ESPN analyst has Chiefs’ offensive playmakers ranked in the bottom half of the NFL

The Chiefs are trending in the wrong direction in at least one annual ranking.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell this week shared his 2023 ranking of the playmakers on all 32 NFL teams.

Barnwell wrote that he bases the ranking on the top five contributors with a focus on elite players. Wide receivers are more important than tight ends or running backs in his calculations, and injury history/suspensions carry weight in the rankings.

Barnwell ranks the Chiefs in the bottom half of the NFL at No. 19. A year ago, they were 16th after being sixth in 2021.

Among AFC West teams, the Chiefs are ranked third behind the Chargers (fifth in the NFL) and Raiders (11th).

Barnwell had praise for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and said KC can’t afford an injury to tight end Travis Kelce.

“So why did the Chiefs fall back from their 16th-place finish? The wide receiver depth chart is even sketchier,” Barnwell wrote. “The nominal top wideout at the moment is Kadarius Toney, who has played 70% or more of the offensive snaps exactly once in two NFL seasons. Skyy Moore, a second-rounder last year, failed to make an impact before scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl. While the Chiefs added another second-round wideout in Rashee Rice, they lost two regulars in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman.

“Of course, Mahomes will do just fine with one of the league’s worst wide receiver depth charts, given that he just won MVP with a slightly better group a year ago. Outside of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, this is a young group, and there’s a chance that Toney, Moore or even Justyn Ross emerges as a No. 1 receiver. As long as Kelce is Kelce, the Chiefs will be fine. If he were to decline or suffer an injury, or if they didn’t have Mahomes to conduct the orchestra for any period of time, this would look like an underwhelming set of wide receivers.”

The San Francisco 49ers are first in the rankings.