Kansas City Chiefs expecting BIG Year Two From Mecole Hardman
Mecole Hardman was one of the most explosive athletes on Georgia's roster during his three-year career in Athens. The Elbert County, Georgia product scored a touchdown on 18.3% of his catches at Georgia and that explosive nature continued in his first season in the NFL.
Hardman averaged 18.9 yards per reception in 2019 which placed him third in the NFL in that category. He also set an NFL record, becoming the first rookie in NFL history to not only have a TD reception of 80 yards or more but also having a kick return for a TD of 100 yards or more.
And as he begins his sophomore campaign in Kansas City on Thursday night, the Chiefs' front office is expecting big things out of Hardman in year two with the team.
"As the year went on, he got better and better and he got more confidence back there. Of course, we’ve got to block people up, I mean this group this week that we’re playing, they were number one in the league in kickoff coverage last year and kickoff and punt return too as well. So, we’ve got a good group coming in here, so we have to do a good job blocking. But he got better and better as the year went on last year and it kind of culminated in that game against Houston (Texans) with that 56-yard return that propelled us and kind of got us going in the right direction. So, you know he’s ready to take that next step. We’ve talked about it and I’m really, really excited about his future.” - Chiefs' ST Coordinator, Dave Toub.
Toub is expecting to see Hardman become even more explosive in the return game in year two, as he grows into his role as a slot receiver with the Chiefs.
Hardman made the pro-bowl in year one as a return specialist, and the Chiefs are expecting him to improve even more on the league-leading 704 return yards from a year ago.
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