The Kansas City Chiefs will enter the NFL season with significant concerns in the wide receiver room. Rashee Rice's impending suspension threatens to leave the Chiefs shorthanded yet again. A fully healthy Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy will give Patrick Mahomes plenty of long-range targets, but the depth of this unit feels far too dependent on aging vets and a fourth-round rookie in Jalen Royals.
That said, one of those aging vets is making waves at training camp, raising the morale in Kansas City quite a bit. It's a familiar face in JuJu Smith-Schuster, who played some of his best football during the Chiefs' 2022 Super Bowl run.
"Juju has quietly looked good throughout camp," writes Nick Roesch of A to Z Sports on X. "Maybe a full and healthy offseason did him some good."
Juju has quietly looked good throughout camp. Maybe a full and healthy offseason did him some good. https://t.co/eRGoY1qn5w
— Nick Roesch (@Nicolas_Roesch) July 27, 2025
This is precisely what Chiefs fans want to hear. Smith-Schuster was once a Pro Bowl wideout, viewed by many as a potential superstar in his early days with Pittsburgh. His stock has since plummeted, but he put up 933 yards and three touchdowns in 2022 as one of Mahomes' go-to intermediate targets. If he can get anywhere close to that level of production, Chiefs fans would be over the moon.
As for New England Patriots fans? Well, it wouldn't feel great.
JuJu Smith-Schuster has Patriots fans dreading breakout season with Chiefs
Smith-Schuster parlayed his Super Bowl-winning success in Kansas City into a three-year, $25.5 million contract with the Patriots in 2023. It went catastrophically bad. We can't blame him for the instability of the Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe QB room, but Smith-Schuster quickly plummeted from a projected WR1 to a fringe piece in New England's offense. He finished the campaign with 11 appearances (seven starts), tallying 29 catches for 260 yards and a single touchdown. He averaged only 9.0 yards per reception.
The short-to-intermediate range has always been Smith-Schuster's bread and butter, but he looked a step slow throughout his all-too-brief Patriots tenure. He had negative chemistry with the quarterbacks and couldn't gain separation on any routes. That led New England to swiftly hit to eject button, with Smith-Schuster heading back to the Chiefs in 2024.
Last season was much of the same for Smith-Schuster, who has dealt with more than his fair share of injuries. He was limited to 14 games (eight starts) due to a hamstring injury and finished the campaign with only 18 catches for 231 yards. Now the hope is that he's healthy and reinvigorated going into his age-28 season.
JuJu Smith-Schuster has a clear path to significant targets in Kansas City
This isn't necessarily a good thing, but the path to significant reps and targets for Smith-Schuster is wide open. Rice's suspension will wipe out Kansas City's best slot receiver, potentially leading to weekly starts for Smith-Schuster to begin the campaign. His primary competition for touches is a notorious draft bust in Skyy Moore and a rookie in Jalen Royals.
Barring an unexpected development in camp, Smith-Schuster is better positioned to succeed than he has been in years. There is long-established chemistry with Mahomes, who is still the game's best quarterback when push comes to shove. As Travis Kelce declines, Mahomes' signature improvised passes over the middle will become more and more available to Smith-Schuster. Worthy and Brown will take the lid off the defense and stretch the field up the sidelines; Smith-Schuster can slice a defense right down the gullet.
A Smith-Schuster breakout would be widely celebrated in Kansas City and received with intense bitterness in Foxboro, where he never created much goodwill. It is what it is. The Chiefs know what it's like for a veteran wideout to find his second wind next to the three-time Super Bowl MVP under center.