Josh Doctson Should Be Kansas City Chiefs’ No. 1 Draft Target Following 2016 NFL Combine

By Farzin Vousoughian

The Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense is looking to improve its 30th ranked passing game by adding quality pass-blocking and better receivers this offseason to form a balanced offense. Many players impressed scouts at the NFL combine, but wide receiver Josh Doctson caught a lot of eyes after his striking performance.

Among all wide receivers this year, Doctson had the best vertical jump at 41 inches. The Chiefs know about players with a good vertical jump as Chris Conley, drafted by the team last year in the third round, had the best vertical in last year’s combine at 45 inches.

Doctson was also a top performer in the broad jump with a 10-feet-11-inch jump. He finished third in the 20-yard shuttle (4.08 seconds) and 60-yard shuttle (11.06 seconds) while tying for 11th with two others in the 40-yard shuttle, running a 4.50.

Coming out of TCU, Doctson finished his college career with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons and double-digit touchdowns. He placed second in the Big 12 in receiving yards and 11th in the nation with 1,327 yards off 79 receptions. Doctson was part of a dynamic passing attack at TCU, where quarterback Trevone Boykin threw to Doctson the most for three years.

After not completing a touchdown pass to a wideout in 2014, the Chiefs cut ties with Dwayne Bowe and signed Jeremy Maclin, who caught eight of the 12 touchdown passes to wide receivers in 2015. Albert Wilson, Jason Avant and Conley were contributors, but the team is still missing a viable No. 2 receiver.

Doctson could prove to be that missing piece for Kansas City’s passing game. With quarterback Alex Smith throwing to tight end Travis Kelce and Maclin as his top targets, Doctson would serve as another key piece for Smith.

The problem is, Kansas City will select No. 28 overall, and Doctson is projected to be taken a little bit sooner. Four of five pundits on NFL.com have Doctson going to the Minnesota Vikings with pick No. 23 overall.

In order for the Chiefs to come away with Doctson, they would need to trade up ahead of the Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals at pick No. 24. Though trading up would require the Chiefs to give up another pick in a later round, drafting Doctson would be worth it to give Smith another weapon that he needs to succeed.

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