Skyy Moore Placed on IR by Chiefs with Core Injury After DeAndre Hopkins Trade

The Kansas City Chiefs announced Thursday that they placed wide receiver Skyy Moore on injured reserve due to a core muscle injury.

Moore will have to miss at least the next four games and will be eligible to return for the Chiefs' Nov. 24 game against the Carolina Panthers.

The move comes after the Chiefs acquired veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a trade with the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday in exchange for a conditional 2025 fifth-round draft pick that can become a fourth rounder if the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60 percent of Kansas City's offensive snaps, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

After he starred collegiately at Western Michigan, Moore went 54th overall to the Chiefs in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft.

Moore was expected to be a big part of the offense after KC traded superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins, but he has failed to make a significant impact in the NFL thus far.

As a rookie, Moore finished with 22 receptions for 250 yards and no touchdowns, and he put up similar numbers last year, catching 21 passes for 244 yards and one score.

The Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls despite not getting much production from their wide receivers, but they attempted to address the issue during the offseason by signing Hollywood Brown in free agency and selecting Xavier Worthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Brown is expected to miss the entire season after suffering a sternoclavicular injury during the preseason, however, and No. 1 wideout Rashee Rice is also likely out the year with a knee injury.

That left Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, Mecole Hardman and Moore as the team's top wide receivers remaining, but even with Smith-Schuster most of this past Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers, Moore was a nonfactor.

In fact, Moore has not caught a single pass this season despite being active for six games, although he has returned two kickoffs for an average of 21.5 yards.

With Moore on IR and Smith-Schuster set to miss this weekend's game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chiefs may look to quickly integrate Hopkins into the offense.

Aside from him, quarterback Patrick Mahomes will have to lean on Worthy, Hardman and Watson, as well as tight ends Travis Kelce and Noah Gray, and a host of running backs led by Kareem Hunt.

Despite their wide receiver woes, the Chiefs will have a chance to improve to 7-0 on the season Sunday when they go on the road to face the Raiders.