Player Profile: Jerheme Urban

Say hello to the Chiefs number two wide receiver.

That's right. Jerheme Urban looks like he's no longer just a temporary filler for the position, which everyone thought he'd be. Instead, he now looks like he could legitimately be the opening day receiver opposite Dwayne Bowe.

The reason for this isn't necessarily because of his performance in practice or preseason. It's because the Chiefs first round draft pick, Jon Baldwin, ticked off the wrong person and injured his hand (whether it's his wrist or thumb has yet to be determined). How it happened we can't be sure since the Chiefs have not addressed the situation, but what we can be sure of is that Baldwin will be out for a little while and someone will have to take his place. And who better to take his place then the guy that was ahead of him on the depth chart in the first place?

Jerheme (pronounced Jeremy) is a 6'3" 207 lbs veteran out of the small Trinity University. He was originally an undrafted free agent that signed with Seattle in 2003. Since then he has been with the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals (where he played under Todd Haley), before he signed on as a Chief on March 11th, 2010. He looked good last training camp and preseason before tearing a flexor tendon in his right hand in the final preseason game of the year, causing him to be put on injured reserve and miss the entire 2010 campaign.

I find it ironic that Urban now has this opportunity with the Chiefs because of a hand injury to another player.

At the times I attended Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph, I thought Urban was outperforming Baldwin, or at least, being more consistent. This hasn't really shown up during the preseason, however, where he's only been targeted twice and has no catches. The more worrisome thing is that he seems to be having trouble getting open, and that is reflected by both his targets having been deflected. Whether it's just rust from missing last season or if it's his 30 year old legs having trouble getting open, Urban needs to show me more before I gain confidence in him starting the position.

For his career, Urban has 87 receptions for 1,231 yards and 7 touchdowns.