Jeremy Maclin is in the fold, but can the Chiefs get him the ball?

Chiefs coach Andy Reid heard the beginning of the question — “Was Jeremy Maclin the clear-cut, No. 1 receiver on your free-agent board?” — and slightly nodded his head before the sentence was completed.

“He was the first guy,” Reid said enthusiastically.

This was moments after Maclin’s introductory news conference Wednesday, and Reid — who is typically reserved — was in a very good mood as he described his first call to Maclin after the free-agency period began a day earlier. It already was reported that Maclin would join the Chiefs, but Reid wanted to be sure.

“I said I wanted to hear Jeremy’s voice, because then I would know,” he said. “And then once I heard him say it, then I was good.”

Reid was obviously pumped to have a receiver who can threaten opposing secondaries. The deep ball was practically nonexistent in the Chiefs’ passing game last season, so that’s exactly one of the reasons they signed the 26-year-old Maclin to a five-year contract worth $55 million and released veteran Dwayne Bowe.

“When Donnie (Avery) was healthy (last year), you saw it,” Reid said. “When Albert (Wilson) worked into the mix all of a sudden towards the end (of the year), you saw it.

“And I think you’ll see it the same way with him.”

Whatever doubts about whether the Chiefs can actually throw the deep ball to Maclin have nothing to do with his skills or ability to pick up their offense, which he ran under Reid in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2012.

“I think I’ll be very familiar with terms and formations,” Maclin said. “It has changed a little bit, but I’m a pretty quick learner. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble picking things up.”

Maclin, who’s 6 feet tall and 198 pounds, possesses excellent playing speed — faster than his 4.48 40-yard dash time — and bursts out of his cuts, which makes him difficult to cover on practically any route.

“Yeah, he can play anything,” Reid said. “He’s played Z, he’s played X, he’s played inside in what we call the ‘zebra’ position. He can do it all. Phenomenal route runner.”

Maclin’s ability to separate vertically from defenders and track the deep ball was a missing component of the Chiefs’ offense in 2014.

According to Pro Football Focus, Maclin had nine downfield catches of 20 yards or more, which ranked 16th out of 74 receivers who had at least 25 targets. He also gained 356 yards and scored five touchdowns on such passes, the latter of which tied for fourth-most in the league.

Reid attributes Maclin’s deep-ball ability to his hand-eye coordination, athleticism and ability to read defenses, all of which are a must for a No. 1 receiver in his West Coast offense.

“Obviously he is fast, we know that,” Reid said. “But to be fast is one thing. To be able to run a route fast and know how to set a route up is something else. To be able to read the coverage is another thing, and that all kind of comes easy to him.”

Indeed. Maclin had five more downfield catches for 221 more yards than the Chiefs’ entire receiving corps combined last season. He will be a breath of fresh air for Reid, particularly after a season in which opposing defenses had little reason to respect the deep ball.

To be fair, some of the blame for that had to do with the significant core muscle injury that Avery — the Chiefs’ only real deep threat the last two seasons — suffered in Week 4 against the Patriots. In 2013, Avery caught five passes on targets of 20 yards or more for 184 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games; in 2014, that number plummeted to one for 25 yards in only six games.

But some of the blame also goes to risk-averse quarterback Alex Smith, who only attempted deep throws 5.2 percent of the time last season. That ranked 37th and dead last among quarterbacks who attempted at least 25 percent of their team’s passes.

But Maclin — like Reid — is not concerned about Smith in the least bit.

Maclin says he would not have to come to Kansas City if the Chiefs didn’t have a quarterback he trusted.

“No,” Maclin said, shaking his head sternly. “You’ve got to take everything into consideration.”

Also — as Reid correctly noted — Smith showed more willingness to throw deep in 2013. With a full complement of receivers, Smith’s deep-ball attempts were slightly higher at 8.1 percent, though that ranked 38th out of 40 qualifying quarterbacks.

“You’ve just got to establish that relationship, establish that chemistry,” Maclin said when asked about the Chiefs’ lack of deep passes. “I don’t necessarily think anybody’s scared to throw the ball down the field. Alex has a great arm. He can make all the throws. So it’s just all about getting that chemistry.”

Maclin, in fact, has liked many things about Smith’s game, including his ability to escape trouble, which was needed behind a leaky offensive line that also played a role in the Chiefs’ lack of deep passes the past two seasons.

“I know he’s a very intelligent quarterback,” Maclin said. “I think that he does a great job of commanding the huddle. I think he has great command of the team. … He’s a tough competitor.

“Not only can he beat you with his arm, he can beat you with his feet. I think that once we build that chemistry, I think that we could have a very good career together.”

Based on the contract they gave Maclin — five years with $22.5 million guaranteed — the Chiefs are betting on that.

“It’s very rare to get a man of this quality as a person at the age of 26, who has a seamless transition into a system that he is familiar with,” general manager John Dorsey said.

And while Reid’s system is different from the no-huddle spread offense he just left in Philadelphia, Maclin has a great appreciation for the West Coast system.

“I love that it requires you to run routes,” Maclin said. “I think sometimes that gets lost in today’s game.”

Maclin, by the way, takes pride in his ability to run those routes, too.

“I believe that I can run the whole tree,” Maclin said. “Being able to defeat any type of coverage I see, I think those are strong points of my game. Whether it’s press or it’s off (coverage), I know how to break DB’s leverages down and get their hands off me on the line of scrimmage. I think I can definitely add some value.”

He will almost certainly do that. The question is whether he will be able to do it to the degree he did in Philadelphia this past season, when he caught 85 passes for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns in Eagles coach Chip Kelly’s high-octane offense.

Remember, Maclin “only” averaged 64 catches, 863 yards and nearly seven touchdowns per season in his four years under Reid from 2009 to 2012.

“Well, I think it’s just a different type of role,” Maclin said. “I also had … DeSean (Jackson) on the other side of the ball with me. And also Shady (LeSean McCoy) and (Brent) Celek at the time were catching a lot of passes. So if you’re talking about stats, there are a lot of mouths to feed and only one ball to go around.

“Last year, I had the opportunity to be the No. 1 guy, and that’s kind of how the chips fell. My only job is just to be reliable to my team.”

In Kansas City, Maclin will again have to contend with other weapons for targets in an equal-opportunity offense. Running back Jamaal Charles remains one of the league’s best run-pass threats, while tight end Travis Kelce is already one of the league’s best young receiving tight ends.

Even rookie De’Anthony Thomas, a running back/slot receiver hybrid, earned plenty of touches last season on his way to earning the team’s rookie of the year award.

“I think the more the better, to have different types of guys who bring different things, and kind of take the pressure off each other,” Maclin said. “I think we are going to be pretty good on the offensive side of the ball.”

That’s why, obviously, Reid was so outwardly ecstatic about the move.

Near the end of his media session Wednesday, he thanked Maclin for coming. Reid also thanked Maclin’s agent, Tom Condon; Dorsey; and the team’s salary cap analysts, Brandt Tillis and Trip MacCracken, for working together to do the same.

“Make sure you get that in there,” he said with a laugh.

Now, Reid knows it’s up to him and his staff to get his new weapon the football and take advantage of his talents.

And rest assured, that’s exactly what Reid plans to do as part of his never-ending goal to design an unguardable offense in Kansas City.

“It affects everybody, any time that you put good players out there,” Reid said. “The idea in the National Football League is mismatches and how you can utilize the whole field. He gives you the opportunity to do that.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Jeremy Maclin is in the fold, but can the Chiefs get him the ball?."