Chiefs rookie receiver Jalen Royals impressing at Training Camp | Chiefs Training Camp

By: Brett Kennedy

(ST. JOSEPH, MO) – Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals was selected by the Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2025 draft. The 6’0 rookie is quickly impressing the coaching staff and his teammates at camp. Royals is quickly learning the trust of quarterback Patrick Mahomes as well, giving him more and more reps with the first team offense. 

“(Mahomes) leaning on me and me just trusting in him, and just learning from him and do what he says, honestly. It’s complicated, there’s times where it’s like, I’m still a rookie at the end of the day, so I’m trying to learn everything, and he’s wanting me to be up to speed, so it’s just balancing that,” said Royals. 

“There’s some little things he’s doing within his routes, whether it’s in zone or winning versus man, so he’s doing some good things,” said Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy. “We want to keep making him grow, leading through what he sees. I think he’s a visualizer, so when he sees it, it takes him one time, then the next time he comes back and does a good job.”

Royals has been leaning on the knowledge of the veterans in Kansas City’s receiver room to help improve his game. Royals has been so impressive that Juju Smith-Schuster uses slang from TikTok to describe his play. 

“When he’s out there, he’s aura farming, and I think that’s something that you guys don’t get to see a lot,” said Smith-Shuster. “He’s a guy that’s going to show up every day and just work. He doesn’t say a whole lot. He’s very coachable. He’s a sponge. He’s a great dude to be around in that room.”

“It’s great having those type of (veteran) guys. I feel like they provide a great mental aspect to me,” said Royals. “They’re always pushing me to keep going, even when long drive drills are tough. Even in the meetings, they’re correcting me when I do my mistakes.”

He hears the, let’s go Royals, chants at practice every day and loves it. Although he has now been to a Royals game, when it comes to his baseball fandom, Royals prefers a different tomahawk chop down in the Peach State. 

“I’m from Atlanta, so I’m still a Braves fan at the end of the day, but I’m still embracing on that. I went to one (Royals) game a couple weeks ago, but just trying to embrace my last name for this fan base has been pretty cool,” said Royals. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime that everybody sees Royals in the back and plays for the Chiefs.”