Kansas City Chiefs: Top five draft picks of the last decade

NUMBER THREE

Tyreek Hill, Wide Receiver/Returner, Round 5, Pick 165, West Alabama, 2016

In three seasons in the NFL, Tyreek Hill has made the Pro Bowl three times and been named All-Pro twice. His rookie season, he led the league in punt return yardage with 592 while returning two punts for touchdowns. He added another 384 in kick return yards while returning one for a touchdown.

Even after transitioning to a more prominent role in the offense, Hill still occasionally returns punts. He has at least one punt return for touchdown in each of his three seasons.

In the offense, he went from catching 61 passes for 593 yards and six touchdowns in 2016 to hauling in 75 catches for 1,183 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017. In 2018, he bested those numbers again, finishing with 87 catches for 1,479 yards and 12 touchdowns. Plus, he’s involved in the rushing game, too, either through direct hand-offs or just his mere presence in the backfield.

That’s extraordinary value for a fifth-round pick, a great find for a guy who played his college ball at West Alabama and who was the 18th wide receiver taken in the 2016 draft. At this point, it should be at least noted, if not fully considered, why Hill fell to the fifth round, why 17 different receivers had their names called before Hill did.

Hill began his college career at Oklahoma State, but was dismissed from the team after being charged with assault against his pregnant girlfriend. He landed at West Alabama, played there for a season, and then entered the draft.

A first-round talent while a Cowboy, with the domestic violence incident hanging over his head (he pleaded guilty in 2015 and served three years’ probation before the case was dismissed), Hill fell to the fifth round.

John Dorsey, then still with the Chiefs, and presumably with Reid’s blessing, took Hill with his sixth pick of the draft. Hill has paid dividends time and time again since that questionable call.