The Kansas City Chiefs have clawed their way back to a winning record at 5-4 over halfway through the 2021 season, but which players have underachieved?
The Kansas City Chiefs have struggled at the start of the 2021 season, at least for their recent standards. They’ve clawed their way back to a winning record at 5-4 after a win against the Jordan Love-led Green Bay Packers.
Heading into Week 10 action, the Chiefs need to take a look in the mirror and try to identify what changes possibly need to be made and which players have been disappointing so far this season.
Most people seem to think the Chiefs are eventually going to just figure things out, but this is a team that has been flat-out bad defensively and out of sync offensively.
3 Chiefs who have offered almost nothing to the team in 2021
Which players have been the primary reason(s) for the Chiefs struggling early in this 2021 NFL season?
Let’s pinpoint three.
1. Mecole Hardman, WR
One of the most disappointing players on the entire Chiefs‘ roster this season has been Mecole Hardman, a former second-round pick out of Georgia.
Hardman is an explosive playmaker at the wide receiver position who averaged a staggering 20.7 yards per reception in his rookie season back in 2019 when Kansas City beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
His YPC average took a dip to 13.7 last season, but more concerning was the fact that he had eight drops.
In 2021, his YPC average is all the way down to 9.8, and most concerning? He’s got three fumbles in the team’s first nine games.
Hardman has a higher catch percentage than he ever has before in his career, which is great to see, but he’s not been able to really entrench himself as that third option in the passing game behind Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.
Perhaps it’s unfair to have expected Hardman to match what he did for the Chiefs in his rookie season, or even exceed that, but considering the expectations on him and the Chiefs offense this season, he has been a disappointment.