Skyy Moore

Chiefs Activate WR Skyy Moore, Place DE Charles Omenihu On IR

February 7th, 2024 at 8:45pm CST by Ely Allen

As the Chiefs continue to prepare for their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance (their fourth in five years) and attempt to become the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the Patriots did it in the ’03 and ’04 seasons, the team continues to tinker with its roster. Today’s adjustment saw Kansas City activate wide receiver Skyy Moore off of injured reserve and place defensive end Charles Omenihu on IR in his place.

After a fairly pedestrian rookie season last year, Moore was expected to take on a bigger role in his sophomore campaign. Unfortunately, Moore was only barely outpacing his rookie numbers when he suffered a knee injury in a Week 15 victory in New England that would land him on IR and force him to miss the remainder of the regular season.

After the team’s Wild Card win over the Dolphins, Kansas City opened the young wide out’s 21-day practice window, allowing him to return in time for the Super Bowl if possible. Today was the last possible day that the Chiefs were able to activate him off of IR. Moore was a full participant in practice today, so he should be able to step in as a second-string receiver should things continue to trend in the right direction.

Omenihu, third on the team in sacks this season (7.0), suffered a torn ACL in the Chiefs’ AFC Championship win over the Ravens. With his season officially over, it was only a matter of time before he found himself on IR. As it turns out, Kansas City was waiting until it could add a new name to the active roster in his place. The injury means Omenihu will miss a grudge match against his former team on the biggest stage possible.

As for the rest of the Chiefs’ injury report, all but two players were full participants at today’s practice, meaning running back Isiah Pacheco and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who both were limited participants for most of the week before the AFC title game, are in better shape heading into the season finale. Today’s sole limited participant was running back Jerick McKinnon, who has served as the team’s second receiving back throughout the season.

The only non-participant at today’s practice was first-team All-Pro guard Joe Thuney. Thuney missed the team’s win in Baltimore with a pectoral injury and isn’t expected to make a comeback this weekend. Head coach Andy Reid told reporters that he “would probably bet towards (Nick) Allegretti playing” in the Super Bowl, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. Allegretti made his second start of the season a week and a half ago as an injury replacement for Thuney and is expected to make his third on Sunday.

Chiefs Open Skyy Moore’s Practice Window

January 17th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

A sore subject this season, the Chiefs’ wide receiver corps has also been shorthanded in recent weeks. Neither Kadarius Toney nor Skyy Moore have been available for the AFC West champions. One or both could be in the divisional round.

The Chiefs designated Moore for return Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. While the Moore news is somewhat important, it is perhaps more notable Jerick McKinnon — also eligible to come off IR this week — has not yet been designated for return.

Moore suffered a knee injury in December; that halted a disappointing season for the 2022 second-round pick. The Western Michigan product entered the year expected to be a near-full-time player for Kansas City, but his play has not warranted such a role. Moore has just 21 receptions for 244 yards and one touchdown this year, joining Toney as Chiefs receiver disappointments this season.

Still, Kansas City having one of its options back would stand to help its cause against Buffalo, which won the teams’ regular-season meeting for a third straight year. The Chiefs, of course, have had the upper hand on the Bills in the playoffs; they won the 2020 AFC championship game and downed their recent rivals in a 2021 divisional-round shootout. But this Chiefs’ offense is not on the level of those potent units, with the pass catcher situation front and center as to why.

The Chiefs entered negotiations with Tyreek Hill about a new deal in 2022, seeing the Raiders’ Davante Adams extension change the equation. A month after trading Hill to the Dolphins, the Chiefs chose Moore 54th overall. The MAC standout did not play much on offense last year, though he did notch a crucial punt return to help the Chiefs kick a game-winning field goal to beat the Bengals in the AFC championship game. With JuJu Smith-Schuster gone, the Chiefs had hoped to lean more on Moore. Neither he nor Toney have proven worthy of confidence, amplifying the importance of the swiftly developing Rashee Rice, a second-rounder this year.

Rice (930 receiving yards) led Chiefs wideouts in yards during the regular season by a cool 478, and the SMU product posted 130 to lift Kansas City past Miami in a frigid wild-card tilt. The Chiefs have used Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who has also underwhelmed this season, as Rice complementary pieces with Moore and Toney sidelined. The injury-prone Toney is battling hip and ankle injuries, missing the past four games. He is not on IR.

Travis Kelce Dealing With Knee Injury; Kadarius Toney On Track For Week 1

September 6th, 2023 at 7:59am CST by Sam Robinson

SEPTEMBER 6: While Kelce is dealing with significant swelling, Rapoport indicates he suffered a bone bruise. Considering the range of outcomes possible in the wake of this knee injury, the Chiefs appear to have dodged a bullet here.

SEPTEMBER 5, 3:48pm: Kelce remains uncertain to play in Week 1, per Rapoport and NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, but this is not believed to be a serious knee injury. The Chiefs plan to wait for the swelling in the injured knee to subside before making a decision. Kelce’s ACL is intact, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds. While it would not surprise to see the Chiefs exercise caution here given Kelce’s importance to the offense, it does not look like a long-term absence would be in the cards. Indeed, SI.com’s Albert Breer adds it is unlikely Kelce plays Thursday.

1:13pm: After missing nearly his entire rookie season due to a knee injury, Travis Kelce has become one of the NFL’s most durable players. But his status for Week 1 is suddenly in question.

Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee, per Andy Reid, and is not a lock to play in the Chiefs’ season opener. The injury occurred at practice Tuesday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The perennial All-Pro tight end has not missed a game due to injury since his 2013 rookie season.

On a better note for the defending Super Bowl champions, Kadarius Toney is practicing. Reid expects the injury-prone receiver to play against the Lions, ESPN’s Ed Werder tweets. Toney, who has battled a number of maladies since entering the league in 2021, missed several weeks after suffering a torn meniscus minutes into training camp. The Chiefs listed Toney and Kelce as limited practice participants.

Moving into Hall of Fame lock territory since pairing with Patrick Mahomes, Kelce did not truly begin his career until his age-25 season due to undergoing microfracture surgery during his rookie year. Unlike Jadeveon Clowney, who underwent the same procedure a year later, Kelce has not battled knee trouble in the seasons since. He has only missed three regular-season games — two due to Reid sitting starters in season finales, one due to COVID-19 — since returning in time for the 2014 opener.

Going into his age-34 season, Kelce has become one of the NFL’s all-time greats at tight end. He is riding a seven-year streak of 1,000-yard seasons; no other tight end has tallied more than four 1,000-yard years in total. The Chiefs relied on Kelce last season, trading Tyreek Hill and using a cast of lesser wide receivers, and got by in large part due to the receiving tight end’s consistency. Kelce set a new career high with 110 receptions, and his 1,338 yards approached his tight end-record 1,416 from 2020. It would obviously be quite the adjustment for the Chiefs to play without Kelce, considering their receiver makeup.

Toney represents a key part of that receiving group, but the Chiefs may look to limit the shifty wideout. Lower-body injuries have followed Toney from New York to Kansas City. Ankle, quad, oblique and knee trouble has plagued Toney, with an onslaught of hamstring issues – which at one point saw the talented youngster sidelined because of injuries to both legs – impeding his 2022 efforts. While Toney still recovered in time to make key contributions in Super Bowl LVII, his track record has reached the point he might not be able to handle a full receiver workload.

The Chiefs kept seven wide receivers on their active roster, adding to the uncertainty at the position following the free agency exits of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman. Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the only proven option left at receiver for the Chiefs, though GM Brett Veach said 2022 second-rounder Skyy Moore is set for an every-down role after showing improvement this offseason. Kansas City also rosters second-round rookie Rashee Rice, free agent slot pickup Richie James, veteran backup Justin Watson and second-year UDFA Justyn Ross.

Additionally, the daily Chris Jones update does not bring good news for the Chiefs. Still no progress in negotiations, per Reid. Both Kelce and Jones played all 20 Chiefs contests last season. While Jones has been trending toward missing this game for a bit now, the eighth-year defensive tackle is close to missing a $1.1MM game check.

Aaron Donald skipped Week 1 while holding out in 2017, but he was attached to a rookie contract and the Rams ended up waiving his fines and paying him for the game week missed. The current CBA prevents the Chiefs from waiving the fines Jones incurred for missing training camp; that number has surpassed $2MM. Jones continues to target a deal closer to Donald’s $31.7MM AAV than the D-tackle’s second salary tier. Rumblings about a $28MM-per-year middle ground have surfaced, but Jones remains unsigned.

Chiefs Sign WR Skyy Moore, Complete Draft Class

June 10th, 2022 at 8:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

More teams continue to finalize their 2022 draft class’ rookie contracts. The Chiefs are the latest to do so; the team reached an agreement with Skyy Moore, as the receiver confirmed on Instagram.

Moore enjoyed a productive three-year career at Western Michigan. He totaled 51 catches and 802 yards in his first season there, though he only played in five games during the pandemic-shortened season the following year. While he averaged over 15 yards per catch in each of his first two seasons, he only found the endzone six times across that span.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder took another step forward last year. Suiting up for 12 contests, he totaled 95 receptions, which placed him second in the Mid-American Conference and ninth in the country. He also ranked second in the MAC with 1,292 yards, and more than doubled his touchdown total with 10 — leading the conference in that category.

That placed him in the conversation to be drafted amongst the second tier of wideouts in this year’s class. Not surprisingly, the Chiefs selected him in the second round, as the team continued to rebuild its receiving corps. After the departures of Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson and Byron Pringle, a number of new faces have been brought in. The most notable additions include JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and perhaps the most intriguing UDFA of the 2022 class, Justyn Ross.

Moore’s size and run-after-catch skillset could lead to usage similar to the way Hill was deployed. His speed should be well-utilized in Andy Reid‘s offense, and give the Chiefs a long-term option in the passing game, compared to the short-term deals signed in free agency to round out the position’s depth chart.

With Moore under contract, here is the full breakdown of Kansas City’s draft class:

Round 1: No. 21 (from Patriots) Trent McDuffie, CB (Washington) (signed)
Round 1: No. 30 George Karlaftis, DE (Purdue) (signed)
Round 2: No. 54 (from Patriots) Skyy Moore, WR (Western Michigan) (signed)
Round 2: No. 62 Bryan Cook, S (Cincinnati) (signed)
Round 3: No. 103 Leo Chenal, LB (Wisconsin) (signed)
Round 4: No. 135 Joshua Williams, CB (Fayetteville State) (signed)
Round 5: No. 145 (from Seahawks) Darian Kinnard, OG (Kentucky) (signed)
Round 7: No. 243 (from Raiders through Patriots) Jaylen Watson, CB (Washington State) (signed)
Round 7: No. 251 Isaih Pacheco, RB (Rutgers) (signed)
Round 7: No. 259 Nazeeh Johnson, S (Marshall) (signed)