The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping DeAndre Hopkins is out for their Super Bowl run

​KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs have a knack for getting midseason trades right for wide receivers.

In 2022, they sent a pair of draft picks to the New York Giants for Kadarius Toney, who scored a touchdown and set up another on a long punt return in the fourth quarter of that season's Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Last season, the acquisition was Mecole Hardman from the New York Jets. Hardman caught the touchdown pass in overtime, giving the Chiefs a Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

These trades have a way of working out the way the Chiefs intend, which is why they tried again this year by trading DeAndre Hopkins to the Tennessee Titans, whom they acquired for a conditional fourth-round pick.

It will take even more from Hopkins, 32, who unlike Toney or Hardman is an established if aging star, to make this trade work in the Chiefs' favor. The Toney deal was more focused on the future, to bolster a receiving group following the Tyreek Hill trade. That part didn't go well for the Chiefs, who released Toney at the end of training camp this year.

Hardman was acquired because of his depth. The Chiefs need Hopkins as their No. 1 wide receiver, at least by the playoffs.

The first candidates for the top wideout, Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown, are out due to injuries. Rice is out for the season with a right knee injury. Brown, who suffered a sternoclavicular injury in the preseason, could return in the postseason.

Before the Hopkins trade, the Chiefs stuck with Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, Hardman and Skyy Moore at wide receiver. At least at this point in their careers, there is no No. 1 wide receiver on the team.

Worthy, the Chiefs' first-round draft pick, could reach that point at some point, but right now he's a 21-year-old rookie. He was what the Chiefs expected at this stage of his career: a high-impact, low-volume receiver. He has 15 receptions for 198 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 13.2 yards per catch.

Smith-Schuster has a hamstring injury that occurred in practice last week and sidelined him in the first quarter against the 49ers last week. The Chiefs have said he will not play against the Raiders on Sunday in Las Vegas. He'll be back at some point later in the season, but the Chiefs didn't bring him back with the expectation that he would be their No. 1 wideout. Despite his recent big game against the New Orleans Saints, he is more of a supplementary player.

Watson and Hardman also fit into the complementary category. Moore has produced little since joining the Chiefs in 2022.

So Hopkins can't be a gadget, revealed in pieces tailored specifically for him, like Toney was. He can't be a backup who was in the right place at the right time in the final game of last year's Super Bowl, like Hardman was. He needs to produce in large quantities, which he has done in the past. Hopkins received 1,000 or more receiving yards in seven of his 11 seasons in the league, including last season with the Titans. He is also a five-time first or second team All-Pro.

The Chiefs made it 6-0 with this group of receivers, but with a more critical look at what general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid are paid to do, did they have enough to beat a number of quality opponents in the postseason?

With the Hopkins trade, the Chiefs made their position on this issue clear and clear. Whether the Chiefs will eventually look back on this trade, as they now do with the Toney and Hardman trades, and more importantly, whether they win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl championship, depends on Hopkins and what they can get from him.