Senior NFL Insider Takes Shot at Tyreek Hill for Patrick Mahomes

Despite the former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver running his mouth a bit over the offseason, Patrick Mahomes II and his teammates have continued to take the high road when it comes to questions regarding Tyreek Hill.

Travis Kelce actually called him the best wideout in the NFL during the debut episode of his podcast, “New Heights,” and Mahomes refuses to say a bad word about him. That’s not to say Hill has been critical of his old quarterback — aside from the Tua Tagovailoa comparisons — but he’s made it clear where his allegiances lie now that he’s in Miami.

Both Mahomes and Hill are off to a fast start without one another but since the humble signal-caller won’t talk up his own play, long-time NFL columnist Peter King decided to do it for him.

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Peter King Fires Shot at Tyreek Hill for Patrick Mahomes

The football insider joined Kay Adams on her new show, “Up & Adams,” and he fired a shot a Hill so that Mahomes didn’t have to.

“Right now, post-Tyreek Hill, look at Patrick Mahomes,” King began. “Seven touchdowns, no interceptions, six different receivers. Kay I have a feeling that it’s nothing that Patrick Mahomes will ever say — or Andy Reid will ever say — but I do think they’re saying to Tyreek Hill, ‘hey you know what, we weren’t a one-man team last year we’ll be fine [without you].'”

“It Needed To Be Said” podcast, you’ve been warned, and King is the man aiming the cannon.

He’s right too, Mahomes and Reid would never say anything that might disparage Hill. He’s also right that this offense has been perfectly fine — and potentially better — without the dynamic talent on the roster.

Of course, as we mentioned in the open, Hill hasn’t done too poorly on his own either. In just two games, the ex-Chief has caught 19 of his 25 targets for 284 yards and two touchdowns.

He’s also helped Jaylen Waddle turn Tagovailoa into a top-ranked quarterback, statistically speaking. Through two starts, the Miami Dolphins passer has actually thrown for more yards (739) than Mahomes with the same amount of touchdowns. The difference is that he’s turned the ball over three times with two interceptions and one fumble.

Both franchises are tied atop the AFC with a 2-0 record.

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Patrick Mahomes Has Improved in Certain Areas

Diving into Mahomes’ analytics in 2022, he’s actually elevated his game in several areas. One has been his efficiency.

Without the lower conversion deep shots to Hill, Mahomes’ completion percentage is at a career-high 73%. His yearly completion percentage before 2022 has always hovered right around 66%.

Obviously, with an interception rate of zero so far this season, Mahomes has improved in that statistic as well. The Chiefs QB did come close to throwing a few picks versus the Los Angeles Chargers but was fortunate that one or two were dropped.

This is also the highest percentage of touchdowns thrown that Mahomes has ever produced at 9.5%. He threw for a career-high 8.6% touchdown rate during his MVP campaign in 2018.

Finally, KC’s offense has aided their trusty leader in a career-low percentage of times sacked, at 1.3%. While this is somewhat of a team stat, you could argue that Mahomes has been getting the ball out faster when he’s not looking for Hill.

King supported this being more of a QB accomplishment in his Week 2 column, citing Next Gen Stats in noting that Mahomes is “getting pressured far more this season so far” (0.21 fewer seconds to throw per pass and an insanely high blitz percentage of 45.3 compared to 12.0 in 2021).

“It’s almost like he likes being rushed,” King wrote, “because with fewer bodies in coverage, he has a better chance to find a receiver quicker.”

Again, none of this is a negative against “the Cheetah,” we’re just following King’s lead in talking that talk for Mahomes.

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