Tyreek Hill, The Kansas City Chiefs Speedster, Is Having A Career Year

Perhaps the fastest player in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill never has been more productive.

He already has more touchdowns (13) in 2020 than he’s ever had in a season. And he’s on pace to break career marks for yards and receptions. If his numbers continue at the same rate, he’d finish with 1,485 yards and 99 receptions, which would best his 1,479 and 87, respectively, from the 2018 season.

“He was already good and then he’s taken it to that next level,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “It’s a tribute to him, the hard work that he’s put in and just becoming a better overall receiver.”

Hill is coming off his best game in the 27-24 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His 269 receiving yards were the most by any receiver in the NFL this year and the second most in a single game in Chiefs history, trailing only Stephone Paige’s 309 in 1985.

His 203 yards in the first quarter were the most in any quarter since Buffalo Bills receiver Lee Evans in 2006.

The Buccaneers tried to single cover Hill with a physical cornerback, Carlton Davis, and it resulted in touchdown receptions of 75, 44 and 20 yards.

“It was man coverage with no one over the top,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “We don’t get that a lot especially with that guy and his ability. And whenever we do, we try to take advantage of it.”

The 26-year-old Hill always had elite speed. Hill ran a 4.26 40-yard dash at his college pro day. While at Coffee High in Douglas, Georgia, he ran the 200 meters in 20.14 seconds in 2012 — the second fastest high school mark at the time and one that would have placed him sixth at that year’s Olympics Games.

But the player who entered the NFL as a running back/returner has worked hard to refine his route running and hone his fundamentals like dropping his hips at the top of the route and creating separation at the line of scrimmage.

“When you put in that work and you put in the dedication and you know all the small things and details of every single thing do we in this offense when you have that much ability,” Mahomes said, “you’re able to go out there and make plays.”

Because of Hill’s playmaking ability, the Chiefs signed him to a three-year, $54 million extension last season. His yearly average of $18 million is tied for seventh in the NFL among wide receivers.

Though the contract has a potential out after this year, Kansas City has every reason to keep him through the end of the deal, which goes through the 2022 season.

After all, Hill is playing better than ever. His 1,021 receiving yards rank second in the NFL to Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, who has 1,039.

The Chiefs didn’t mention this, but Hill’s late-season surge likely has to do with his improved health. Early in the 2020 season, he was listed on the injury report with a heel injury.

Along with his physical health, his mental health seems to have improved.

Hill had a litany of issues upon entering the NFL. Oklahoma State kicked him off its football team after he was arrested in 2014, and he then pled guilty in 2015 to choking and punching his girlfriend who was eight weeks pregnant. 

And when an audio recording emerged from the same woman last season, it initially had many thinking Hill would get suspended for the whole season.

But fellow wide receiver Sammy Watkins said Hill has matured.

“Off the field, I think he has grown as a young man,” Watkins said. “You see he’s with his kids. You see he’s doing the little things around the building.”

Watkins returned against the Buccaneers after having been out with a hamstring injury since Week Five, and with him back in the lineup, it will only make Hill more difficult to contain. Defenses can’t double cover all of the Chiefs’ targets.

“Having those guys helps take the pressure off of some of the other guys that have been producing so far this year,” Mahomes said. “That’s why you’re seeing guys like (Travis) Kelce and Tyreek kind of starting to get off more and more later as the season goes on.”