The Kansas City Chiefs are trying to do something no team has ever done: win three straight Super Bowls.
The rest of the NFL is trying to stop them.
Here are the key elements of the Chiefs’ success, which will again play a role in their quest — and could provide clues to how other teams can unseat the kings of the NFL.
Other stories in series: How past 3-peat bids failed | Steve Spagnuolo’s crucial role | What will Chiefs do if Travis Kelce hits wall?
The Kansas City Chiefs trying to win an unprecedented three straight Super Bowl titles is one of the stories of the year. Everyone knows they have the quarterback and coaching to do it, but now they’ll be relying on some new faces to help them achieve that goal as well.
Andy Reid’s playbook is one of the most complex in the entire NFL, and notoriously difficult for rookies to pick up, especially wide receivers. But general manager Brett Veach has drafted well the past few years, and receiver Rashee Rice played an integral role as a rookie last season in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl championship.
Here are four offensive rookies to keep an eye on as the Chiefs get ready to defend their throne for the second straight season.
The Chiefs’ 2024 first-round pick is going to play a huge role in helping them try to get back to the Super Bowl and pull off the sacred three-peat. Xavier Worthy has concerns surrounding his frame and how being 165 pounds will translate to the NFL, but the speed that he has can’t be replicated by any other Chiefs wide receiver, and the deep threat he presents showed up in training camp and preseason. If he can just perform like an average NFL wide receiver, that would be a huge boost to a Chiefs offense that had to slog through actively hazardous wide receiver play last season.
Worthy, along with offseason addition Hollywood Brown and the returning Rice, is hoping to be the “real” receiver that the Chiefs were missing last year. With Patrick Mahomes onboard, no one is asking Worthy to be a world beater. Just be better than the last guys. That should be an attainable goal for a rookie that will set him up to be a big time contributor for the long haul.
Upside, upside, upside is the name of the day when it comes to Kingsley Suamataia, the Chiefs’ second-round pick last spring. Suamatia is a bit raw, but he’s going to have the runway to learn and harness his athletic gifts with Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck, who is regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in the league. Suamataia is going to immediately open as the Chiefs’ left tackle and it might look rough at times, but it’s hard to find 330 pounders that are as athletic as he is.
Like Worthy, in a world where Mahomes is the quarterback, there’s a greater room for error than other rookies. It would be great if Suamataia was a shutdown left tackle from day one, but that might not be feasible considering he was nearly a third-round pick. Still, the upside is here for the Chiefs to have one of the best offensive tackles in the league if he’s able to develop on the right timeline.
Jared Wiley could be the gem of the Chiefs’ draft class when all is said and done. The former TCU tight end, selected in the fourth round, doesn’t have the path to a whole bunch of snaps right now with future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce still on the roster, but he’s a really good athlete for a player of his size (6-foot-6, 249 pounds) and should be able to make an impact in limited reps.
This is more of a stash pick that can pay off dividends in the future, but even in a spell role, Wiley should be able to show off the athleticism that made him an early Day 3 draft pick.
No one really had this guy pegged for a role in the Chiefs’ offense prior to the season, but it appears that undrafted free running back Carson Steele will be actually playing for the Chiefs roster — not just on the team. After running for 87 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries in the preseason, Steele found himself with a secure spot on the Chiefs’ 53-man roster.
Not only that, but he’s currently the second running back on the Chiefs’ depth chart with Clyde Edwards-Helaire slated to miss the first four games of the regular season. Who knows if Steele can make an actual impact, but his tape in the preseason was good enough for him to be here. The Chiefs’ running game could use a huge boost after a rough 2023 season and Steele might be the guy to do that. At the very least, he’s a new option to try in the backfield.