Maybe this is just another summer fling.

Like our last Kansas City Chiefs camp crush, this situationship that has us all sweaty around the collar might be nothing more than our hearts longing to have somebody to hold dear as we sit on our front porch as the weather gets warm.

This week’s potential crush — University of Florida undrafted wide receiver Elijhah Badger — boasts a lean and mature frame at 6’1” and 200 lbs.

In a game that praises underclassmen who come out early, Badger is a 23-year-old man amongst boys, who is used to lining up against the toughest competition.

So I watched him.

While I can see why Badger is a very popular name among Chiefs fans — and with a crushability scale well over one zillion — you can see a world where Badger makes a clutch reception late in a preseason game, and suddenly, he will be every fan’s newest obsession.

Keep in mind: if Badger only turns into the next Nikko Remigio, that’s a win by UDFA standards.

Background

Hailing from California, Badger attended Folsom High School in Sacramento. But instead of having the Folsom Prison Blues, Badger enjoyed the status that came along with being a four-star prospect coming out of high school, where he was the No. 14 prospect in California and the sixth overall athlete in his class.

One reason Badger was listed as an athlete coming out of high school instead of a wide receiver is that, back in 2020 (as he was narrowing down his selection between schools like Texas A&M, Oregon and Florida), there was still debate as to which side of the ball Badger should play on in college.

Some saw him as the true wide receiver he was, while others wanted to take advantage of his length and athleticism to play him on the defensive side of the ball at cornerback. Badger eventually settled on Arizona State, who let him play his natural role at wide receiver.

The prospect

Badger was a good-but-not-great college player, putting up respectable numbers in his three years at Arizona State. Badger caught 142 passes for 1,640 yards before entering the transfer portal to chase that NIL money, ultimately inking a deal with the Ronald McDonald House of North Central Florida and Balance 180 Gym through the Florida Victorious Foundation.

In his lone season at Florida in 2024, Badger caught 39 receptions for 806 yards, which translates to just more than you can count on your fingers and toes: 20.7 yards per reception.

Badger ran extremely well for his size at the NFL Combine, recording a 40-yard dash time of 4.43 seconds.

While Badger knows how to stack defensive backs once he gets behind them, he doesn’t have much of a release package and offers very little underneath. He doesn’t really snap off his routes, either, and he can get lazy and inconsistent in this area.

He’s a long-strider, which hinders his agility and contributes to his struggles on short-area routes.

Badger has good vision and understands angles, leverage and how to utilize space to make guys miss, despite having only mediocre stop-start ability.

One thing that helps Badger in tight areas where he doesn’t have a lot of separation is his understanding of body positioning. He has soft-yet-strong hands and catches the ball cleanly and away from his body.

Notice the good concentration (as seen in the clip below). Despite jostling with the defender, Badger can keep him at an arm’s length and get his foot down in bounds.

It takes Badger a little bit of time to get to full speed, but this also caught defenders off balance at times, causing them to underestimate that he had another gear stashed in his back pocket, ready to kick in.

He tracks the ball well, and I didn’t see too many drops on his tape.

So… is he crushworthy?

Despite all of his strengths, Badger strikes me as just the sort of player who benefits greatly from NIL money. In 2024, he was a 23-year-old man playing against a bunch of teenagers — and it looked like it. But the NFL is an entirely different level, and when I watch Badger’s tape, all I see is a pretty good college player who I don’t think has much of a shot at making this roster or making an impact in this league.

And if we’re being truthful, I don’t think the Chiefs do either. Otherwise, they might have given him more guaranteed money on his contract than the $25,000.

Final verdict: No