The Chiefs’ Jalen Royals really does have a lot of similarities to Rashee Rice

With the 133rd pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals.

What can the team expect from Royals? Here’s what you need to know.

Background

Royals came out of Georgia Military Academy as a zero-star recruit. At Utah State — the only school to make him an offer — he didn’t break out until his junior season in 2023, when he finished with 71 catches for 1,080 yards and 15 touchdowns, giving him first-team All-Mountain West honors and a spot on the third team of College Football Network’s All-America squad.

As a senior, Royals increased his output from 83.1 to 119.1 yards per game, putting up 55 catches for 834 yards and six touchdowns before an October foot injury ended his season after seven games. He still received a second-team All-Mountain West nod.

Right after the Chiefs selected Royals, Ryne Nutt — the team’s director of player personnel and college scouting — compared Royals to Rashee Rice. He had a point.

Both receivers are around 6 feet and 205 pounds. While Rice showed more explosion in his jump testing, Royals displayed more long speed than Rice. Otherwise, their athletic profiles are very similar.

Film evaluation

There are similarities on film, too. Like Rice, Royals’ best attributes come when he has the ball in his hands. Unlike Rice, Royals doesn’t look like he’s been shot out of a cannon — but he can juke and make guys miss in space even better than Rice can; he can break tackles in more creative ways.

Neither player had a deep route tree in college. At Utah State, Royals mostly ran vertical, hitch or screen routes and run-pass options; the Aggies were focused on quickly getting the ball to their best weapon with blockers in front of him.

The biggest difference between Rice and Royals is in downfield route running. At SMU, Rice wasn’t proficient in downfield routes — and that has continued in Kansas City, where he’s best on horizontal routes and leveraging his quick twitch. But Royals has more deep speed— and generally is a better downfield route runner.

While Royals must work on consistently beating press coverage, I find it very exciting that at 205 pounds, he plays strong through contact. He played outside in more than 80% of his reps last season — and even with his limited route tree, he’s comfortable in that part of the field.

Royals’ biggest weakness is his route tree. There just wasn’t much variation in how Utah State used him — partly because the team had to give him easy touches for its offense to work — but in the NFL, Royals will need to do more. While there’s no reason he can’t improve, it will nonetheless be a process. His film also shows some drops — but these can also be cleaned up.

How he fits with the Chiefs

With Rice, Royals, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown, the Chiefs have four wideouts with similar skills and roles. To some extent, all four are dynamic with the ball while lacking some ability to create separation against man coverage.

As noted, Royals is comfortable playing outside. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what he’ll do in Kansas City. In Rice’s last season at SMU, he was also playing more than 80% of his snaps on the outside — but with the Chiefs, it’s been closer to a 50-50 split. It’s been easier for the Chiefs to create space for Rice by aligning him inside.

Royals’ greater downfield speed (and more polished route running) on vertical routes will help him find a niche in Kansas City. We’ll see how his route running translates to the next level.

So I think we’ll see Royals and Rice split reps at one of the outside receiver spots. Being able to invert those players will add another layer to the Chiefs’ passing game. And while I think Royals will probably play more outside more often, Kansas City will still want to work him into its screen game.

The bottom line

Regardless of where they fit, the Chiefs needed players who could be dynamic with the ball. While Rice was out last season, none of their wide receivers could consistently break tackles. Royals can do that.

Now with him in the fold (and with Rice back), those concerns have been addressed. I love the idea of the Rice and Royals being a lightning-and-thunder combination after the catch. And while I worry about overlap in some of the routes that Chiefs’ wideouts will run, they should still be fun to watch. Even coming into the draft, I liked Royals — and I think the Chiefs got a great value with their pick. I’m feeling good about what the wide receivers can do in 2025.