Former Georgia wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who is now a rookie for the Kansas City Chiefs, has not forgotten the program that helped get him to the NFL.
Ahead of Georgia’s season opening game vs Vanderbilt tonight, Hardman, a second round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, gave his Bulldogs a shoutout on Instagram.
In last year’s game vs Vandy, Hardman hauled in four passes for 45 yards in a 41-13 win.
During his time at Georgia, his talents were used, but it’s not a stretch to say he was underutilized. The Bulldogs are a run-first team, and Hardman did everything that was asked of him. He did it well, catching 35 passes for 543 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior. Georgia ran the football 567 times last season, compared to 357 pass attempts. Imagine Hardman’s stats had he been on an Ohio State or even Alabama offense last season. You’d be looking at roughly 1,000 yards. Additionally, he averaged 22.65 yards per return (kickoff and punt) with one touchdown last year.
So far, with the Chiefs, Hardman’s been performing well in practice and preseason games. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has stated that he loves what he’s seen from Hardman, and videos have come out of practice of the two connecting on multiple deep routes.
