Rookie WR Jalen Royals reminds Chiefs of Rashee Rice

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs initial interest in drafting wide receiver Jalen Royals happened because of his playmaking ability in college. Royals had 21 touchdowns and a healthy 15.2-yards per catch average in 20 games over his final two seasons at Utah State.

The more they looked at Royals, the more they saw additional qualities that reminded them of one of their own leading wide receivers, Rashee Rice.

“His game is very similar to Rashee’s,” director of player personnel Ryne Nutt said after the Chiefs drafted Royals in April in the fourth round. “He’s got big hands, strong hands, and he’s very good after the catch.

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“[Run after the catch] is a big part of our offense. That’s something we look for in receivers. We look for speed. The kid had that 4.40 [40-yard dash at the scouting combine]. We look for strength, and he has that. Then we look for route running and that’s probably an area where Rashee had to kind of develop a little bit, so we kind of thought they were similar in that respect.”

The Chiefs failed to get many big passing plays last season. One reason was the loss of Rice early in the year because of a knee injury. They are expecting Rice back as part of a veteran group of wide receivers that also includes Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

That doesn’t necessarily eliminate the chances of Royals getting playing time as a rookie.

“He can make an impact immediately,” said Greg Castillo, the Chiefs’ western regional scout. “The [run-after-catch] ability stands out, and that was through his three years at Utah State. He can separate with the short route and he can separate with the intermediate route. He’s got a ton of versatility.

“That’s the beauty about this player is the pure versatility. He can beat a guy off press coverage [or] he can run right by you. When the ball is in his hands, he can run right through you.”

Rice was leading the NFL with 24 receptions through the first three games last season before his knee injury. He was also the leader in yards after the catch at the time with 185.

The Chiefs missed his ability to take a short pass and turn it into a long gain. They may have another option for that in Royals, who had more than half of his 834 receiving yards last season after the catch.

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“Just trying to add a couple yards after the catch has definitely been a factor in my game,” Royals said. “I played running back growing up. I’m used to getting yards after contact. Maybe 3 yards each catch could be helpful.”

The Chiefs didn’t necessarily enter the draft looking for a wide receiver with skills similar to those of Rice. They drafted a wide receiver in the top two rounds in each of the three previous years, including Rice in 2023 and Worthy last year.

Those picks, plus the offseason signings of Brown and Smith-Schuster, gave the Chiefs a solid start in building a depth chart at wide receiver. But when the fourth round came around and Royals was available, the Chiefs couldn’t resist.

“We watched his tape before the Senior Bowl [and thought], ‘Hey, this guy’s kind of interesting,”’ Nutt said. “Then he goes to the Senior Bowl and we thought he did well so he got even more on the radar. Then he goes to the combine and runs a 4.40 and he jumps a 36 [inch broad jump] and we’re like, ‘Oh, this kid’s explosive.’ Then you get the kind of coaches involved and we Zoom him, and we talk and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we could use this kid.’

“With Rashee coming back from injury and trying to get right, the hopes are this kid can step in and try to get some playing time and help us out.”