‘Gotta test his feet.’ Chad Johnson wants to cover new Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman

Toward the end of the first episode of the Chiefs’ new show “The Franchise,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy talked about the upside of drafting Georgia receiver Mecole Hardman.

“This kid reminds me of Chad Johnson when he came out,” Bieniemy said in the show, which debuted Wednesday night.

A day after the episode aired, Bieniemy was asked about the comparison. He smiled at the question, as if he knew it was coming.

“You know what? Putting that pressure on Mecole. I think that’s a tremendous height to compare him to,” Bieniemy said. “But I will say this: Mecole is doing a heck of a job. He’s a smart, intelligent kid. Obviously when you come into this level, there’s some things you need to continue to work on, the speed of the game being one of them and just understanding the urgency in which we have just to get better.

“We don’t have a lot of time on the practice field, so we want to make sure we have a sense of urgency and a sense of purpose in everything that we’re doing. And he’s improving on that every single day.”

Johnson, who for a short time changed his name to Ocho Cinco, had a stellar 11-year career, including 10 seasons with the Bengals. He caught 766 passes for 11,059 yards and 67 touchdowns while making six Pro Bowls.

Now a soccer player with Boca Raton FC (he also had a trial with Sporting Kansas City in 2011), Johnson tweeted that he’d love an opportunity to see what Hardman can do on a football field.

Johnson tweeted: “yeah this is dope, i want to cover him 1 on 1, gotta test his feet.” The tweet ends with a cloud of dust, indicating Hardman’s speed. Because the tweet begins with a curse word, here is a link to it.

Now 41, Johnson ran a 4.57 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2001. Hardman was clocked at 4.33 seconds at the Combine, so Johnson may want to just watch what Hardman can do on the field.

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 9:32 AM.