The Kansas City Chiefs, looking for more consistent wide receiver performance opposite of All-Pro Tyreek Hill, have chosen to roll the dice with oft-suspended Josh Gordon, a talented but troubled 30 year-old who was recently reinstated by the NFL after violations of its policies on substance abuse and performance-enhancing substances.
With Cleveland in 2013, Gordon led the NFL with 1.646 receiving yards, but in the years to follow, off-the-field issues caught up with him, with six suspensions over six years, all involving in some way issues with substance abuse. After missing the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons, Gordon split the 2018 campaign between the Browns and Patriots, before joining the Seahawks in the middle of the 2019 season. Gordon’s latest setback came in January, when, after a 2020 suspension, he was suspended indefinitely by the league.
In March, Seattle released Gordon, who most pundits around the league consider to be a good person and a good locker room presence, but with an issue he has been unable to conquer. Ater losing Sammy Watkins to free agency, and seeing Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson struggle with consistency issues through three weeks, the Chiefs pulled the trigger on Gordon, hoping the opportunity to win a Super Bowl and play with an All-Pro quarterback in Patrick Mahomes are decisive factors in Gordon “staying clean”.
Kansas City, sitting at 1-2 and in last place in the ultra-competitive AFC West, will play at Philadelphia on Sunday.
In other NFL news, the Chiefs AFC West rival, the Denver Broncos, are losing second-year wideout K.J. Hamler to a season-ending injury. Hamler, a Penn State product, tore the ACL in his left knee in Sunday’s 26-0 win over the New York Jets.
Denver was already without top wideout, Jerry Jeudy of Alabama, after the second year pro sustained a high-ankle sprain in Denver’s season opener. He is out until November. While missing their two talented youngsters, the Broncos will go with Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, and Diontae Spencer as their team three receiving options.
