The NFL world was shocked in March when the Kansas City Chiefs traded star wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in one of the biggest moves of the offseason.
Hill has obviously been extremely crucial to the success that the Chiefs have had in recent years as part of arguably the NFL’s best trio alongside Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Now Mahomes will need one of his wide receivers to take a huge step forward to try and replace to productivity Hill has provided. It appears that he may believe that teammate Mecole Hardman can be that guy. Mahomes spoke highly of Hardman in a Zoom interview on Monday, saying that he expects the WR to take a jump in his fourth NFL season.
“I think that whenever Mecole’s gotten an opportunity in this offense — even if it’s when Tyreek had to go out and he would come in and run the routes that Tyreek ran — he made plays happen,” said Mahomes.
The former MVP quarterback also said on Monday that Hardman needs to focus on being the best version of himself that he can be, and not focus on simply trying to be Tyreek Hill.
“He doesn’t have to be Tyreek Hill. He has to be Mecole Hardman. And I think Mecole Hardman can be a great player in this offense. He’s made a Pro Bowl already, and I think he can keep getting better and better.
“I mean, when you have two All-Pro Chiefs legends that are getting a lot of the catches, it’s hard to get everybody the targets that they want.
“But every time he’s in there and has his opportunity, he’s going 100 miles an hour — as hard as he can. So you respect guys like that. And you’re happy that he’ll have an even bigger chance — a bigger opportunity — this year. I expect big things from him.”
If anyone in the Chiefs offense can replicate what Tyreek Hill can do, it is Mecole Hardman. He has always had blazing speed similar to Hill and with a more secure role in the offense, it could be a true breakout year for him in 2022.
