Will the Chiefs' offense remain dominant without Tyreek Hill? 🐆
Former KC lineman @MitchSchwartz71 shares his thoughts… pic.twitter.com/KJNrk7RxYq
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) July 20, 2022
Former Kansas City Chiefs RT Mitchell Schwartz officially announced his retirement from the NFL last week. This Wednesday, he appeared on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” to discuss his career and his former team.
When asked about the team trading away Tyreek Hill, Schwartz explained that his initial reaction was in line with what many fans felt at the time.
“My first reaction was like total shock and surprise,” Schwartz said. “I didn’t realize that was on the realm of possibilities.”
After the dust settled and he began to think about it, it made sense to Schwartz why the Chiefs didn’t want to make Hill the highest-paid receiver in football and opted for a different route.
“The more I thought about it, it kind of made sense,” Schwartz continued. “Especially when you’ve got a quarterback who is going to have a cap number of $40-50 million here soon. You’ve got Chris Jones, Joe Thuney that you’re paying. You’ve got Frank Clark’s cap number. Some other guys as well. You kind of have to pick and choose. Is one receiver going to change the dynamic of the offense that incredibly, especially when you’ve already got a guy like (Travis) Kelce?”
Moving on from Hill allowed Kansas City to add some different skillsets to the receiver room that they haven’t really had on the roster during the Patrick Mahomes era.
“I think the idea there is, don’t pay top-market value for a receiver — who as good as he has been, as fast as he is — is getting to the other side of 30,” Schwartz said. “You know, kind of diversify their receiver room. Get some bigger guys as well. That’s one thing, the Chiefs, for the most part, have had kind of faster, smaller guys. I know, for the quarterback, they like those big catch radiuses. So you get a guy like JuJu (Smith-Schuster), you get a guy like MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) in there, (they’re) tall, rangy guys who can go snag (the football).”
Schwartz feels that players like Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster won’t just have an impact on the passing game, but they’ll make the RPO game more effective for the Chiefs too.
“Then with the run game, the way it is with a lot of the RPO stuff, being able to have bigger guys blocking on the perimeter when you just rise up and you throw it to Mecole (Hardman) or (Travis) Kelce,” Schwartz said. “All of the sudden, you’ve got two receivers who are quasi-tight ends blocking there. That is going to help the run game.”
Yes, Schwartz thinks this isn’t just about fielding a more effective group of receivers, but also improving their success in the running game.
“As much as Coach Reid likes to throw the ball, running the ball is integral to their success,” Schwartz concluded. “That physicality and what it brings to the offense, that little bit of balance. I think it’ll be a more well-rounded offense. Obviously, you don’t have that one guy at the top to really blow things open. That’s why (Andy Reid) is the mastermind he is. They wouldn’t have traded (Tyreek Hill) if they thought there would be any sort of drop-off.”
