Andy Reid: KC Chiefs offense will have ‘little different flavor’ without Tyreek Hill
Some NFL pundits thought the Kansas City Chiefs failed to address a glaring need in last month’s NFL Draft.
The Chiefs traded star wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in March, and he was given a massive contract extension by Miami.
Hill has elite speed, a feature that likely will be missed by the Chiefs, and some NFL media members thought KC should have moved up in the draft to get a receiver.
But coach Andy Reid told Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd he thinks the Chiefs offense will adapt without Hill and do it with a “different flavor.”
After Hill was traded, the Chiefs signed free agent receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Chiefs still have receiver Mecole Hardman and tight end Travis Kelce, and they also drafted Skyy Williams.
Reid said things will be done differently on offense and noted that teams had started to change how they played the Chiefs.
“Yeah, well, teams were kind of taking that part and negating that anyways, just with the deep coverages that we were playing,” Reid said. “So we were able to do some things underneath with Tyreek and the other guys. Kelce, obviously is a pretty good player, too. And Mecole Hardman, so we’ve got these guys coming back that can do that. We added Scantling and Juju in there, and both of those two are seasoned veteran players that are very productive.
“Before JuJu got hurt, I mean, you’re talking about 1,400 yards a year (in 2018) with that guy. You just do it with a little different flavor. What we try to do, Colin, we try to take the player’s strengths and exploit them. And then whatever weaknesses they have, we try to teach them and coach them to turn those into strengths. And so that’s what we’ll do. It’s going to be a little different, but it’ll be different with the personalities of the kids that we have now. And they’ll write their own little story to this thing.”
Alex Smith/Patrick Mahomes
In the wake of the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill’s comments on mentoring a young quarterback, Chiefs fans once again showed their gratitude toward former quarterback Alex Smith for taking Patrick Mahomes under his wing.
But Reid told Cowherd that was never asked of Smith.
“I told Alex, ‘Man go out and have the greatest year you’ve ever had and to you don’t have to teach Pat. We’re here to do that as coaches. You’re out there to go produce and win games and do the best you possibly can for your team.’ And so that’s the way we approached it with him,” Reid said. “Now Alex by nature, though, was the greatest thing that ever happened to Patrick Mahomes
“There are different ways to do this thing, whether you play the player right now or some behind a veteran player. Alex was perfect for that. Alex did let Patrick into his world without being forced on it or anything and he let Patrick in it. Patrick handled it the right way and didn’t step in the way of Alex and what he needed to produce and had respect for him. So it worked out perfect. I didn’t have to say a whole lot other than, ‘You go play and go win games, let’s go win a championship. and do the best you possibly can do at the quarterback position.’”
Here’s the entire interview.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 11:36 AM.
