Sports

There have been several moments in recent seasons when it felt like the Chiefs were short on receiving options for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but Mahomes does not believe that will be an issue in 2025.

The Chiefs have Rashee Rice back from last season's knee injury and they re-signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to go with Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, Skyy Moore, and fourth-round pick Jalen Royals at wide receiver. Travis Kelce and Noah Gray return at tight end while Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, and Elijah Mitchell make up the running back group.

During an appearance on Up & Adams, Mahomes was asked if this is the deepest group of weapons he's had around him in Kansas City. Mahomes said he believes that it is and that the team has to focus on making the most of everyone's talents.

"I think it's gonna come from everywhere," Mahomes said. "Obviously, you've got Rashee being back. He looks great. You have Xavier Worthy, who came on so strong at the end of last year. You have Hollywood Brown healthy again. Guys everywhere. You add in Travis Kelce, a Hall of Famer. Noah Gray, a great tight end, and everybody that we've added to all those different rooms. We have so many weapons. Let's go out there and just maximize it all. It's not gonna be just one person. It's gonna be the entire offense going out there and showcasing what the Kansas City Chiefs truly are."

Brown and Pacheco joined Rice in missing large stretches of time with injuries last season, so the makeup of the group on July 7 isn't guaranteed to be the same throughout the season. As long as all hands are on deck, though, there will be plenty of places for Mahomes to go with the ball as long as he has time to make the deliveries.

The Patriots made a surprising decision at long snapper this offseason, first drafting Vanderbilt's Julian Ashby, then cutting their longtime long snapper Joe Cardona, whom they had previously made the highest-paid long snapper in football, as well as a team captain.

Ashby's Vanderbilt special teams coach, Jeff LePak, says the rare decision to draft a long snapper was was a wise move by New England. LePak said he heard from many NFL teams before the draft who were interested in Ashby, which does not normally happen with long snappers.

"When you're working out for a third of the NFL [before the draft], you know you must be pretty good," LePak told Mike Reiss of ESPN. "I knew that he was special and it was cool to see the guys in the NFL realize that as well."

LePak says Ashby is as accurate as it gets with long snapping.

"Julian throws a really, really consistent ball," he said. "It's going to be a nice tight spiral and it also gets back to the punter very, very quickly, so that lowers our operation time to a point where your punter is catching it faster, so his transition to actually punting the ball gets off quicker, which gives the rush team less time to get there and try to block a punt. Julian's accuracy makes it easy for the punter on his long snaps, and easy for the holder on the short snaps. We had a really good year last year field goal kicking and punting, and a lot of that was due to him. We have really good punters and kickers, but when they don't have to worry about a bad snap or misplaced snap, it makes their job so much easier."

Cardona has signed with the Dolphins, which means the Patriots will get two opportunities to see up close whether they upgraded at long snapper by drafting Ashby.

If the Jets are going to exceed expectations this season, they will need a strong season from quarterback Justin Fields.

Fields was drafted 11th overall by the Bears in 2021 because they thought he could be their long-term answer at quarterback, but could never turn flashes of talent into consistent play and he moved on to the Steelers last season. Fields was 4-2 as a starter to open the year, but the Steelers still opted to go with Russell Wilson the rest of the way and that led to Fields moving on to the Jets as a free agent this offseason.

A third team in three years doesn't do much to inspire hope that it will all fall into place for Fields this fall, but his new teammate Andre Cisco thinks that anyone who shares those doubts is in for an unpleasant surprise. The safety has gone up the ladder at the same time as Fields and he said his first chance to see the quarterback up close has convinced him good things are coming.

“Me and Justin, we were in the same class in high school," Cisco said. "Same class in college, same class coming up to the NFL so these are the people that, whether you play with them or not, you feel like you know them from not too far away. Getting to know him up close as a teammate has been really, really special. I’m really glad that I get this opportunity to get behind him and just support him as he takes on that role. We already know what quarterback means in the NFL. I'm excited for him to prove those who are doubting him wrong and those who are supporting right, because I think he's gonna have a huge year."

Cisco isn't the only Jets player to share his belief that the team is in better shape than most outside observers believe, but years of offseason hope that went nowhere for the Jets means the proof will have to come on the field for the bandwagon to fill up.