{"id":14905,"date":"2025-05-01T09:58:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T09:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/14905\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T09:58:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T09:58:20","slug":"jalen-royals-dreams-came-true-courtesy-of-chiefs-andy-reid-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/14905\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Royals dreams came true, courtesy of Chiefs’ Andy Reid \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlike a few of his peers, Jalen Royals didn\u2019t get any prank calls<\/a> during the 2025 NFL draft. <\/p>\n

The one and only phone call the Utah State standout receiver took during the draft was legitimate, although to him it felt pretty unreal.<\/p>\n

When Royals answered the phone last Saturday during the fourth round of the NFL draft, on the other end of the line were:<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy ReidChiefs general manager Brett VeachOffensive coordinator Matt NagyPassing game Joe Bleymaier<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been to the Super Bowl many times and won many times too. I just know walking into that I need to be about my business, lock in and embrace the Kansas City culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Former Utah State receiver Jalen Royals on being drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n

The conversation that followed was simple. The aforementioned men told Royals that they were going to take him with the next pick in the draft \u2014 No. 133 overall. They asked how Royals felt about that, everyone on the line said how excited they were and moments later it became official.<\/p>\n

Words fail to do the experience justice, though. With the call from Reid and company, Royals\u2019 lifelong dream came true in an instant. A dream that at times during his life didn\u2019t feel possible. After yearning for it for a good part of his life, Royals is now in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Hard to believe<\/p>\n

\u201cJust surreal,\u201d Royals told the Deseret News. \u201cWhen they called my phone, I was like, \u2018This ain\u2019t real.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cIt\u2019s crazy, because it is a dream come true basically. In the moment you are like … I don\u2019t now how to describe it honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landing with the Chiefs is an ideal situation for Royals.<\/p>\n

Playing for Reid, the fourth-winningest coach in NFL history who is tied for the third-most Super Bowl wins ever, and alongside quarterback Patrick Mahomes means Royals will be a part of a franchise that wins and wins a lot. <\/p>\n

He will have to adjust to playing in the NFL, learn how to play with probably the most prolific (and best) off-schedule quarterback in league history in Mahomes, and will have battle his way up the depth chart.<\/p>\n

But to Royals, the benefits of joining the Chiefs significantly outweigh any disadvantages.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, that culture over there, that winning culture (excites me),\u201d Royals said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been to the Super Bowl many times and won many times too. I just know walking into that I need to be about my business, lock in and embrace the Kansas City culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kansas City depth chart<\/p>\n

When it comes to working his way up the Kansas City depth chart, it can be argued that Royals is fifth in line among pass catchers, behind tight end Travis Kelce and wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. But Royals is confident in himself.<\/p>\n

Playing behind vets isn\u2019t a new situation for him. He did it at Utah State his sophomore season when he didn\u2019t record a single stat. He watched seniors Brian Cobbs and Justin McGriff get the majority of the playing time, learned and was ready when his opportunity came. As a junior Royals became a record-breaking receiver at Utah State, despite being a virtual unknown the year before. <\/p>\n

He expects to do a similar thing in Kansas City, though he is far from an unknown this time around. <\/p>\n

\u201cI took a backseat (at Utah State) when I got there,\u201d Royals said. \u201cI grew and grew and got better as a person and as a player. And when my chance came up I took full opportunity of it, embraced it and made the most of it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like when you get to NFL it is kind of similar,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou\u2019re going to the league and you\u2019re fresh new and know you\u2019re behind some great players. And whenever your opportunity arrives, whether it\u2019s on special teams or even in practice, you just have to embrace it and come to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royals had a decent idea that he\u2019d wind up in Kansas City \u2014 \u201cI had feeling lowkey that they were going to pick (me),\u201d he said \u2014 but that didn\u2019t make the wait any easier. Many projections had Royals going in the third round and more than a few had him going in the second round. Falling to the fourth round was a test of his patience. <\/p>\n

Draft day<\/p>\n

\u201cI was anxious the whole time, just waiting,\u201d he said. \u201cMy projections, just going off projections, and then seeing the names they called (before me), there was definitely a little bit of nervousness. And then you fall in a little bit later in the draft (than you expected) and there was a lot of anxiety, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to prove I belong. I worked so hard to get here and I just want to stay in the NFL. I want to show the team that I belong here and that I can continue to up my game and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Jalen Royals<\/p>\n

There is sure to be a little more anxiety as Royals progresses into his NFL career. Things get started for him in a hurry \u2014 no time to savor being drafted \u2014 as rookie mini camp is this weekend and OTAs will follow shortly after. <\/p>\n

Royals noted that the NFL is often said to stand for \u201cnot for long\u201d and the pressure of having a long and productive career is real.<\/p>\n

After what it took to get to the NFL, though, going the junior college route, then to Utah State where he didn\u2019t play and then finally proving himself as an elite wideout (who some still discounted because he played at the Group of Five level), Royals is confident he\u2019ll have success. More than that he is anxious to show why he believes that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to prove I belong,\u201d he said. \u201cI worked so hard to get here and I just want to stay in the NFL. I want to show the team that I belong here and that I can continue to up my game and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the path he took to get to the NFL is any indication, Royals will do that and more. And playing for Reid and alongside Mahomes can\u2019t hurt. <\/p>\n

\"\"Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals (1) runs into the end zone during game against Colorado State Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Logan, Utah. | Eli Lucero\/The Herald Journal via AP <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlike a few of his peers, Jalen Royals didn\u2019t get any prank calls during the 2025 NFL draft.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,3309,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-14905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-news-feed-local","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114431990714269368","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}