Kansas City Chiefs: What Maurice Ffrench can provide in 2020

By Leigh Oleszczak | May 31, 2020

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 05: Maurice Ffrench #2 of the Pittsburgh Panthers against the Duke Blue Devils during their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Pittsburgh won 33-30. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

The Kansas City Chiefs have an explosive offense as is, but they did sign a few UDFA wide receivers who have a shot at contributing in 2020. Maurice Ffrench is one of those receivers.

When looking at the Kansas City Chiefs receiving corp heading into 2020, not many people would give any UDFA a shot at really making an impact, especially a rookie UDFA.

Maurice Ffrench, however, could be someone worth keeping an eye on. Ffrench spent his college career at Pitt and had 96 receptions last season for 850 yards and four touchdowns. The season prior he had six touchdowns and also rushed for two touchdowns, proving that he’s versatile and able to take on different roles if need be.

As it stands, the Chiefs are armed with Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, and Mecole Hardman as their four main receivers with Byron Pringle as a strong fifth option. That doesn’t leave much room for a guy like Ffrench to make his presence known, but the Chiefs will likely keep six or seven receivers on their 55-man roster.

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That could pave the way to Ffrench finding his way onto the roster at some point. Gehrig Dieter isn’t a lock to make it (and shouldn’t make it in all honesty), so maybe that’s a spot Ffrench can take.

An area where Ffrench could make an impact if he makes the roster is on special teams as a return man. He handled both punt returns and kick returns during his time at Pitt and was able to return two kickoffs for touchdowns as a junior in 2018. That shows that Ffrench does have value in that spot and having him in that role could be something worth looking into.

Hill and Hardman were the two predominant return men in 2019 and even though Hill is good at it, he’s more important to the Chiefs as a wide receiver, so limiting the chances he can get hurt is key. Having a rookie field returns is risky (as we saw with Hardman at times) because they’re more susceptible to muffing a punt, but it’s certainly an area to explore with Maurice Ffrench.

The Kansas City Chiefs are fortunate to be stacked on the offensive side of the ball, but Ffrench is an intriguing UDFA because of everything he can bring to the table. He broke Larry Fitzgerald‘s single season receptions record while at Pitt, was able to score touchdowns as a receiving, running back, and return man, and is a pretty versatile player.

Just imagine what Andy Reid could do with this kid offensively.

Next. Three Reasons Chiefs Offense Will Be Even Better. dark

What do you expect from Maurice Ffrench as a rookie?

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