The 2020 wide receiver class is solid. Most of the players are coming back this year, they already know the schemes and have been playing together, which will be quite a big advantage coming into this Covid 19 affected season.
The Chiefs WR room returns Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman, Byron Pringle, Gehrig Dieter, and Jody Fortson (in practice squad), adding too Kalija Lipscomb, Aleva Hifo, Maurice Ffrench, Cody White, Andre Baccellia, and Justice Shelton-Mosely.
Without any doubt number one is Tyreek Hill, the West Alabama alum. For the fourth consecutive year, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill has been named to the NFL’s Top 100 list. Hill became the fourth Chiefs player added during the “The Top 100 Players of 2020” show aired by NFL Network. Hill came in at No. 22 for 2020.
His speed is going to do wonders hopefully next year too, breaking some records he has in mind.
Number two is Sammy Watkins who stayed in Kansas City this year restructuring his contract to “win more”. The restructured contract lowered Watkins’ cap hit from $21 million to $16 million, creating $5 million in salary-cap space for Kansas City.
This is what Sammy Watkins said: “I’m at the stage of my life now where at first I was like ‘Man, I want to get paid big money again,’” Watkins said. “But then I realized, ‘How much money do I need?’ My family’s taken care of well. Do I want I go to a team and lose, and get 1,000 yards or go to a team that’s sorry, whatever the case may be. Or do I want to come back with one of the best coaches, the best quarterbacks, the best organizations, the best team, the best wideout group — arguably — and come try to fight for another championship?” Culture is more important than earnings and Watkins understood that very well.
Number three spot is still a bit of a battle between 2 main players and a sleeper.
DeMarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman are certainly the two players contending to that last spot on the podium.
Robinson runs exceptional routes, and he has a big change of direction ability. However, for some reason he does not shine. His lack of consistency could be a problem, and his drops were way too many in 2019. Last year he kept Hardman at bay for the third slot and the Chiefs really like him given that they brought him back this year once again. So everything is open.
Hardman should be looking to take Robinson out as the third receiver on the Chiefs’ roster. Mecole is certainly very talented, very fast and has a great personality. But he still needs to develop as a WR, just like Tyreek Hill did as a rookie. The team will keep an eye on his growth for the 2021 season. The Chiefs opted to use more Robinson over Hardman last year, and we are all wondering if this season, Mecole will be able to make some more plays with the offense.
First and foremost, he will have to figure out how to beat press coverage at a higher rate. Secondly, Hardman will have to change his route tree entirely from a purely linear one and incorporate more horizontal and back-breaking routes. Hardman will have to learn how to walk the extra mile and sacrifice his shiny plays over the team.
Byron Pringle is right behind and could do some damage this season.
Pringle is a high-quality route runner with good size and speed, and it shows very often on the field. He is very effective as a backup and his route running makes him a high-quality special teams player and a great X factor in the offensive side of the ball.
The battle is still open. With the preparation and first training sessions being scheduled, all the young WRs will have to prove themselves and earn their spot in the roster. Who’s going to be the third WR for the Chiefs?
