the ongoing situation with Tyreek Hill Khalen Saunders Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , but the rookie wide receiver isn’t looking for any comparison."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Kansas City Chiefs NewsOpen ThreadsFull ArchiveLibrary Community GuidelinesContact InformationOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Forget the comparisons to Tyreek Hill—Mecole Hardman wants to be Mecole HardmanNew,60commentsThe Chiefs may have traded up for Hardman because of the ongoing situation with Tyreek Hill, but the rookie wide receiver isn’t looking for any comparison.CDTShareTweetShareShareForget the comparisons to Tyreek Hill—Mecole Hardman wants to be Mecole HardmanNFL fans and analysts have been quick to compare Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Mecole Hardman to Tyreek Hill. And why wouldn’t they?Hardman, 21, offers similar blazing speed, he is a project coming out of college at the WR position, and the Chiefs traded up in the second round of the NFL Draft to get him with Hill not currently partaking in any team activities.But unlike everybody else, Hardman does not see himself as the next Hill or a possible replacement. He is too busy working on becoming the first Mecole Hardman.“Right now, I feel like I’m just myself,” Hardman said, when asked how he compared to Hill ahead of the team’s first rookie minicamp practice on Saturday. “I think I’m Mecole Hardman. I think I can do things that I want to do, and I’m just going to leave it at that.”The youngest player at rookie minicampThe Chiefs have already said that Hardman will play a role for them on special teams in 2019. According to Brett Veach, special teams coordinator Dave Toub called Hardman the closest thing to Devin Hester he has seen in a long time. And while that may be his role once the veterans arrive, this weekend’s rookie minicamp allows him to showcase what he can do as a receiver.“The first thought is to get [the playbook] down, simplify it for yourself,” Hardman said. “The quicker you can learn, the quicker you can play. The more you can play, the more confident you play. So Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys 2019 , it was fun being out there with the coaches learning the playbook. It’s coming easy right now, hopefully I can get it down to where I can play fast and confident.”“At Georgia, they run the football a lot, so there are some technical aspects that he needs to work on,” Veach said of Hardman on day two of the draft. “I think you see all the skills you need to see. He is smooth in and out of his break, he has great transitional quickness. And then he can just run. Really, you can’t coach speed. You can coach a lot of things. Our coaching staff does a great job of getting receivers and getting the most out of them, but at the end of the day, you can either run or you can’t run. And he has something that you can’t coach. His ability to take a simple bubble screen 80 or 90 yards is exciting. His ability to flip position on the kick return game and punt return game is exciting, so I am sure coach (Andy) Reid will have a lot of fun with him.” Reid explained that the way you begin to teach a player like Hardman how to be a pro receiver is by starting in team walkthroughs.“You can see right away,” Reid said. “You can see if a guy drops his arms even walking through it and he gets out there and all of sudden your percentages of opportunities to catch the football go way down. Little things like that. You talk to them about breaks and walk them through exactly how you do the break. Then you get out and you practice. “One advantage that these guys have is they have Greg Lewis coaching them. Greg played in the National Football League and in this offense, so he’s got experience. How valuable is that? That’s a phenomenal thing to have in position if you’re a wide receiver for a guy to come in here and go I know exactly how this works. I know the timing of the quarterback to you, I know exactly how you’re going to set this route up to be beneficial for the offense.”The other benefit Hardman will have is playing with the league’s Most Valuable Player in Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes’ arm strength rivals any other quarterback in the NFL, meaning he can take full advantage of Hardman’s ability to get behind receivers.“Any receiver would be happy to be with him,” Hardman said of Mahomes. “He’s a great quarterback. Hopefully we can get some good chemistry together and hopefully he can throw me open, throw me some routes and we just keep that thing going. I’m happy to be with him.”Hardman said he spoke to Mahomes shortly after he was drafted.“I think he’s excited as well—just ready to get the ball moving.” Tyreek Hill walked off the field holding his wrist Sunday and Kansas City Chiefs fans held their collective breath, only to exhale when their star wide receiver checked back into the game.They held it again when Hill hobbled to the sideline with a foot injury.But in a back-and-forth game with significant playoff ramifications, there was no way Hill was going to stay there.He limped back into the game in time to catch Patrick Mahomes‘ 40-yard heave on fourth-and-long to keep the Chiefs alive Khalen Saunders black jersey , then caught three more passes in overtime 鈥?all for first downs 鈥?to set the Chiefs up for the eventual winning field goal against Baltimore.“He’s a fighter,” Mahomes said afterward. “He was hobbled, but you’ve seen this whole season that it’s not just speed now. It’s his route-running, and he knows how to get himself open without speed.”Oh, the speed is still there. Even after the pain in his foot briefly sent him to the sideline, Hill was still the fastest player on the field the moment he stepped back on it.But in addition to his toughness, he also showed how well-rounded he’s become this season.The deep throw from Mahomes was in some ways a wing-and-a-prayer, the kind of ball you throw when you run out of better options. Hill acted like a center fielder as he came back to the ball, tracking it all the way into his hands while a pair of Ravens tried to break it up.“He’s still fast as all get-out,” Mahomes said, “but just being able to get himself open whenever he is a little bit more limited in that situation, it’s a special thing.”Hill finished the game with eight catches for 139 yards, his fifth 100-yard receiving game this season. He now has 1,258 yards to match Tony Gonzalez for the fourth-best single season in franchise history, and he needs just 134 yards to pass Derrick Alexander for the record.That could come as early as Thursday night, when the Chiefs (11-2) try to clinch the AFC West and a first-round playoff bye against the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium.“This kid never complains about anything and he practices hard every day,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He was banged up a little bit (against Baltimore) and he worked his way through it, came back and made some big plays for us. You love his attitude. He’s another one that is unique.”His attitude may have been the biggest question surrounding Hill coming out of college.He was kicked off the team at Oklahoma State after pleading guilty to domestic assault of his then-pregnant girlfriend. He wound up finishing his college career at West Alabama Khalen Saunders Jersey Mens , and went through counseling and other requirements that convinced the Chiefs to give him a chance.Hill has rewarded them for it, becoming not only one of the most electrifying players in the NFL, but doing so with a positive attitude that has endeared him to many skeptical fans.“Just making plays for the team,” he said with a shrug.Hill also shrugged off any notion that he would have remained out of the game against Baltimore, and he left no doubt that he would be ready for the Chargers. The wrist injury was minor, and the foot was something he was able to play through, and there wasn’t a whole lot more to say.“I was always taught, no matter the circumstances, these are my brothers,” he said, “and they would do the same thing for me.”Notes: OL Cam Erving (knee), WR Sammy Watkins (foot) and RB Spencer Ware (hamstring) did not practice Tuesday. … Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton declined to confirm whether safety Eric Berry would make his season debut Thursday night, but he did sound as if it’s possible. “A lot of times a guy that has missed a lot of time, you have to be careful,” he said. “They don’t usually want to come out.” … Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said it’s likely WR Kelvin Benjamin would make his Chiefs debut after signing late last week. “We’re bringing him along slowly,” Bieniemy said, “but we want him to see the entire package and understand the entire package.”