KC Chiefs need Mecole Hardman to overtake Sammy Watkins in 2020
The Chiefs need Mecole Hardman to step up with key losses coming next offseason.
The Kansas City Chiefs and general manager Brett Veach are gambling on the future of their potential dynasty, and one cannot blame them for that. When you’re building a roster such as this, gambles have to be taken in multiple places throughout the roster.
Over the last few seasons, the Chiefs have gambled by not investing heavily in the cornerback position. The team traded All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters, and then chose not to resign Kendall Fuller in free agency this offseason. At the same time, no draft pick in the top 100 selections has been invested in the position, and there has not been a single free agent signing which counts for more than $2.5m against the salary cap (e.g. no high profile or big time resume signings). So far it has worked.
Kansas City will be doing this again, at many spots, as the years go on, and the wide receiver position may be next up on the list of “big gambles”. The team is counting on second-year wideout Mecole Hardman to not only be better in 2020 than he was in 2019; they’re counting on him to turn into a true WR2 for one of the most prolific offenses in football.
In 2019, Hardman had 26 receptions on 40 targets for 538 yards and 6 touchdowns. Those are solid numbers, especially the average of 20.7 yards/catch, but it also indicates that his load share was not close to rivaling current WR2 Sammy Watkins, who had 52 receptions on 90 targets. What Kansas City needs is for Hardman’s play to justify receiving more snaps than Watkins. Hardman played on 46% of offensive snaps a season ago, while Watkins played on 70%.
If Kansas City is going to keep the dynasty going, their young guys on rookie contracts must step up and play at elite levels during their first contracts before they become cost-prohibitive. Watkins renegotiated his deal to stay in K.C. this season, but still counts for over $17M against the salary cap. The reality is that this team, moving forward, will not be able to afford two top six wide receiver contracts—not with everyone else they have to pay.
In order for them to move on from Watkins (or in the future, Tyreek Hill), their young players have to be reliable replacements. If this dynasty is going to succeed in the long run, Hardman, and young players like him, must take snaps from (before overtaking) the guys ahead of them on the roster. Kansas City has to feel comfortable moving on from high-priced veterans in favor of younger, cost-controlled players or the entire project is unsustainable. See the Los Angeles Rams (and countless others) as an example of overpaying too many pricey veterans.
Inversely, the Patriots have shown us time and time again that moving on from players before they get too expensive or old is imperative to building a winning roster year in and year out.
Hardman should have an excellent 2020 season. But what’s more, the Chiefs need “The Jet” to really takeoff. If the Chiefs are making a push to re-sign Watkins next March, it will be the first bad sign as it relates to building football’s next great dynasty.
Chiefs Trivia
Each week’s column will feature a trivia question related to the Kansas City Chiefs. Challenge yourself by coming up with the correct response without looking it up! Enter for a chance to win a Chiefs prize via either Facebook or Twitter Direct/Private Messaging. Must retweet or share the column on your personal page, and provide the correct answer via PM/DM, to be eligible. Winner will be chosen at random on Saturday.
Last week’s winner was Cheryl Britain who received a Chiefs game used jersey card for correctly identifying Pro Football Hall of Famer Will Shields as the Chiefs former Chief with a club record 12 Pro Bowl appearances in his career.
This week’s question trivia is: In 2006, Larry Johnson set an NFL record for most number of carries in a single season. How many did he have? (all answers within 10 carries either way will be counted as correct)
Reader Question
Each week, we’ll answer a question or two from readers about our team. These can be about any topic related to the Chiefs, send me a question via DM (@kthomps58) or via PM on Facebook.
This week’s question comes from Jeffrey Schmidt of Cleveland, Ohio. Jeffrey asks:
With both Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones now signed to long term contract, what will the Chiefs most difficult decision be in the 2021 offseason?
Great question! To me, the biggest question that general manager Brett Veach will have to grapple with next offseason is what to do with the future of the offensive tackles. Kansas City will have many difficult decisions to make in the next four years because of the salary cap, and it all starts with their bookend tackles.
Left tackle Eric Fisher is set to count $14.7m against the cap, but the team can save over $11m by cutting him. Then again, he’ll be just 30 years old and could be in line for an extension. On the right side, All-Pro Mitchell Schwartz will count $10m against the cap, and the team would save $6.25m by cutting him. At 32, he could also still conceivably sign an extension with the team.
The Chiefs drafted tackle Lucas Niang in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the hopes that he would be able to fill in for one of those places in the 2021 season. His development, as such, will be very important to Veach’s decision next March. Either way, it would be surprising if Kansas City kept both tackles long term, and that will be the biggest decision of the next offseason, to me.
Chiefs Fact of the Week
The Kansas City Chiefs have only 10 postseason wins in their 60 year history; that number ranks 23rd in league history. The New England Patriots have the most with 37.
Chiefs Record of the Week
Hall of Fame head coach Hank Stram owns the Chiefs record for most number of wins as a head coach in Kansas City with 129. Marty Schottenheimer finished with 104 wins in Kansas City and is second. Current head coach and future Hall of Famer Andy Reid is currently third and has 82 wins with the Chiefs, but with just 112 games coached in K.C., has the highest winning percentage of them all at 68.8%. Reid is also tied with Stram for the most playoff wins with five.
Random Fact of the Week
The scientific term for brain freeze is “sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia”. (No, I can’t pronounce it either.)
Sports Quote of the Week
“It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.” ~Mia Hamm
Oddball Sport of the Week
Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy, February 22-25, 2020
"A draw for Italians and ever-more global visitors, this crazy, colorful competition is like no other. Register to join an officially branded team and let the battle begin in the town square. More than 100,000 spectators watch teams use their best throwing arm to pelt oranges at carts filled with teams that pelt oranges right back at them. These battles represent the reenactment of a Napoleonic civil war that was waged in Ivrea’s beautiful medieval streets.The crazy three-day event surely will leave you sore, covered in pectin and smelling like oranges. The Battle of the Oranges also includes brightly-costumed parades, musical and folk groups and the amazing food and hospitality for which Italians are rightly renowned."