Kansas City Chiefs free agent WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling has emerged as a favorite target for Patrick Mahomes during the course of the offseason program.
The Chiefs are looking to replace the production lost from receivers Tyreek Hill, Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson. One player who figures to be a big part of that in 2022 is Valdes-Scantling. The former Green Bay Packer is off to a hot start in Kansas City, building near-instant chemistry with his new quarterback. That chemistry has been palpable, showing up in the form of some big plays on the practice field during OTAs and mandatory minicamp.
“I think he’s done a great job of learning the offense really fast and making plays when his number has been called,” Mahomes said of Valdes-Scantling as minicamp concluded. “He’s a smart guy, so you can see why he’s able to pick up stuff so fast. He has a good feel for everything. Especially there in the earlier part, we had a couple of guys a little banged up, and he got a lot of reps and made a lot of plays. When you do that and the other guys come back, you have that confidence that he can make those plays.”
Valdes-Scantling has benefited from getting repetitions while players like Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore were banged up early in the offseason program. He also benefited from getting out to work with Patrick Mahomes down in Texas before the offseason program even began. The chemistry they began to develop in terms of timing has now paid off in the form of trust. It’s allowing the two to connect on some exciting plays in practice.
“You saw a couple down the sideline where it was one-on-one and I just threw it up and let him make a play and he did,” Mahomes said. “That’s a good thing to see and hopefully it carries on into training camp and into the season.”
The Chiefs signed Valdes-Scantling to a three-year contract back in March. Hopefully, they can carry this newfound connection through training camp when the pads come on as Mahomes says, but also into the season and beyond. He could quickly emerge as a big-play threat in an offense that is needing a new one at the receiver position.
