Tyreek Hill embraces Chiefs’ new offense, says pairing with Mahomes was meant to be
Whether divine inspiration of the football gods or just the earthly inspiration of Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid, two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill views his pairing with second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes as destiny.
Hill, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound third-year man with freakish speed, caught a deep touchdown pass from Mahomes in the first team period of Friday’s training camp practice at Missouri Western State. The first-team offense and defense faced off in team periods for the first time in camp.
That connection between Mahomes and Hill served as the biggest offensive highlight of day and perhaps a precursor of things to come. When asked by a reporter if he felt like the match of him and Mahomes was meant to happen, Hill didn’t hesitate before replying, “Yes, it was. It was. That’s obviously why he’s here.”
Hill said he’d never played with a quarterback with Mahomes’ arm strength, and called Mahomes’ throwing ability “special.” The most interesting aspect of the Mahomes-Hill tandem will be how it fits into the larger dynamic the Chiefs have created on offense by adding Sammy Watkins to a unit that already featured a pair of 1,000-yard receivers.
The Chiefs ranked fifth in the NFL in total offense (375.4 yards per game) and sixth in scoring (25.9 points per game) last season. The consensus around Chiefs camp has been that an already highly productive offense a season ago has become more dangerous with the addition of Watkins to go along with a 1,100-yard receiver last season in Hill, a 1,300-yard rusher in Kareem Hunt, and Travis Kelce coming off a 1,000-yard receiving season from the tight end position.
Hunt, a Pro Bowl selection last year as a rookie, saw limited participation in Friday’s practice as he comes back from a hamstring injury that hampered him this offseason.
“For me, it’s still going to be the same,” Hill said. “I’m still going to be the guy that’s going to make the big plays. Sammy is going to be the guy that makes big plays also. I mean, we’ve got what it takes to go all the way. The addition of Sammy helps us. Not only me, Kelce, Kareem, we’ve got more weapons on the field now.”
But simply saying Mahomes has more options at his disposal overlooks the fact that he can only choose one option on a given play. It’s probably somewhat naive to assume a top-five offense can continue to add high-caliber skill position players and not see some drop off in individual production.
Early on, it appears that Watkins and his newly sheared head of hair may be the most likely candidate to accept a lesser role than in past seasons.
The fourth overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Watkins had the most productive first two seasons of any receiver in Buffalo Bills franchise history. After playing just eight games for Buffalo in 2016 because of injury, he ranked fourth in receptions and receiving yards for a Los Angeles Rams team that led the league in offense last season.
“You’ve got so many special guys that put up big numbers last year and the years before I got here,” Watkins said on Thursday. “It’s really just about coming in and being myself and to add my game to this team — which was already one of the top offenses. You’ve got four or five guys that are already making Pro Bowls and having 1,000-yard (seasons), leading in their positions. For me, it’s just about coming in and adding my fuel to the fire.”
If Watkins remains content and thrives as a complementary piece to Hill and Kelce, who are already established in the Chiefs passing attack, the offense could prove a dangerous and varied unit.
“One thing Sammy is learning, he’s learning how to do it our way,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “Sammy is a heck of a player, but he’s learning how to do it our way and those guys have got a great chemistry together.”
Hill indicated that offensive players have already discussed the need to sacrifice for the greater good, and they understand that individual statistics won’t be the measure of success this coming season.
“None of us are selfish,” Hill said. “All of us want to win, so we’ve already talked about it as an offense. We already know what we want. We already know what’s at hand. We just want to win man, that’s it.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 5:09 PM.