Richie James Could Soon See More Work in Chiefs’ Offense

The Kansas City Chiefs placed wide receiver Skyy Moore on the injured reserve list on Monday, effectively ending his regular season. With the second-year man out for at least the next four games, that opened up a spot that is expected to be filled by Justyn Ross now that his roster exemption is running out. From a pure roster math standpoint, the one-for-one swap makes things relatively easy for Kansas City.

With Ross's return bringing its own set of questions, however, it's worth wondering who will benefit from Moore's absence in the lineup. Mecole Hardman is a possibility, as the veteran wideout is now eligible to be designated to return from his own IR stint. Someone else to consider is offseason acquisition Richie James.

Don't believe it? Look no further than Reid's own comments on Monday. He admitted that after giving James just two snaps in Sunday's win over the New England Patriots, the number has to increase. 

“We’ll have to see on Ross just where that goes," Reid said. "I’ll get with (general manager Brett) Veach today, and we’ll go through all of that. Richie, though, has got to play more than two snaps, so that’s my responsibility on that. I didn’t have him in on enough stuff. He’s a good football player though."

It's been a wild season for James, who played 23 snaps in Week 1 but suffered an injury just one game later. He promptly spent an extended time on IR and even had trade buzz surrounding him at one point, leading many to believe that he wasn't in the team's plans anymore. Despite that, he's played a minor role on offense and special teams since his return in Week 12. In addition to being a return man, James has logged five targets and three receptions for 33 yards in his last three games. That production was the result of just 17 offensive snaps — could Reid be onto something?

One of the edges that James has on Ross is that he is a more versatile player within the offense. After logging 311 snaps in the slot and just 55 out wide a season ago, per Pro Football Focus, James's split in Kansas City is 19 to 23 in his six games played. James, while imperfect, is a more well-rounded receiver who doesn't have to be worked in during specific points in the game. The counterpoint is that Hardman, someone with more experience and proven success in the offense, has historically come close to splitting his time in the slot versus out wide. He offers more speed than anyone else, too.

A saving grace for anyone competing for reps in Kansas City's receiver room is that there are snaps for the taking. Moore logged 117 in his last month of play. James could occupy some of his vacated snaps moving forward. Elsewhere, Kadarius Toney's consistent pattern of mistakes makes him a candidate for a potentially reduced role. Hardman makes a ton of sense to eat into those reps. Ross is sort of the odd man out, although that's been the case all year.

Of course, maybe Reid's "got to play more than two snaps" sentiment just leads to a small jump. James played 11 snaps in Week 13, good for 17% of available reps. Would that suffice? The 28-year-old has caught a pass in each of his last three games and appears to bring a more stable floor to the table than someone like Ross or Toney. The ceiling isn't as high as Hardman, although he has yet to return to practice as of Tuesday. There's a path forward for James as a supporting piece behind Rashee Rice, Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, even if it's just barely breaking the double-digit snap mark. He's flashed on a lower clip than that.