The NFL Draft is exciting, and it’s certainly entertaining, but sometimes the biggest team additions are made after the final pick. For the Chiefs’ Jeff Caldwell, that meant signing with Kansas City as an Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA). For the Chiefs, it meant getting a guy who should have been picked, but wasn’t, and who could become a real threat in their offense.
Caldwell is a freak of nature, and while that term gets thrown around a lot, especially in the NFL during late April, in his case, it’s not hyperbole. He stands a massive 6’6 and weighs 216 pounds, but it’s not just his height that impresses. Caldwell tests off the charts athletically, running a 4.31 forty and posting a 42″ vertical. His Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is 10.00 on a scale of 1-10. That’s not just the highest RAS of any wide receiver in the 2026 NFL Draft class; it’s the highest of any prospect in 40 years (tying Calvin Johnson).
The reason he wasn’t picked is two-fold. For starters, he has a lack of big-time college experience. He started off as a 5-9 receiver in high school, with a massive growth spurt to 6’5 before graduating, but with no FBS offers, he had to play at FCS school Lindenwood. Adjusting to his new towering frame, it took a few years to be productive, but as a junior in 2024, he caught 53 passes for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also won the Walter Payton Award, which, unlike its NFL counterpart, is given to the best offensive player in the country (in the FCS).
Caldwell made the leap to the FBS in 2025, playing for the Cincinnati Bearcats. He caught 32 passes for 478 yards (14.9 yards per catch) and six touchdowns. The issue in scouts’ eyes is that he has no route tree. He can only run a fly pattern and try to run past or jump over smaller corners and safeties. That’s a strategy that won’t work in the NFL. It barely worked in college. That doesn’t mean he didn’t land in the perfect spot to excel.
Chiefs Jeff Caldwell Will Be A Favorite Of Patrick Mahomes
Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes is recovering from knee surgery, and while the possibility exists that Justin Fields could start the season for Kansas City, all reports are that Mahomes is on schedule to be ready for the season opener. That’s great news for Caldwell, because Mahomes loves to target rookie receivers. His top target, until the day he retires, will always be tight end Travis Kelce, but Mahomes does love new toys.
In 2023, then-rookie Rashee Rice was second on the team in targets (102) and caught 79 balls for 938 yards and seven touchdowns. The Chiefs went 11-6. The following season, Kansas City spent a first-round pick on speedster Xavier Worthy, who, as a rookie, was second on the team in targets (98), catching 59 balls for 638 yards and six touchdowns, and the Chiefs went 15-2. Worthy is another guy with a limited route tree, and it didn’t seem to faze Mahomes.
What will the future Hall of Famer do with a guy who is just as fast as Worthy, but seven inches taller? Without a new toy to target in 2025, the team went a miserable 6-11, and Mahomes struggled mightily all season. The chances are good he will look to Caldwell frequently in 2026. The former Bearcat may not be second on the team in targets like previous rookies, since the team is expected to have Kelce, Rice, and Worthy available, but he will get a fair share of looks, particularly in the red zone.
Caldwell may not be a rookie of the year sleeper by any means, but there’s no reason to think he won’t make the roster as a UDFA. Once he does, there’s no telling the havoc he could wreak on NFL secondaries. The league’s nightmares are coming to fruition. Mahomes is going to be healthy, and he’s going to have ungodly weapons in the passing game to torch defenses with.
