Former Chiefs lineman explains how new wide receivers may help Kansas City’s run game

If you were surprised when reports first surfaced in March that the Chiefs were going to trade All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill, you’re not alone.

Former Chiefs offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz, who last week announced his retirement, was stunned when Hill was dealt to the Miami Dolphins.

But Schwartz soon realized why the deal made sense for the Chiefs, particularly after they signed wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

“My first reaction was like total shock and surprise. I didn’t know that that (trade) was in the works, I didn’t realize that that was even on the realm of possibilities,” Schwartz said Wednesday on the NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” “The more I thought about it, it kind of made sense, especially when you’ve got a quarterback who’s gonna have a cap number of 40, 50 million (dollars) here soon. You’ve got Chris Jones that you’re paying, Joe Thuney that you’re paying, Frank Clark’s cap number you’ve got, some other guys as well.

“You kind of have to pick and choose. And is one receiver going to change the dynamic of the offense that incredibly, especially when you’ve already got a guy like (tight end Travis) Kelce? And so I think the idea there is don’t pay top market value to a receiver who, as good as he has been, and as fast as he is, is getting to the other side of 30. Kind of diversify the receiver room, get some bigger guys as well. That’s one thing, the Chiefs have had for the most part a lot of kind of faster, smaller guys. I know for quarterbacks, they like those big catch radiuses, so you get a guy like JuJu and you get MVS in there, tall, rangy, guys who can go snag it.”

The players can not only catch it but they will also help in the run game, Schwartz said.

Smith Schuster is 6 foot 1, while Valdes-Scantling is 6-4. That size will help with blocking at or near the line of scrimmage.

“With the run game the way it is, a lot of the RPO stuff, being able to have bigger guys blocking on the perimeter when you just rise up and you throw it to Mecole (Hardman) or you throw it to Kelce, and now all of a sudden you’ve got two receivers who are kind of quasi tight ends blocking there, that is going to help the run game,” Schwartz said. “And I know as much as coach (Andy) Reid likes to throw the ball, running the ball is integral to their success, that physicality, .what it brings to the offense that little bit of balance.

“So I think it’ll be a more well-rounded offense. Obviously you don’t have that one guy at the top to really blow things open. But this is why coach is the mastermind he is, they wouldn’t have traded him and been willing to trade him if they thought that there would be any sort of drop off.”