—he had 47 catches for 520 yards and eight scores at TCU last year—and now it’s about improving his technique and refining his game to make sure he’s an asset no matter what he throws at him. the game presents. .