Chiefs Invite Dynamic 6-6 Receiver to Rookie Camp

The Kansas City Chiefs have made a habit of finding receiving talent across the NFL landscape to plug into their offense. When it comes to evaluating younger prospects, they may be among the league's best. 

One can look as far back as 2016 when the Chiefs found Tyreek Hill in Round 5 of the NFL Draft. That success has continued into recent seasons where they struck gold gold on Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy in back-to-back seasons. 

Rice and Worthy should be one of the best rising duos once they return to the field. The key word there being "return." A combination of injury and off-field troubles have the status of both receivers in jeopardy ahead of the 2025 season. 

Even if those separate circumstances are resolved, Rice's gruesome leg injury has made for a long recovery process to get back on the gridiron. Facing that predicament, the Chiefs have attacked that position this offseason. 

They started by retaining Hollywood Brown and JuJu-Smith-Schuster in free agency. Kansas City also turned to the draft, adding Jalen Royals to the mix. But the search will not end there, now inspecting the undrafted free agent market. 

The Chiefs have extended a rookie minicamp invitation to undrafted rookie Damien Alford this week. Alford started his career at Syracuse, playing four years there before using his fifth year at Utah. 

Alford's production gradually increased with the Orange, ending his fourth year with 33 catches for 610 yards and three touchdowns. However, he was dismissed from the program the following spring and did not register a catch in his time with the Utes. 

So the profile may be lacking of late, but the tape from his prime college days certainly shows some promise. His 4.58 40-yard time exemplifies the type of athlete that continually finds success in this system. 

Oh, and he’s 6-6.

Now the dream of catching passes from Patrick Mahomes on a Sunday afternoon is a long shot, but Alford will get his opportunity to display his talents. If the Chiefs' top receivers are not ready to within the coming months, they'll need pieces to fill in the gaps. 

The next month will be all about ensuring they check their boxes in that area.