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Did the Kansas City Chiefs improve? WR edition

We continue on in our series comparing the 2012 and 2013 Kansas City Chiefs roster. Up today is wide receivers.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

2012: Dwayne Bowe, Steve Breaston, Jon Baldwin, Dexter McCluster, Jamar Newsome, Devon Wylie, Terrance Copper, Josh Bellamy, Junior Hemingway

2013: Dwayne Bowe, Donnie Avery, Jon Baldwin, Dexter McCluster, Mardy Gilyard, Terrance Copper, Junior Hemingway, Josh Bellamy, Devon Wylie, Frankie Hammond, Rico Richardson, Tyler Shoemaker

Advantage: 2012

Bowe, Avery, Baldwin and McCluster are your main players here. The rest are also contributing at special teams and you're just hoping you find a diamond in the rough. So, did the Chiefs get better at receiver this offseason?

This really comes down to Steve Breaston (2012) vs. Donnie Avery (2013). Given the two options, I'll roll with Breaston so I give 2012 the advantage over 2013. Even if Breaston didn't play last year due to some coach's decision. Disagree with me and question my sanity in the comments.

That said...

2013 has a few things potentially working in its favor. Baldwin and McCluster are both young players. They're growing and getting better. Their biggest development will come early in their career. It seems logical that Baldwin will take a jump in year three and McCluster could do the same in a new offense with a new quarterback and a new coach.

And that's just it -- that all the key parts like the playbook and the quarterback are new is why this is such a difficult position group to compare. Maybe Alex Smith and Jon Baldwin have a better connection than Smith and D-Bowe do. Maybe McCluster finally breaks out. Perhaps Avery is a legit deep threat. Who knows?

The only player we can truly count on in this group, the guy who we know will give the Chiefs 70-something catches, 1,000-something yards and a handful of touchdowns (at least) is The D-Bowe Show. Everyone else hasn't had a big role in KC in the past or hasn't lived up to expectations. We're doing a LOT of guessing and hoping with this group.

I'm very curious to hear your thoughts on this. Did the Chiefs improve at receiver from 2012 to 2013?

Previously in this series: Quarterback | Running back | Fullback

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