Dispatches have been coming out of Chiefs camp in all forms of media, like Bigfoot sightings from the wilderness: I saw the Chiefs throwing the deep ball today. And lest anyone doubt them, HC Andy Reid took the opportunity to punctuate this expected staple of the offense, dialing up Alex Smith to Jeremy Maclin right out of the preseason gate. Much to the liking of his quarterback and wide receiver tandem.
"(Reid) came to us and said, 'This is what we're going to do,'" Smith said.
Spend a few days watching the Chiefs and you will see some evidence that Smith and Maclin have an exciting connection. A bond that is typically tough to come by for wide receivers reeled in via free agency, then tossed into a soup of new offensive terminology and concepts.
"It may not be bombs over Baghdad every play," Maclin said of the Chiefs' offense. "But is that something we can do? Do we want to do more of it? Yes, we do."
Maclin was the #9 wide receiver in both standard and PPR formats last season, though he faded down the stretch. Now he’ll have Smith as his quarterback and should dominate the targets along with up-and-coming TE Travis Kelce. Reid is very familiar with Maclin, so we would expect his transition to be a smooth one, though this is a system downgrade. Maclin averaged 4.6 catches for 61 yards and 0.50 TD (solid WR2-type numbers) from 2010-2012, while playing for Reid. One concern: Chiefs’ WR1 Dwayne Bowe only averaged 6.3 T/G in 2014, while Maclin averaged 9.0 T/G for the Eagles. Maclin is a much better player, so the Chiefs should target him more than they did Bowe, but it’s something to weigh when evaluating his fantasy value.
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