Conversing with former NFL seers Terrell Owens and Matthew Hatchette on their Getcha Popcorn Ready Podcast earlier this week, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill said he has set an ambitious goal this season.
“In all of my YouTube videos, I said I wanted to get 2,000 yards of reception,” Hill told the hosts. “It’s my whole mentality. I have to stay locked up. I have to rest properly. I have to put the right things in my body. It’ll be easy then. This is my main goal – my main goal – this year because I got injured last year. I missed six games last year. “
This indeed played a role in Hill’s 2019 season. After his 2018 All-Pro season – in which he gained 1,479 yards in 16 starts – Hill had just 860 yards in 12 starts last year.
“Being injured is like the worst thing – I swear, dude,” said Hill. “Because you’re like inside of you when everyone is training. On match day, you see guys running on the wrong road – and you say to yourself, “ Man, if I had been there, I would have scored. ”
“2000 meters for me, man,” he said.
It would be quite an achievement. No NFL receiver has ever overshadowed 2,000 receiving yards – although Calvin Johnson got closer once, winning 1,964 with the Detroit Lions in 2012. Hill told Owens and Hatchette he was ready to Try the challenge.
“My first two years in the league, I was still raw,” he said. “I was still learning the wide position. I did not know how to execute the routes. I could catch the ball very well, but I didn’t know how to get out 12 yards and then come back. I didn’t know how to do this. I was always, ‘Coach, how do I do it? Do I have to go up and then take an initiation jump – or what should I do?
“And now I have transcended my game,” he said. “I know how to release. There can be no defensive back to get hold of me. I release, I catch the ball, I ride confidently with exaggerated guys – stuff like that. “
Of course, it will take more than his own skill to reach the mark he has set for himself. As long as Hill is on the field, the defenses will do their best to get him out of the mix – and he will also have to worry about competition from his own teammates like Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson. Everyone will also want to eat this season.
However, with enough big plays, Hill could have a chance to cross the 2,000 yard threshold – especially with Patrick Mahomes throwing the ball to him.
