What's wrong with Mecole Hardman - Part 2

[dlphg9]

Spoiler alert!

Nothing is wrong with him! Unless you consider Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce as being a problem.

Mecole was 3rd on the team in targets (62), rec yards (560), and rec TDs (4). Those stats are right in line with any other teams 3rd most productive receiver and none of those other teams had 2 guys that were 1st team AP in front of that guy.

Green Bay Packers #1 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Robert Tonyan - 59 targets, 52 rec, 586 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 212
Rec - 148
Yards - 2064

Buffalo Bills #2 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Gabriel Davis - 62 targets, 35 rec, 599 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 273
Rec - 209
Yards - 2502

Tampa Bay Buccaneers #3 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Rob Gronkowski - 77 targets, 45 rec, 623 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 193
Rec - 135
Yards - 1846

Tennessee Titans #4 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Jonnu Smith - 65 targets, 41 rec, 448 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 198
Rec - 135
Yards - 2059

New Orleans Saints #5 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Jared Cook - 60 targets, 37 rec, 504 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 189
Rec - 144
Yards - 1482

Baltimore Ravens #7 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Willie Snead - 48 targets, 33 rec, 432 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 188
Rec - 116
Yards - 1470

Seattle Seahawks #8 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
David Moore - 47 targets, 35 rec, 417 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 261
Rec - 183
Yards - 2357

Indianapolis Colts #9 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Michael Pittman Jr. - 61 targets, 40 rec, 503 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 164
Rec - 99
Yards - 1391

Las Vegas Raiders #10 ranked scoring offense
3rd most productive receiving option
Hunter Renfrow - 77 targets, 56 rec, 656 yds

Top 2 options
Targets - 227
Rec - 155
Yards - 2092

Average for top 10 scoring offense's 3rd most productive receiving option :

Targets - 62
Receptions - 41
Yards - 530

Average for top 10 scoring offense's top 2 most productive receiving options combined :

Targets - 212
Receptions - 147
Yards - 1918


This is how Hardman stacks up against the other teams 3rd receiving option

Targets - 62 (62 avg)
Receptions - 41 (41 avg)
Yards - 560 (530 avg)

Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce combined

Targets - 280 (most in group)
Receptions - 192 (2nd most in group)
Yards - 2692 (most in group)

So what we can see from these stats above is that nothing is up with Mecole Hardman. His targets and reception matched the average of the 9 other top offenses 3rd receiving option and he was above average in yards, but the big huge difference is Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill just happen to be on the same team as him. Those two have 68 more combined targets, 45 more combined receptions, and 774 more combined yards than the others teams top 2 receiving threats.

TLDR;

Nothing is wrong, he's right in line with the other teams 3rd most productive pass catchers. Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are monsters and the best pass catching duo in a long ass time.

PS:

Seriously Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are so good! There was only 11 QBs with more TD passes than those 2 had receiving TDs.

PSS:

****ing Cam Newton started 15 games and had 45 less passing yards than Hill and Kelce had rec yards in the same amount of games!

PSSS:

****ing MVP Lamar had 65 more passing yards than Hill and Kelce had rec yards and they tied for the same amount of passing TDs to receiving TDs.

[O.city]

The whole time people were bitching about the #2 WR here, it was always gonna be this way.

Hill and Kelce suck up targets as they should.

[MahomesMagic]

The tough thing about Hardman was there were incredibly gifted WR's still on the board.

Imagine if we had Terry McLaurin?

Hill, McLaurin, Kelce ...

I think Veach fixes this next draft/free agency.


Darnell Mooney went in the 5th last year and he is better than Mecole.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Hardman sucks, CEH sucks, wasted a 1st for clark, brown looks average. I miss Dorsey

DK Metcalf, Kareem Hunt, Frank Clark helped in the Super Bowl run, 49ers weren’t going to lose Trent Williams.


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[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Even if Hardman just is who he is, he still adds value on a cheap rookie deal.

You certainly don’t want to pay him to be anything more than that, but he’s still a solid asset for these last 2 years.

You can’t expect a HR with every day 2 pick. Hitting a single or a double every now and then is still much better than striking out.

Just look at some of the other WR’s taken that year after him like Parris Campbell and JJ Arcega-Whiteside.

Yes. Hardman is a hustle double right now. He played a critical role in the Super Bowl run (big plays/explosion while Hill was out, return game, huge return against the Texans), critical enough you can make a case they fall short without him.

Originally Posted by Easy 6

God forbid we lose Hill or Kelce for any significant time, or Jones for that matter

Most offenses would take a step down if they lost their #1 or #2 WR. Also, the last time one of them missed significant action (Hill in 2019) Hardman slid into that role and had good production.

Originally Posted by O.city

The whole time people were bitching about the #2 WR here, it was always gonna be this way.

Hill and Kelce suck up targets as they should.

This is a simple concept. People seem to overlook it. If Travis Kelce was a WR and Hardman was a TE, would people freak out about his production?

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

The tough thing about Hardman was there were incredibly gifted WR's still on the board.

Imagine if we had Terry McLaurin?

Hill, McLaurin, Kelce ...

I think Veach fixes this next draft/free agency.


Darnell Mooney went in the 5th last year and he is better than Mecole.

If the Chiefs had Terry McLaurin, Chiefs fans still wouldn't be happy with his production because he'd been getting 5-6 targets a game.

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by staylor26

Holy shit this is ****ing stupid.

Let’s just ignore Humphrey, Bolton, Sneed, Thornhill, Smith, Niang, Hughes etc. and focus on the bad huh?

And if you consider the Clark a “waste” then you have very little respect for the role he played in our SB.

Also, Brown is above average. He’s Erich Fisher with a different skill set and a little bit better of a run blocker.

We have no idea how half of those players will turn out. I'm pretty optimistic about a few of them but who knows. Brown is a better run blocker and poorer at pass protection than Fisher, but he's young, he'll get better.

[Bill Brasky]

Will people ever stop bringing up DK Metcalf instead of Harman? Maybe one day we can dream.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Bill Brasky

Will people ever stop bringing up DK Metcalf instead of Harman? Maybe one day we can dream.

Probably about the time when people start forgetting about Dan Marino instead of Todd Blackledge.


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[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Most offenses would take a step down if they lost their #1 or #2 WR. Also, the last time one of them missed significant action (Hill in 2019) Hardman slid into that role and had good production.

I fear we would step down farther than most

Hardman thus far remains hit and miss, we know what DRob is, and who knows with Kemp and Pringle... they might be able to elevate their ceiling, but we haven't seen them do it yet

Definitely in agreement with those saying the WR and DE rooms are gonna look a LOT different next year

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Yes. Hardman is a hustle double right now. He played a critical role in the Super Bowl run (big plays/explosion while Hill was out, return game, huge return against the Texans), critical enough you can make a case they fall short without him.



Most offenses would take a step down if they lost their #1 or #2 WR. Also, the last time one of them missed significant action (Hill in 2019) Hardman slid into that role and had good production.



This is a simple concept. People seem to overlook it. If Travis Kelce was a WR and Hardman was a TE, would people freak out about his production?



If the Chiefs had Terry McLaurin, Chiefs fans still wouldn't be happy with his production because he'd been getting 5-6 targets a game.

If the Chiefs has Mclaurin there would be question mark who our #2 WR is.

Mecole isn't even better than Chris Conley who we let go of a few years ago.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

If the Chiefs has Mclaurin there would be question mark who our #2 WR is.

Mecole isn't even better than Chris Conley who we let go of a few years ago.

Would you take targets away from Hill or Kelce to give to him if he were here?

Thats the question we need to think about. In order to take touches away from those two, you need to be able to show it that way.

[JakeF]

Originally Posted by O.city

The whole time people were bitching about the #2 WR here, it was always gonna be this way.

Hill and Kelce suck up targets as they should.

If Alex Smith was still here, you would be blaming him for Hardman's production. Now people are saying that Mahomes doesn't want to throw the ball to Hardman? There's not enough footballs for more than 2 targets? Smh

I think Mahomes would love to spread the ball around more. Defenses are able to focus so much on Hill and Kelce because we don't have anyone else. Throwing to Hill/Kelce would be easier for Mahomes if Hardman was a legit weapon. Mahomes didn't have a problem throwing it to a healthy Watkins. We haven't seen that same firepower with Hardman in there.

People need to stop making excuses for Hardman. If he can't make it work with a HOF Quarterback then he's in trouble.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Yeah, that was just ignorant.

That was on the same level as DRob never running north-south when he makes a catch.

Speaking of that, did anyone see Mahomes tell Robinson to run up field after he didn't get a first down? Robinson ran parallel to the line to gain, and Mahomes threw his arm out as if to say run that way dummy.

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It's completely unfair to compare Robinson to a first ballot HoFer, but did anyone else notice what Kelce did on the go-ahead touchdown?

As he's catching the ball he's keeping his shoulders square to secure the catch but he's setting his feet to start his turn upfield even as he's bringing the ball in. He knows where he is on the field and what he needs to do. He executed it so flawlessly that the DB got caught off-guard, delivered a bit of a glancing shot and Kelce could crash into the next guy to power into the end zone.

It looks like a pretty basic TD but if Kelce didn't do exactly what he did there, he's probably down at the 3. It was his footwork that made that possible. I'll try to find the clip.

[DJ's left nut]

Here's the touchdown - the 'quarterback view' is the best one to demonstrate it. Look at about the 36 second mark how he pivots his hips and sets his feet to turn upfield and deliver a blow before the ball gets there. It's brilliant stuff.

Mahomes. Kelce. The @Chiefs take the lead! #ChiefsKingdom

��: #CLEvsKC on CBS
��: NFL app pic.twitter.com/OreaPoNQHU

— NFL (@NFL) September 12, 2021

Now again, I'm not saying that Robinson needs to be this good at that sort of thing, but it demonstrates how important those little things can be (and how obscenely good Kelce is at it).

[-King-]

Originally Posted by O.city

The whole time people were bitching about the #2 WR here, it was always gonna be this way.

Hill and Kelce suck up targets as they should.

Sure but when Sammy was here, if he played all 16 games, he was a 90-100 target guy. I don't think hill and Kelce get so many targets just because they're the best, but also because they're literally the only guys Mahomes can count on. If he could he would throw them the ball just like he did when Sammy was healthy.

[KChiefs1]

Is Hardman as good as a healthy Sammy Watkins?


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