Chiefs WR Hill ready to lead new-look receivers group in new season

Jul. 19—The wide receivers room for the Kansas City Chiefs is shaping up to look slightly different in the 2021 season.

With Sammy Watkins pieces moving on in free agency, rookies coming in and a new position coach taking over, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he's still confident in the group they'll be rolling out.

"I like the guys that we have," Reid said. "It might be by committee, but we've got a good nucleus of wide receivers there, and I feel comfortable with those guys."

Patrick Mahomes' top receiving target will be back, as All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill returns for his sixth season with the Chiefs. Hill is coming off his fifth-straight Pro Bowl season, where he notched a career-high 15 touchdown catches.

Hill will be a veteran leader for the receivers room, as the most accomplished and experienced one of the bunch. Thus, Hill said he's ready to take up more of a leadership role if need be.

"For me personally, it's the same mindset every year: come out and help this team any way I can," Hill said. "Whether that's making plays, whether that's mentoring, whatever the case may be, I'm just here for the team."

The biggest difference from this year's receivers group to last is the absence of Sammy Watkins. Watkins spent three seasons in Kansas City, solidifying the No.2 receiver role behind Hill.

With Watkins now a member of the Baltimore Ravens, the Chiefs are now without a clear-cut No. 2 receiver. Despite that, Hill is confident that the group will be able to pick up the slack.

"It's definitely going to be tough, but I definitely feel like as the season goes on, guys will begin to fill that void that Sammy was filling," Hill said. "Mecole (Hardman) has played, D-Rob (Demarcus Robinson) has played in Super Bowls, (Byron) Pringle, so I feel like we're going to be alright."

A potential candidate to fill that void is rookie Cornell Powell. A fifth round pick out of Clemson, Powell was a part of two national championship teams as a backup. He got the chance to start in his redshirt senior season in 2020, and he impressed, finishing tied for the most touchdown catches and with the second-most receptions and receiving yards for the ACC champion Tigers.

A fellow fifth round pick, Hill said he sees some similarities between the two of them.

"He's definitely coming into a tough group who loves to compete, who loves to challenge each other," Hill said. "He's been looking sharp so far. Good, tough catcher, big hands, silky in his routes, so he looks good so far."

Another change comes on the coaching staff. With former receivers coach Greg Lewis moving to running backs coach for the Chiefs, former pass game analyst Joe Bleymaier is taking over as the new receivers coach.

Hill said it has been beneficial learning from Lewis, a former player, as well as Bleymaier, who wasn't.

"It's definitely cool to get the other side of football like that, so I'm learning a lot from Joe," Hill said. "He's a great coach. I think he'll be great during the season. He gets along with everybody in our room."

Coming off a Super Bowl defeat, Hill said he is hungry as ever, and he wants to do whatever it takes to win.

"I've just got to keep the mindset that I can dominate the whole season," Hill said. "As a group, I feel like we're great. Our bond is great on the field, our bond is great off the field."

Training camp begins in St. Joseph on July 28.

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Jacob Lang can be reached at jacob.lang@newspressnow.com. Follow him on twitter: @NPNowLang.