Texans, Chiefs take different approaches for Will Fuller, Tyreek Hill

The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans are taking different approaches with their fastest offensive weapons, Tyreek Hill and Will Fuller.

The Houston Texans have made their decision: Will Fuller will stay on offense. Larry Izzo, the Texans’ special teams coach, made the announcement on Friday that the team’s best punt returner will focus on offense to expand that part of his game and stay fresh for the stretch run. It’s an interesting decision and position for the Texans considering the Chiefs had exactly the same concern—and handled it differently—with Tyreek Hill.

Last season, Fuller averaged 15.0 yards per punt return, albeit on only 11 total returns. Even in that small sample size, Fuller returned one punt for a touchdown and showed what he can do on special teams. Had he qualified, he would have finished just behind Hill (15.2) for the NFL lead. Anyone else with at least 10 punt returns also finished more than a full yard behind the pair (and even then it’s limited company).

Fuller entered the NFL as the speedy wide receiver of his draft class. Even plagued by drops at Notre Dame, poor blocking and concerns about his smaller size, Fuller was still a first round pick for the Texans at No. 21 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. He was the previous year’s version of John Ross, and teams select these weapons hoping they will turn into exactly what Fuller provided in his rookie year.

More from Arrowhead Addict

That sort of special teams return is impressive and definitely a bonus, but in the rigors of a long NFL season, especially one with realistic playoff aspirations, fatigue is going to set in for most players. In order to keep a team’s best weapons fresh, the ones that create the best mismatches a la Fuller, decisions have to be made. In this instance, Bill O’Brien’s staff have determined that Fuller should focus solely on the offense. In that way, he stays fresh for every offensive series, as much as the rest of the unit, and can focus on mastering routes, playcalling, blocking, etc.

The Chiefs faced the same decision earlier this year with Hill and came out with a different solution. The Chiefs said they would let someone else handle kick returns to ease the burden on Hill in some ways, but his dynamism on punt returns was simply too much to give up. Instead the Chiefs will keep him there while simultaneously incorporating him into the offense as the team’s version of DeSean Jackson. The move to release Jeremy Maclin only places more pressure on Hill to learn the offense and become the flexible mismatch that Andy Reid loves to employ.

It will be very interesting to chart the differences between the two sophomore campaigns to see the end results, especially as they near season’s end. Can Tyreek Hill stay fresh all year long? Will saving Fuller from special teams duty keep him electric down the stretch or are the Texans sacrificing special teams excellence? Only time will tell.

Home/Kansas City Chiefs News