On March 12, 2016 Rod Streater signed a one-year deal to play receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs. Streater was an undrafted free agent out of Temple when he signed with the Oakland Raiders back in 2012. In his first two years with the Oakland Raiders Streater played all thirty two games and recorded 99 receptions for a total of 1,472 yards and 7 touchdowns. Streater appeared to be a rising star in Oakland until he fractured his foot in Week 3 of the 2014 season. He played in only three games that season and had only nine receptions for just 84 yards and one touchdown. He essentially became a healthy scratch for much of 2015 as the Raiders moved away from him.
How Rod Streater Will Fit on the Chiefs
Kansas City hopes to see some of that early career success that Streater had in 2012-2013. The former Temple Owl will bring experience to a relatively young receiving group and will be another established NFL receiver besides Jeremy Maclin. The Chiefs are trying to improve their passing offense which ranked 30th in the NFL in 2015. There is the belief the Chiefs will line up Streater in the slot. Kansas City will keep Jeremy Maclin as their number one of course and it will be interesting to see what they do with Chris Conley and Albert Wilson now that they have Streater. It’s possible they could even line up Streater as a number two guy since he has the size and speed to be just that.
Kansas City is hoping that the Rod Streater deal works out like it did with another former Raider the Chiefs signed last year, Tyvon Branch. Branch was a rising star as well for the Oakland Raiders, playing safety, and he had a solid few years from 2009-2012 until injuries sidelined him for a couple of seasons. Kansas City took a chance on him and signed him to a one year deal so they had some insurance at safety because they were unsure about Eric Berry’s health at the time. Branch might have only started one game for Kansas City in 2015 but he played solid off the bench all season. Branch even returned an interception for a touchdown against his old team when the Chiefs defeated the Raiders in Oakland. Branch has now signed a two year deal with the Arizona Cardinals worth $5 million guaranteed.
The Chiefs had been looking at a couple other receivers before they chose to sign Rod Streater, including Jeremy Kerley. So what made Kansas City choose Streater over guys like Kerley? Andy Reid says he had some “inside intel,” because Spencer Reid, Andy’s son, played with Rod Streater at Temple and Britt Reid, the Chiefs head coach’s other son, coached Streater at Temple. So it is fair to say that Andy Reid probably knew a little bit more about how Streater was and what kind of player and person he is then he does about most of the other receivers. That additional information led Reid to take a chance on a guy that might just need one more chance to prove he can play in the NFL. One thing is for certain, next season, if Sean Smith lines up on Rod Streater, it will look a little different than it used to.
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