{"id":21672,"date":"2025-04-29T16:17:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=21672"},"modified":"2025-04-29T16:17:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T16:17:42","slug":"breaking-the-chiefs-love-after-the-catch-ability-shown-by-jalen-royals-and-brashard-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=21672","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: The Chiefs love after-the-catch ability shown by Jalen Royals and Brashard Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kansas City\u2019s head of scouting discussed the team\u2019s new wide receiver and running back on Monday.<\/p>\n

Although the Kansas City Chiefs largely focused on the linemen and defense in last weekend\u2019s NFL Draft, the team did add two offensive playmakers on Day 3.<\/p>\n

In the fourth round, the Chiefs used the 133rd pick to select Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals \u2014 and then closed out their draft by trading up in Round 7 to take SMU running back Brashard Smith with the 228th pick.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs\u2019 director of player personnel and college scouting Ryne Nutt discussed both selections during Monday\u2019s media session.<\/p>\n

Jalen Royals<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"The <\/picture> <\/span> Photo by Derick E. Hingle\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

Nutt believes Royals is similar to third-year wideout Rashee Rice, who was headed to stardom before a serious knee injury a month into last season \u2014 particularly in their run-after-the-catch (RAC) ability. In 2024, Royals was also off to a monster start before a ligament sprain ended his season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I say he\u2019s like Rashee,\u201d Nutt explained, \u201che has big hands \u2014 strong hands \u2014 and he\u2019s very good after the catch. You saw him downfield in some of those clips. The kid had seven 50 [yard] plus touchdowns in 2023. He was on pace in 2024 to smash the 2023 production before he got injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cRAC is a big part [of] our offense. That\u2019s something we look for in our receiver. We look for speed; the kid had that. We look for strength. He has that. He\u2019s got RAC. And we look at route running. That\u2019s probably an area where Rashee had to develop a little bit. So, we kind of thought they were similar in that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royals got the team\u2019s attention at the Senior Bowl \u2014 and also at the NFL Scouting Combine.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes to the Senior Bowl,\u201d Nutt recalled of Royals, \u201cand we thought he did well. He got even more on the radar. He goes to the Combine, and he runs a 4.40 [40-yard dash]. He jumps a 36 [inch vertical]. We\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, this kid\u2019s explosive.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get the coaches involved, and we Zoom with them and we talk, and we\u2019re like, \u2018We could use this kid.\u2019 With Rashee coming back from injury and trying to get right, the hopes are this kid can step in and get some playing time and help us out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutt seemed unconcerned with Royals\u2019 main scouting concern: being used almost exclusively on one side of the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how some offenses in college work,\u201d observed Nutt. \u201cThey want to go fast, so they will have the receiver line up on the same side every time to do that. You\u2019re wondering, \u2018Alright, he\u2019s always playing on the left side, is he going to be able to move around?\u2019 And he does. He plays outside, but he primarily plays inside in the slot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brashard Smith<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"The <\/picture> <\/span> Photo by George Walker\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

Although the Chiefs defied expectations by waiting until the last round before taking a running back, Nutt said that happened because of how the board fell. But he still thinks the team was fortunate to snag Smith late in the draft \u2014 and has no doubt head coach Andy Reid\u2019s staff will find ways to use him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had him higher on our board than where we took him,\u201d Nutt said of Smith. \u201cThat\u2019s when you start to consider trading \u2014 when a guy\u2019s there that you have higher on your board and you feel like, \u2018Listen, what you\u2019ll give up is peanuts compared to what we think we\u2019ll get.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this kid \u2014 if he comes in and he hammers this playbook… our coaches are super excited about the kid, and they will find ways to get this kid on the field. Whether it\u2019s in a third-down role, an all-down role or whatever they decide \u2014 the kid will play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith spent most of his college days as a reserve wideout at Miami (FL). After following offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee to SMU, he converted to running back and broke out with 1,659 scrimmage yards in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn college,\u201d Nutt noted, \u201che played receiver \u2014 and he didn\u2019t play a ton. I remember them talking about this is the next guy up, and it just never happened there in Miami. Rhett Lashlee coached him when he was there in Miami and brought him over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s reinvention was inspired by Kansas City running back Isiah Pacheco.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Lashlee] tells a story that he was watching Pacheco and the Chiefs and thought, \u2018Man, I think Brashard could be like this,\u2019\u201d said Nutt. \u201cHats off to them. They moved him to the position \u2014 and in one year of production, he had 1,300 [rushing] yards. That\u2019s super impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutt actually compared Smith to a less popular Chief: former wide receiver Kadarius Toney. However, he believes Smith will thrive in Toney\u2019s \u201cwide-back\u201d role because he is so dangerous with the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Kadarius gets beat up sometimes,\u201d Nutt admitted. \u201cBut when Kadarius had the ball in his hand, his RAC and the things he could do with it in terms of his balance and strength and his feet and his feel \u2014 this kid [has] similar ability to that. When he has the ball in his hands \u2014 whether it\u2019s as a runner or catching the ball \u2014 he can do some silly things in terms of what he can set up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re really excited. Now, he has to come in and pick everything up and there has to be a comfort level that he knows what he\u2019s doing. But talent-wise, there\u2019s no reason that this kid shouldn\u2019t help us at some point in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kansas City\u2019s head of scouting discussed the team\u2019s new wide receiver and running back on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: The Chiefs love after-the-catch ability shown by Jalen Royals and Brashard Smith - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=21672\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: The Chiefs love after-the-catch ability shown by Jalen Royals and Brashard Smith - 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