I’m not a big Mecole Hardman fan. He caught only 1 pass with the Jets, who were looking to get rid of him. But Hardman is back in Kansas City, and Andy Reid indicates he expects Hardman will play on Sunday.
That won’t necessarily amount to much. They’ve got a bunch of other wide receivers, and I expect Hardman will be mixed into that rotation, catching a ball or two.
At the same time, Hardman knows that offense and has worked with Patrick Mahomes in the past. And his numbers from 2022 are a little better than I remembered them.
Hardman played in eight regular season games last year, and he scored 6 touchdowns in those games (including a pair of rushing touchdowns at San Francisco). He caught touchdowns in each of his last three regular-season games for them.
Hardman’s best season with Kansas City came back in 2019, when he was a deep-threat rookie. He averaged 20.7 yards on his 26 catches that year, with 6 TDs. He also scored on a kickoff return that year.
I’m not suggesting anyone should be picking up Hardman. Rashee Rice, I think, is the wide receiver who might emerge. But Hardman looks good enough that I’m thinking there will be a few weeks that he’s a contributor for them.
| HARDMAN WITH KANSAS CITY (2022) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Rushing |
| at Ariz. | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 1 | 0-0-0 |
| LAC | 3 | 49 | 16.3 | 0 | 1-(-4)-0 |
| at Ind. | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| at T.B. | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| L.V. | 4 | 73 | 18.3 | 0 | 1-7-0 |
| Buff. | 3 | 42 | 14.0 | 1 | 0-0-0 |
| at S.F. | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 1 | 2-28-2 |
| Tenn. | 6 | 79 | 13.2 | 1 | 0-0-0 |
| Cin. | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 0 | 2-7-0 |
—Ian Allan