If Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown both stay on the field, opportunities will be tough to come by during Royals' rookie season. He feels like an insurance pick for the Chiefs, who may view Royals as the heir apparent to Rice's manufactured-touch power-slot role. Royals had awesome underlying stats at Utah State, and his yards after the catch stood out as a clear strength. His route tree was quite simple and he lined up almost exclusively as the left outside receiver, so the transition to the NFL may take time. Royals is not worth drafting outside of the deepest leagues.
Fantasy Stats
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2024
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2023
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3y Avg.
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Fantasy News
Chiefs' Jalen Royals: DNP due to knee tendinitis
Rotowire
Royals (knee tendinitis) won't practice Monday, Matt McMullen of the Chiefs' official site reports.
It remains to be seen whether Royals' knee tendinitis is something he can manage and possibly play through, but this injury has cropped up at an unfortunate time, with Kansas City's Sept. 5 regular-season opener against the Chargers fast approaching. The rookie fourth-round pick had been receiving some first-team reps in practice as Kansas City deals with numerous injuries to its receiving corps, and Royals has contributed 75 yards on two kickoff returns through two preseason games, in addition to catching three of five targets for 14 yards. The Chiefs will wrap up preseason play Friday against the Bears.
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Chiefs' Jalen Royals: Totals 40 all-purpose yards in loss
Rotowire
Royals brought in three of five targets for 14 yards and returned one kickoff for 26 yards in the Chiefs' 20-17 preseason loss to the 49ers on Saturday night.
The rookie fourth-round pick was solid in his first taste of professional game action, and he logged a team-high target total while also tying for the lead in receptions. Royals will presumably have a steep climb to meaningful playing time as long as the Chiefs' top four receivers are available, but he could certainly see expanded opportunity whenever Rashee Rice serves what's expected to be a multi-game suspension.
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Chiefs' Jalen Royals: Sees some first-team reps
Rotowire
Royals logged most of his repetitions during Wednesday's practice with the first-team offense, Nate Taylor of ESPN.com reports.
Taylor notes that Royals fared well Wednesday while running routes alongside fellow wideouts Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown. The report adds that the rookie fourth-rounder was often on the field when Rashee Rice wasn't, which is worth noting given the possibility Rice may be suspended by the NFL before the start of the season.
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Chiefs' Jalen Royals: Picked up by Kansas City
Rotowire
The Chiefs selected Royals in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, 133rd overall.
Royals spent his three-year college career at Utah State, and as a starter in his final two seasons he accumulated 126 catches for 1,914 yards and 21 touchdowns over 20 games. He was named to the First Team All-MWC roster in 2023 after leading the team in receiving yards (1,080) while setting a single-season school record with 15 receiving touchdowns. Royals suffered a season-ending right foot injury in October but was able to recover in time to participate in the Senior Bowl. He led the FBS with 10 catches of 50-plus yards over the past two seasons, and that big-play ability should translate well to the Chiefs' high-powered offense. Patrick Mahomes gets another offensive weapon in Royals, who will look to establish a role for himself in the passing attack alongside Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice (knee), Hollywood Brown and Travis Kelce.
