Chiefs OC Matt Nagy raves about new wide receivers

SAINT JOSEPH, Mo. — Every year there’s competition in the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver room.

With the luxury of having a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs draft young receivers and bring in veterans for steady production.

This season is no different.

With a WR core that’s currently led by the sidelined Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore and Justin Watson as the returners, a lot of hype surrounds the unknown.

Will Moore take the next step in his career, will Justyn Ross contribute or even make the roster? The questions continue.

A dark horse candidate is veteran Richie James who makes his mark in the slot and as a returner on special teams.

And offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has good things to say about the savvy 27-year-old.

“You can tell he’s been in other offenses. You can tell he’s been in this league,” Nagy said.

“They understand the defense. They know when to speed up their route. They know when to slow down their route. They know how to play in zone. He’s got that. You also have to have that confidence, and I’m excited to see what he does this preseason.”

Nagy also had positive things to say about all of the receivers, specifically Ross, a second-year receiver who’s really a rookie. Ross spent his rookie season on injured reserve rehabbing a foot injury.

“He’s one that’s a bigger wide receiver, but when you watch him, he really excels at route running,” Nagy said.

“So last year, it was almost kind of treated like a redshirt year for him. Mentally being in the meetings, now physically coming back out here and doing what we’re doing what we said is learning his timing for Pat to understand how he runs routes and for him to understand how to run the routes. So it’s going to be immense growth for him in a good way.”

For rookie Rashee Rice (and any rookie), Nagy compares learning the Chiefs’ offense to drinking water of a fire hydrant because there’s much to learn at once.

“Came in phenomenal shape here to this training camp and I think every day he’s made incremental improvements,” Nagy said.

And another player that Nagy speaks highly of is tight end Matt Bushman. He’s been consistently catching balls and beating coverages all offseason.

“Guy doesn’t drop the football, and he’s always in the right spot at the right time,” Nagy said. “We say he’s just slow enough.”