Quote:
Originally Posted by dirk digler
I mostly agree with you, but I did see some red flags with Hill last year and that was his drops. I think he was responsible for 4-5 of Mahomes INT's.
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I think it's more that Hill doesn't have a tremendous catch radius than him losing physical ability.
With the way teams were defending him, he had to turn into more of a short and intermediate receiver. On those throws, his elite tracking ability isn't as big a factor, and there is just more traffic to fight through to complete the catch.
So the fact his catch radius is limited by his physical stature led to him reaching outside his frame more than a regular-sized receiver would, which led to tipped balls and INTs.
If teams are going to sit in a cover 2 deep shell against a Mahomes-Hill combo, that means you either run his ass off on decoy deep routes all day, or try to use him in a way that is not ideal for his skill set.
With the changes KC has made at receiver, Mahomes IS going to have better, larger targets underneath with larger catch radii. If the threat of Valdes-Scantling and Hardman keeps teams in the shell, I believe we'll really see that pay off.
All comes down to whether teams continue to sit in the shell to protect against the deep ball. I think they will.
Hopefully the Chiefs are also less stubborn about running against those super light boxes, too.