Mecole Hardman brings speed, special teams acumen to Kansas City Chiefs

After the selection of Mecole Hardman in the second round, the Kansas City Chiefs largely received a positive reaction from fans and analysts.

With their first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs decided to jump up a few picks in a trade in order to secure one primary thing: speed.

Mecole Hardman was the official pick, a wide receiver out of Georgia, and while the college production was not what you might expect for a receiver who trumped D.K. Metcalf, Hakeem Butler and others at the position, he is as fast as anyone at wideout to go with electric special teams ability.

The selection of Hardman will allow the Chiefs to continue to boast a dynamic offense no matter what happens with Tyreek Hill. In fact, this pick is a direct connection given Hill’s head-turning ability to not only stretch the field and create mismatches in space but to also take the ball to the house on every punt return.

It’s a shame the Chiefs had to think in terms of replacement, but given the fact that they had a historic offense, Brett Veach is willing to do what it takes to keep those wheels in motion.

As for a response, Twitter was largely positive. Wide receiver was a major need for the Chiefs (and could still be a good place for the team to invest) and Hardman cements that speed even as he likely needs to grow into a top flight wide receiver. If that sounds familiar, well it is. Georgia is a run-heavy offense, which means Hardman has some learning to do with Patrick Mahomes under center, but Andy Reid has coached up this sort of talent before.

Here’s a cross-section of the reaction to the pick: