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

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

One particular of the most recurrent misconceptions is the notion that Hardman only thrives as a gadget receiver. That is to say that he wants made touches, frequently guiding the line of scrimmage, in order to have achievements in Andy Reid’s offense. Factors like display screen passes, reverses and so on.

There is no denying this particular position has been a large component of his sport in excess of the previous a few seasons. Past calendar year, he even excelled at it, recording a whopping 487 yards after the catch, good for seventh-most between receivers in the NFL’s standard year. He will keep on to have good results in the position, but it will not be the only purpose for him in Kansas Town relocating forward.

Hardman doesn’t have a great deal of knowledge acting as the team’s lead receiver with Tyreek Hill on the sidelines, but when he’s experienced the chance, he flashed. Back again in 2019, Hardman’s regular depth of focus on was 12.25 from 7 days 2 as a result of Week 5 when Hill was out with a sternoclavicular joint dislocation. This is to say that on typical, he was catching passes additional than 12 yards past the line of scrimmage. Hardman’s typical depth of focus on extrapolated over the course of a season would have been good for 36th in the NFL. Hill, who is identified as the league’s leading deep risk, has never ever experienced more than 12.9 common depth of concentrate on in a solitary time.

For reference, Marquez Valdes-Scantling has led the NFL in average depth of target in each and every of the previous two seasons (over 18 each and every time). It is really hard to consider Hardman hitting Valdes-Scantling’s numbers (primarily when they are on the very same staff), but it’s not unreasonable to feel he could at least match the league ordinary (all around 10 yards) in a period with a larger share of alternatives.

If that isn’t more than enough evidence that Hardman can excel as additional than a gadget receiver, think about how very good he is at developing separation. Previous time, Hardman’s goal separation versus man coverage ranked the second-very best in the NFL among receivers for every PlayerProfiler.com with 2.83 yards of separation for each target. Basically, in male protection scenarios in which he was focused, Hardman was receiving open up with some of the optimum frequency in the NFL.

But wait, there is even much more.

You may possibly not feel of Hardman as an elite concentrate on in the purple zone since of his dimension and skillset. He only had a 6% contested catch level past 12 months, which isn’t very excellent. But he also completed 16th in the NFL with 16 targets and 9 receptions in the pink zone. Two of people receptions resulted in touchdowns and the relaxation aided the Chiefs get into situation to place up factors.

It is understandable that people are skeptical of Hardman just after his initially a few seasons in the league. There are also a lot of good reasons to be optimistic that he can prosper in an expanded function in which he’s requested to do far more than he was in prior seasons.