Mecole Hardman comes up big for KC Chiefs in Divisional Round

It’s that time of year, the NFL Playoffs, where we learn just why certain players made the roster, and it now makes sense why general managers across the league didn’t cater to our mock trades of that “one” player.

Such has been the case for Mecole Hardman. Hardman has been thrown under the bus as of late, with many fans and pundits alike calling for other wide receivers to jump over him on the depth chart. Whether it was Josh Gordon or Byron Pringle at the time, Hardman seemingly wasn’t doing enough for this Chiefs offense.

Honestly, most of these fans looked to be correct, given how Hardman had underperformed the last two seasons as a fringe 3rd/4th wide receiver on the depth chart. Hardman showed flashes of improvement upon Watkins’s departure as quickly as this preseason and had a career-high in receiving yards this year by over 130 yards.

While Hardman won’t likely ever be a #1 receiver in this Chiefs offense, he provides a much-needed spark, and his speed and quickness keep defenses honest. This was very much the case in Sunday night’s Divisional Round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. Of course, Hardman’s stats in this game don’t launch off the screen at you with much more impressive box score showings from Hill, Kelce, McKinnon, and Pringle in the passing game.

Mecole Hardman came up big for the KC Chiefs on Sunday night.

However, with the game in the balance, and both offenses going back and forth, Hardman took a handoff from Patrick Mahomes along the left side for a 26-yard score to put the Chiefs up. Hardman getting a handoff on a jet sweep isn’t new, but when someone like Tyreek Hill motions, teams pay attention and are prepared to buy what Hill is selling.

Using Hardman in this way allows him to make the most of defenses not necessarily keying in on him. Plays like these are how Hardman should be utilized moving forward in his Chiefs career. He isn’t going to be Tyreek Hill, but he can be the best version of himself when given runs, jet sweeps, and trick plays to keep defenses honest and to not always look to Hill and Kelce.

Hardman was looked to again in overtime after an insane sequence at the end of regulation led to Harrison Butker’s game-tying field goal. The Chiefs won the OT coin toss and took the ball. On 2nd-and-6 from the 34-yard line, Hardman sprung open on a crossing route for 26 yards to set up the game-winning pass from Mahomes to Kelce to clinch Kansas City’s fourth straight AFC Championship appearance.

While Hardman only had two carries and one catch in this game for a total of 57 yards, he proved he doesn’t need a large workload to do great things. Mahomes looking his way in OT with the game very much in the balance proves that there is confidence in Hardman moving forward, and I for one think this means great things for the rest of these playoffs. Hardman’s fourth season is his final on his rookie contract next year in 2022.

Of course, Hardman is no Deebo Samuel, and it would be a disservice to both players to compare them in that way. But, there is a great opportunity here to use Hardman in a very Samuel-esque way that could provide a lot of maneuverability and creativity in this offense moving forward.