The Chiefs fell short of a three-peat last season, and they are going into their last ride with Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes together by beefing up the lines and getting a cornerback. They used two depth picks on a receiver and a running back. Neither are particularly exciting for fantasy football (sorry), but since you clicked on the article, I suppose we should probably go over Jalen Royals and Brashard Smith.
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 32 | Josh Simmons | OT | Ohio State |
| 2 | 63 | Omarr Norman-Lott | DT | Tennessee |
| 3 | 66 | Ashton Gillotte | DE | Louisville |
| 3 | 85 | Nohl Williams | CB | California |
| 4 | 133 | Jalen Royals | WR | Utah State |
| 5 | 156 | Jeffrey Bassa | LB | Oregon |
| 7 | 228 | Brashard Smith | RB | SMU |
Round 4, Pick 133: Jalen Royals, Wide Receiver, Utah State (6’0″, 205 lbs)
TALENT
DOG. Jalen Royals has all the football psychopathy you would want from a dominant slot receiver in the NFL, like Amon-Ra St. Brown, except… he doesn’t play slot. At least, he didn’t at Utah State. It’s to be determined if this was because of a lack of two-way moves, the bag needed out of a slot receiver, or because Utah State preferred to utilize him on the boundaries. I love Royals’ game, as he attacks the catch point and plucks the football out of the air. Once he has the ball, he fights through arm tackles with ease and doesn’t dance with the ball. He decisively finds his spot and then moves upfield. Royals has excellent hands and regularly bailed out quarterbacks’ terrible throws by making them look competent.
His game has one glaring weakness: he does not work downfield without the ball. When Utah State had him go deep, it didn’t work out. He simply lacks the long speed to create separation and the size to make deep contested 50/50 balls work.
Royals is an intriguing prospect because we need the team that takes him to see the vision. If they keep him on the boundaries, he’s likely to get his lunch eaten by NFL competition. However, if a team sees a tough-nosed, 100-catch slot receiver in him, he should hit the ground running and have a highly productive career. Unfortunately, that is pure projection, as he did not manage the college slot. That bumps him down, but I like what I see from Royals… if a team can use him right.
NFL Comparison: Ladd McConkey/Rams’ Robert Woods
Pre-Draft Grade: 3rd Round
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
WR1 Rashee Rice
WR2 Xavier Worthy
WR3 Hollywood Brown
WR4 Jalen Royals
WR5 JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR6 Skyy Moore
Performance on the practice field won’t determine Royals’ role in 2025. He’s essentially a knock-off Rashee Rice, so if Rice ends up suspended for his off-field antics, then the Chiefs have a built-in handcuff in Royals. In that case, he should get plenty of opportunities to succeed, as Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy play entirely different roles in the offense.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Should Rice end up eating a suspension in 2025 (or if his knee injury doesn’t heal properly), then Royals might have short-term intrigue in redraft leagues. Once Rice returns, however, Rice has zero appeal.
Round 7, Pick 228: Brashard Smith, Running Back, SMU (5’10”, 194 lbs)
TALENT
Brashard Smith is another in a long line of wide receivers turned running backs. We’ve recently seen success stories like Antonio Gibson and Tyrone Tracy, but more often than not, you switch positions because you don’t play very well in any particular spot. We’ve seen the Brashard Smith story before: he’s a hyperathletic guy playing against questionable competition, who dominates because he’s fast and slippery. Unfortunately, his bag of tricks is nearly non-existent, though his wide receiver background makes him an intriguing PPR prospect for fantasy leagues. He’s likely the short side of a platoon at best to start his career, and is more likely to end up on a roster because of his special-teams prowess.
NFL Comparison: Matt Breida
Pre-Draft Grade: UDFA
2025 OPPORTUNITY
Depth Chart:
RB1 Isiah Pacheco
RB2 Kareem Hunt
RB3 Brashard Smith
Smith joins a running back room in flux, as Pacheco did not return to form after his leg injury last season, and Kareem Hunt, pass protection notwithstanding, did not have the same juice the previous season as in the past. Smith will start third on the depth chart, and he will likely have a role we have seen on this offense before: Jerick McKinnon occupied from 2021 to 2023. The Jerick McKinnon role is one where he could thrive, and it provides him with opportunities early in his career that might get him enough usage to carve out a bigger role that will allow him to leap Kareem Hunt on the depth chart.
2025 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Smith has intriguing fantasy football upside in PPR leagues, in the J.D. McKissic/Rachaad White PPR role. But, there’s also not a lot of stability in that depth chart. He could easily turn into what we hoped Jerick McKinnon would be. That makes him a nice depth pickup in deeper PPR leagues, or a speculative flier if his snap rate ticks upward in-season.
