Founder of @mymusea and @thefotoapp • I talk photography, tech, and the Chiefs.
Nashville, TN
Joined November 2010
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Michael Howard retweeted
Over the past 20 seasons only 2 Super Bowl winning teams did not have a 1,000-yard wide receiver on their roster during the regular season. One of them, the Patriots and the other the Chiefs
you NEED a GOD level talent at QB having an MVP season to win a Super Bowl without one
It isn’t an ideal plan
An uncomfortable reality as @cdotharrison and a few others bang on the table for Josh Downs, is that Andy Reid himself may not value WR the same way the rest of the league does and may in fact feel his system is paramount and not the talent. His comments this week about acquiring a WR that has to be smart and be able to pick up his system. Not a great route runner, not a great catch point guy but able to learn his system. The numbers below lead me to believe Reid simply doesn’t value talent at the position in the same way we do
Michael Howard retweeted
An uncomfortable reality as @cdotharrison and a few others bang on the table for Josh Downs, is that Andy Reid himself may not value WR the same way the rest of the league does and may in fact feel his system is paramount and not the talent. His comments this week about acquiring a WR that has to be smart and be able to pick up his system. Not a great route runner, not a great catch point guy but able to learn his system. The numbers below lead me to believe Reid simply doesn’t value talent at the position in the same way we do
Andy Reid has coached 27 completed NFL seasons (regular season, through 2025). Only five wide receivers have produced a 1,000 yard season for him.
This comparison is strictly WRs, deliberately excluding Travis Kelce, Brent Celek and every other tight end. A follow-up will include TEs because Kelce’s production deserves its own discussion.
Philadelphia, 1999–2012:
• Terrell Owens: 2004
• Kevin Curtis: 2007
• DeSean Jackson: 2009, 2010
Only four qualifying seasons from three players across fourteen years.
Jeremy Maclin came close, including 964 yards in 2010, but his first 1,000 yard season came in 2014, after Reid left Philly.
Kansas City, 2013–2025:
• Jeremy Maclin: 2015
• Tyreek Hill: 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021
Five qualifying seasons from two WRs across thirteen years.
Combined, that’s nine 1,000 yard WR seasons in 27 years. Every NFL franchise produced more over that same 1999–2025 window.
The rest-of-league rate would yield approximately seventeen over the same span.
The KC comparison is particularly striking. Since Reid arrived, the Chiefs rank:
• T-28th in 1,000 yard WR seasons
• 31st in 800 yard WR seasons
• 22nd in receiving yards from WRs
• Sixth in total receiving yards across all positions
They’re also last in the number of different WRs to reach 1,000: just Maclin and Hill.
That’s a remarkably small group for an offense with this much passing production.
There are reasonable explanations. Reid distributes targets across positions. Injuries matter. And an arbitrary cutoff shouldn’t erase seasons like JuJu Smith-Schuster’s 933 yards in 2022 or Rashee Rice’s 938 in 2023.
Lowering the threshold to 800 still leaves KC 31st. This goes beyond a few players narrowly missing 1,000.
These are production numbers and the responsibility extends beyond Reid alone. That said, with the trade deadline approaching, temper expectations. Adding talent would help the team as a whole, but unless they add a true WR1, don't expect a shiny new toy to buck the trend of the system.
Two assistants I’d be interested in as future Andy Reid replacements.
Nathan Sheelhaase - KC native (Rockhurst HS) and OC of the Rams.
Klay Kubiak - current OC of the 49ers and son of Gary Kubiak
Mahomes era Points / Drive league ranking
18 - 1
19 - 2
20 - 4
21 - 1
22 - 2
23 - 10
24 - 10
25 - 17
26 - 8
This is more complimentary towards Andy’s offense rather than PPG, but there is still a drop off after the 22 season.
Chiefs offensive ranking by PPG in Mahomes era
18 - 1
19 - 5
20 - 6
21 - 4
22 - 1
23 - 15
24 - 15
25 - 21
26 - 14
Andy’s offense has been mid the last 4 years.
Michael Howard retweeted
even the run game looks like Kenneth Walker trying to drive to the rim in a 2006 nba offense, but this is why Tyquan of all people has been their most irreplaceable skill player the last two years
Great summation of my Andy concerns that I’m feeling the last 2 years.
Notice no one's tried to answer in 18 hours because the "Andy Reid's magical system" is a mythical talking point.
He was a Holmgren WCO disciple who went to Philly and leaned on an athletic QB to make things happen out of structure.
He compensated for underwhelming WR play (outside of the TO year) by using the RBs and TEs more as receivers. He shunned runs for screens (generally not effective plays) and horizontal passes. He got away from power running on short-yardage situations.
This is why his offenses in Philly and KC before Mahomes were generally average at best on 3rd down and in crunch time when you need a QB to drop back and make plays that quickly move the chains in succession.
And more often than not, Jim Johnson's defense was the better unit on those PHI teams, and the offense put too much responsibility on the QB in the playoffs, so they didn't win anything.
He adapted some later like more shotgun with Vick and RPOs/motion in the Mahomes era, but his offensive system has never been cutting edge innovative.
Reid is more of an early adopter and optimizer of offensive schemes. Not an inventor or revolutionary of offense.
And without Mahomes last year, his system averaged 12 yards per drive. He also hasn't found a better receiving back for Mahomes in a decade than Jerick McKinnon, so they don't even have a Brian Westbrook type to get offense that way if they're not going to get much from the WRs.
It's not a coincidence that Reid is the guy who went a whole season (2014 Chiefs) running an offense that couldn't get a single TD catch by a WR.
It's a bug that he treats as a feature. To this day. And it's not going to change until he retires.
Here’s my worry with Andy since my tweet yesterday triggered the algorithm.
I am worried Andy will have a Pete Carroll type ending to his career (see image below), while we have a generational QB.
If Andy’s scheme has been figured out by the league, how long do we go?
Patrick is 31 right now. If Clark allows Andy to coach until Andy says he is done, we do risk the last 3-4 years of Andy wasting Mahomes prime years.
I do think it’s worth talking about how the Chiefs should handle the end of the Andy era because it’s right around the corner.
Do any of these guys fit Andy’s criteria of needing to previously been in his system or are smart enough to learn it quickly? Cause apparently it’s extremely hard to learn.
Michael Howard retweeted
Whatever Kingsley did in Vegas apparently warranted benching, but being a sexual predator is alright with Clark and Andy
Andy’s time is over, sadly
The Chiefs make no sense at all
Put your feet up in a meeting? you’re out of here that’s the last straw, but have a bunch of SA allegations? Come play for us please
Go to jail this summer and mess up your knee rehab? Fine, you’re starting anyway, but don’t know what option route to run against cover 4, you can’t play for me son, it’s time for Andrew Armstrong instead
Michael Howard retweeted
Depending on how these next few weeks unfold, particularly with our dropback passing game, Andy Reid might genuinely be talking his way into another Philadelphia situation. We’re going on THREE years of questioning the effectiveness of this passing scheme, yet the solution is always finding receivers intelligent enough to understand it. At what point does the responsibility fall on the coach to simplify his offense, maximize his personnel, and actually produce results?
You have Patrick fucking Mahomes. Why does moving the football consistently have to look like solving a calculus equation?
Andy Reid shares what he'd look for in a potential addition at WR:
“You'd hope they'd be familiar with the offense. If they're not, they gotta be smart and be able to pick it up quickly — I've had players that have done that and done it well, but I would tell you there better be some form of an aptitude there.”