The Kansas City Chiefs may not have a so-called “superstar” on their receiving squad (yet), but they might have one of the deepest WR corps during the Patrick Mahomes era.
While the top six or seven-ish receivers are likely locked in, there’s still some high-quality competition on the back end of the WR depth chart. Among those competing at a high level is third-year wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who finished Saturday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals with four catches, 92 yards, and a touchdown.
59 of Smith-Marsette’s 92 yards came on a touchdown drive led by Chiefs backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Smith-Marsette earned his touchdown the hard way on that drive, getting open on a short route and breaking a tackle on his way for six:
.@_ihmirr_ bounces off a defender and flips in for 6️⃣
📱: Stream #KCvsAZ on #NFLPlus https://t.co/L9mPiySmuK pic.twitter.com/InJYU6rK2i
— NFL (@NFL) August 20, 2023
After the game, Smith-Marsette noted that it was all instincts that led him to the score.
“I just heard the play call,” he said. “The corner was outside leverage. I just used one of my little tricks that I work on when I’m running that route. It worked. The deep safety was just too far inside and there was no way he was going to get to it and (Chiefs quarterback) Blaine (Gabbert) put a great ball in the air and all I had to do was just finish it and make the catch.”
Due to the talent on the Chiefs’ WR squad, there probably isn’t much room for Smith-Marsette on the 53-man roster. But following an impressive outing combined with his special teams skills, it seems likely that Smith-Marsette will be scouted by other NFL teams come cut day. And, unfortunately for the Chiefs, they may not be able to sneak him onto the practice squad.
