Mecole Hardman inherits a golden opportunity with the Chiefs

With Hill out several weeks, all of the mental preparation Hardman made to be a starter will now come to fruition. Hardman will be down the priority list for Raiders’ defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. Established weapons like Watkins and Travis Kelce will be a more pressing discussion for the Oakland staff as they prepare for Sunday’s tilt. Oakland will also have to account for Chiefs running backs Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy, who both made an impact in the running game as well as the passing game at Jacksonville.

Hardman, meanwhile, will most likely be left with single coverage. The Raiders will be short-handed in their secondary without safety Johnathan Abram (rotator cuff/labrum) and the status of cornerback Gareon Conley (questionable with a neck injury) still up in the air. At Jacksonville we saw Hardman motioning in pre-snap adjustments most of the afternoon, in the same way the team used Hill. Hardman was only targeted once, on a bubble screen, but if we know Andy Reid, he’ll want to put his rookie on display with a full week of preparation in the gameplan.

The way Mahomes spreads the ball around to his receivers, it’s a question of when, not if, Hardman will get the ball in space. It’s also possible we’ll see Hardman line up in the backfield, where Hill took a few snaps against the Jaguars. That may have been a scheme specifically designed to throw a wrench into Jacksonville’s plan to have Jalen Ramsey shadow Hill, but it remains to be seen if if that wrinkle is a more permanent staple to Kansas City’s gameplan.

Reid won’t want to spread Hardman too thin. We can expect to see Tremon Smith and De’Anthony Thomas hold down returner roles while Hardman focuses solely on the offense. Kansas City will have to do everything they can to preserve the health of their receivers, with only Watkins, Hardman, Thomas and Demarcus Robinson active. One way Reid can do this is by utilizing two-tight end sets and possibly even dusting off his 2014 playbook and using his three-tight end sets. With left tackle Eric Fisher’s status up in the air (questionable with Friday’s groin injury), the Chiefs are even more likely to use tight ends Blake Bell and Deon Yelder to help protect Mahomes.

The Chiefs have some favorable matchups against opposing secondaries coming up in the next several weeks, and there is no better offensive machine in the world than the one at 1 Arrowhead Drive. After a summer filled with questions for Chiefs wide receivers, those days are behind us. The time is now, and the opportunity is ripe for the speedster from Georgia.