Arrowheadlines: Jalen Royals has a similar skillset to Rashee Rice

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2025 NFL Draft Day 3 Picks Most Likely to Make Immediate Impact | Bleacher Report

Jalen Royals, Kansas City Chiefs WR

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to improve the wide receiver talent around quarterback Patrick Mahomes. This year, they took Utah State wideout Jalen Royals in the fourth round, a season after selecting Xavier Worthy in the first round and two years after drafting Rashee Rice.

Chiefs director of player personnel Ryne Nutt told reporters he believes Royals offers a similar skill set to Rice’s, saying, “His game is very similar to Rashee’s.”

Rice is an alignment-versatile receiver whom Andy Reid utilizes to create mismatches against the defense. The 6’0”, 195-pound Royals’ height and weight are close to the 6’1” Rice’s, but he is a better raw athlete, per their respective athletic testing numbers.

Rice missed the majority of the 2024 season due to an LCL injury. He may be limited to start this year as well. This opens the door for Royals.

His run-after-catch abilities can be amplified inside this Chiefs offense. If the opportunities arise, Royals’ talent is there to make a lasting impact.

2025 NFL season: Lions, Eagles among most vulnerable reigning division champions | NFL.com

7 – Kansas City Chiefs

AFC West · 2024 record: 15-2

The Chiefs have won their division a staggering nine seasons in a row, and last year they won it by four games. So why are they not the least vulnerable? Well, bluntly, the other teams in the AFC West appear to be more of a challenge than the other teams in the AFC East. The Chargers and Broncos both made the playoffs last season as wild cards, Los Angeles after a significant first-year turnaround under coach Jim Harbaugh and Denver with a successful rookie season from quarterback Bo Nix. The Raiders, now with Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith, should also be vastly improved. I can’t pick against a team that features Andy Reid, Steve Spagnuolo and Patrick Mahomes, though. Maybe the Chiefs will wind up with a few more losses than they had last season (two) because the division games should be much tougher. But four games is still a wide margin, and as long as Mahomes is upright, the Chiefs will cast a long shadow.

NFL 2025 standings predictions: Division-by-division picks | Touchdown Wire

Kansas City Chiefs: 14-3 (1)

Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8

Denver Broncos: 8-9

Las Vegas Raiders: 8-9

The Chiefs aren’t going anywhere, despite what fans of every other team in the division seem to think/try to manifest. As long as Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are there, the Chiefs will be on top.

Jim Harbaugh wants to play offense like it’s 1964, which will only take the Chargers so far. They could be a playoff team, but their ceiling is low.

Denver’s defense will be one of the best in the league, but the offense will take a step back with a lack of top weapons.

Must-watch game for every NFL team during the 2025 regular season | The Athletic

Kansas City Chiefs: vs. Ravens, Week 4

Lamar Jackson vs. Patrick Mahomes. It’s a heavyweight bout between two of the best quarterbacks of this generation, and it’s a potential AFC Championship Game preview. Mahomes is 4-1 against Jackson, including the 2023 AFC title game in Baltimore. We won’t argue if you’d prefer the Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles in Week 2, a visit from the Lions in Week 6 or a trip to Buffalo in Week 9. — Mike Jones

2008 NFL Redraft: Rebuilding the first round based on PFF grades and data | PFF

5. Kansas City Chiefs: G Josh Sitton, UCF (Round 4, Pick 135)

Original Pick: DI Glenn Dorsey, LSU

Sitton played significant snaps at left guard and right guard with Green Bay, Chicago and Miami during his NFL career. The former fourth-round pick earned at least a 76.7 PFF overall grade in every season from 2009 to 2017. That included a run of four straight years in which he earned a PFF pass-blocking grade above 90.0.

Sitton was also a crucial piece of the Packers’ Super Bowl run during the 2010 season. He did not allow a sack all year and was Green Bay’s highest-graded player in the Super Bowl aside from Aaron Rodgers.

2025 NFL schedule breakdown: One good thing and one bad thing every team will face this season | CBS Sports

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs

One good thing for the Chiefs: The Chiefs have gone 20-4 in divisional games over the past four years, which means they’ll probably be thrilled to see that they close the season with three divisional games over the final four weeks. They’ll face the Chargers (Week 15) and Broncos (Week 17) at home before hitting the road to face the Raiders in Week 18. Another thing to like is that the Chiefs get four of their most difficult games (Eagles, Ravens, Lions, Commanders) at home, where they went 8-0 last season.

One bad thing for the Chiefs: We should find out pretty quickly this year if anyone can actually beat the Chiefs and that’s because they’ll be playing three games in their first four weeks against teams that made the playoffs last season. After heading to Brazil in Week 1 to face the Chargers, they have to fly back for a Super Bowl rematch against the Eagles in Week 2. A Week 3 matchup with the Giants could be a trap game for a Chiefs team that will have to turn around and face the Ravens in Week 4.

Around the NFL

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel: ‘Why the (expletive) would I care about what happened last year?’ | NFL.com

Last year’s dud, an uninspiring 4-13 performance, cost coach Jerod Mayo his job after just one season. In steps Mike Vrabel, a three-time Super Bowl champion as a player, to turn things around.

The no-nonsense coach expressed his thoughts on last year’s dismal season in the first episode of “Forged in Foxborough,” produced by the team.

“Why the f— would I care about what happened last year?” Vrabel said. “I’m worried about what’s going to go right today and tomorrow and the next day. We’re not worried about what went wrong. We’re focused on what’s going to go right.”

The Patriots overhauled the roster this offseason, shelling out bucks to upgrade a laboring defense and bringing in necessary improvements on offense. New England outbid everyone for defensive lineman Milton Williams, signed physical corner Carlton Davis and added veterans Harold Landry and Robert Spillane on D. The Pats signed Morgan Moses and Garrett Bradbury to upgrade the offensive line and used their first-round pick on left tackle Will Campbell. They also took a flier on receiver Stefon Diggs on a team-friendly contract.

Eagles reward coach Nick Sirianni with multiyear extension | ESPN

Terms of the extension were not disclosed.

“As an organization, we have always strived to create a championship culture of sustained success,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “Nothing is more important to fostering such an environment than having tremendous leadership. Nick has embodied everything we were looking for in a head coach since we hired him four years ago. His authentic style of leadership, football intelligence, passion for the game, and growth mindset have helped to bring out the best in our team. I am excited for what the future holds for the Philadelphia Eagles.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs Roster: Trent McDuffie named to PFF ‘25 under 25’ list

5. CB TRENT MCDUFFIE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

McDuffie went from being a top-five nickel cornerback in PFF overall grade for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense in 2023 to a top-five outside cornerback in 2024. He is the NFL’s highest-graded cornerback since 2023 (89.7).

McDuffie has earned an 89.4 PFF coverage grade since entering the league in 2022, which is a top-five mark among all cornerbacks and makes him the only one in the top 10 to have spent more than 25% of their career snaps in the slot.

Takeaway

The Chiefs struck gold in landing McDuffie, who has managed to play at an elite level on his rookie contract. Only four players — Detroit Lions tackle Penei Sewell (No. 1), Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (No. 2), Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton (No. 3) and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (No. 4) — were listed ahead of McDuffie.

The Chiefs are expected to turn their attention to extensions for both McDuffie and defensive end George Karlaftis after ideally finalizing a long-term deal with franchise-tagged right guard Trey Smith. Kansas City exercised fifth-year options for both McDuffie and Karlaftis in late April.

Speaking of Karlaftis, he was snubbed for the second year in a row. The former Purdue pass rusher followed his 10.5-sack season in 2023 with 8.0 in 2024 — and PFF listed him with 76 quarterback pressures, fifth in the NFL among edge rushers in 2024.