Chiefs depth chart: 3 backup plans after missing on DeAndre Hopkins

After DeAndre Hopkins decided to sign with the Titans instead of waiting for the Chiefs, Kansas City can go a different direction at wide receiver.

The DeAndre Hopkins saga is over. After much speculation, the former All-Pro is now set to be a Titan.

Where does that leave a suitor like the Chiefs?

There’s a good reason Kansas City was linked over and over the Hopkins, who would have been a No. 1 option in a Chiefs receiving corps full of uncertainty. His decision to sign with Tennessee leaves Andy Reid and company with some tricky decisions to make.

No. 3 backup plan for the Chiefs after missing on DeAndre Hopkins: Stay put

To start with, the Chiefs may be content going through training camp with the unproven group currently on the roster.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling leads a corps that also includes last year’s trade pick up Kadarius Toney, 2022 second-round draft pick Skyy Moore and 2023 second-round pick Rashee Rice, along with a host of bodies with limited or no pro experience or production.

Last year, the Chiefs got by with a sort of wide receiver by committee. Travis Kelce led the team in receiving while the combination of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Valdes-Scantling and a host of others filled in the rest.

Smith-Schuster is gone but high hopes for Moore, Toney and Rice could justify those three existing targets replacing his 78 receptions, 933 yards and three touchdowns without needing any new additions.

Hopkins was a special opportunity for the Chiefs. There is no true alternative, so don’t missing on him may mean staying put and keeping an eye out for the next special opportunity that arises.