Chiefs projected WR depth chart after DeAndre Hopkins trade: Patrick Mahomes gets a new No. 1 target

Finally, the Kansas City Chiefs got their man. While the magic of Patrick Mahomes and one of the league's stingiest defenses have propelled the two-time defending Super Bowl champs to an impressive 6-0 start this season, it's been clear for weeks that this team was in desperate need of some help at wide receiver. The Hollywood Brown signing never got off the ground due to injury, and while Xavier Worthy has flashed explosive ability at times during his rookie season, he's also been as inconsistent as you'd expect a first-year player to be. When No. 1 target Rashee Rice went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 4, a clear need became a full-blown crisis.

The Chiefs didn't seem to be in any rush, finding ways to beat the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers despite a passing game that could hardly get off the ground. But after AFC rivals in New York and Buffalo each landed star wideouts, Andy Reid and Co. finally made their move, sending a conditional fourth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for DeAndre Hopkins.

At 32 years old, Hopkins isn't quite the dominant force he was in his prime with the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. But he's also got much more left in the tank than his paltry numbers this season in Tennessee (15 catches for 173 yards and one TD) would suggest. The Titans have possibly the worst QB situation the league, so it's hardly fair to judge Hopkins by his production in that context. The three-time first-team All-Pro is still a legitimate ball-winner on the outside, and he gives this receiver room something it desperately needed: Someone who Mahomes can feed the ball to when everything else breaks down.

Kansas City Chiefs WR depth chart after DeAndre Hopkins trade

Hopkins will immediately slide into the WR1 role in this Chiefs offense; all due respect to the JuJu Smith-Schuster renaissance, there's no one else on this roster who can combine Hopkins' route-running ability with his ability to reel in contested catches in tight coverage. Hopkins also allows Kansas City's secondary weapons to slide into roles for which they're better suited, allowing Smith-Schuster to move over to the other outside spot while Xavier Worthy gets to play exclusively in the slot — a position in which he excelled in college at Texas.

It should also allow Chiefs fans to see a lot less of players like Justin Watson, sure to be good news after how the last couple of weeks have gone. Watson and Skyy Moore will be depth options on the outside for Kansas City, with Mecole Hardman serving as the understudy for Worthy in the slot (and seeing the field on his customary gadget plays that Reid loves to draw up).

Hopkins isn't a superstar anymore, but on this team he won't need to be; Mahomes and Reid atone for a lot of sins, as does a Steve Spagnuolo defense. The Chiefs just needed somebody who could soak up some volume at better efficiency than the likes of Smith-Schuster and Watson, an option for Mahomes to rely on when he needs a third-down conversion. Don't expect his target share to skyrocket, especially early as he builds the all-important mind meld withi Mahomes, but do expect him to have a huge impact on this offense's ability to stay on the field and free up space for Worthy and Travis Kelce.