Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman can be much more than a gadget receiver in 2022

There are some misconceptions about Kansas City Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman heading into the 2022 NFL season.

1 of the most regular misconceptions is the plan that Hardman only thrives as a gadget receiver. That is to say that he wants created touches, frequently behind the line of scrimmage, in buy to have achievements in Andy Reid’s offense. Matters like display passes, reverses and so on.

There is no denying this distinct purpose has been a substantial aspect of his match around the past 3 seasons. Very last year, he even excelled at it, recording a whopping 487 yards soon after the capture, very good for seventh-most among the receivers in the NFL’s standard season. He will keep on to have achievements in the job, but it will not be the only purpose for him in Kansas Metropolis transferring forward.

Hardman does not have a great deal of knowledge performing as the team’s lead receiver with Tyreek Hill on the sidelines, but when he’s had the possibility, he flashed. Again in 2019, Hardman’s common depth of focus on was 12.25 from Week 2 via 7 days 5 when Hill was out with a sternoclavicular joint dislocation. This is to say that on normal, he was catching passes much more than 12 yards previous the line of scrimmage. Hardman’s normal depth of target extrapolated above the program of a season would have been fantastic for 36th in the NFL. Hill, who is known as the league’s leading deep menace, has hardly ever had more than 12.9 typical depth of goal in a single season.

For reference, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has led the NFL in regular depth of focus on in each of the past two seasons (above 18 each individual time). It is hard to think about Hardman hitting Valdes-Scantling’s figures (especially when they are on the identical group), but it’s not unreasonable to feel he could at the very least match the league normal (all over 10 yards) in a period with a higher share of options.

If that isn’t more than enough evidence that Hardman can excel as additional than a gadget receiver, look at how great he is at generating separation. Past time, Hardman’s concentrate on separation against man protection ranked the second-best in the NFL amongst receivers per PlayerProfiler.com with 2.83 yards of separation for each focus on. Mainly, in person protection circumstances where he was qualified, Hardman was getting open with some of the best frequency in the NFL.

But wait, there is even additional.

You may not assume of Hardman as an elite goal in the crimson zone for the reason that of his measurement and skillset. He only experienced a 6% contested capture price final yr, which isn’t incredibly superior. But he also completed 16th in the NFL with 16 targets and 9 receptions in the crimson zone. Two of these receptions resulted in touchdowns and the relaxation served the Chiefs get into posture to set up details.

It’s understandable that individuals are skeptical of Hardman right after his first three seasons in the league. There are also a great deal of good reasons to be optimistic that he can thrive in an expanded function the place he’s questioned to do more than he was in prior seasons.