Kansas City Chiefs: Mecole Hardman poised to have bigger role in 2020

By Leigh Oleszczak | Jun 12, 2020

Mecole Hardman #17 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Mecole Hardman proved he was worth the high draft pick during his rookie year. Now it’s time to build on that.

The Kansas City Chiefs spent the 56th overall pick on Mecole Hardman in last year’s draft. Hardman wasn’t a huge name coming out of Georgia and the pick was a bit surprising, but the Bulldog receiver had a nice rookie season for the Chiefs.

While not a dominant receiver, Hardman made his presence known on special teams. He handled both kick and punt returns and even though it took him until the regular season finale to return a kickoff for a touchdown, he still had big returns and was a factor there. That’s what fans mostly remembered Hardman for during 2019 was the special teams plays.

The fumbling was an issue at times for Hardman, but his big return in the AFC Divisional Round game after the Chiefs had gotten behind by so much was pivotal. That play could be argued as the turning point for the Chiefs and helped them out of that 24-0 rut.

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On offense, Hardman wasn’t a huge playmaker. He finished his rookie season hauling in 26 receptions for 538 yards and six touchdowns. His best game offensively came against the Ravens in week three when he had two receptions that went for 97 yards and a touchdown.

Hardman finished his rookie campaign with more receiving yards and touchdowns than that of Demarcus Robinson, who was arguably considered the WR3 prior to the season. Instead, Hardman outplayed him and should be the WR3 heading into 2020.

Hardman’s efforts in 2019 helped earn him the Chiefs’ Rookie of the Year honors, which was well deserved for his special team contributions alone. While special teams will still be a big part of what Hardman does in 2020, the hope now is that with a year of the Chiefs’ offense under his belt that he can contribute more on offense.

The guy is super fast and that’s exactly what drew the Chiefs to him in last year’s draft. Utilizing that speed is vital for this offense, who are always looking to fire on all cylinders.

Both Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins dealt with injuries last season (and Watkins tends to be injured more often than not) and that shows that while those are two solid wide receivers to have at one and two, Hardman needs to be prepared to step into a larger role should injuries occur.

With this being Watkins and Robinson’s last season with the Chiefs (or likely so at least), the Chiefs need to take 2020 to feed Hardman the ball more often. Mahomes never shies away from targeting whoever is open and with that blazing speed, it shouldn’t be hard to get the ball to Hardman.

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What kind of season do you expect to see from Mecole Hardman in 2020?

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