clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Arrowheadlines: Tyreek Hill to lead “Legion of Zoom” in 2019

Chiefs headlines for Saturday, July 20

Arizona Cardinals v Kansas City Chiefs Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images

The latest

Here’s why a contract extension for Tyreek Hill remains in play | Yahoo Sports

Now that the negotiation window is open again, it would also benefit Hill to strike a new deal in the near future, too. Remember, Jones and Hill were drafted the same year, but as a second-round pick, Jones’ rookie contract called for him to earn roughly $4.2 million by this point in his career. That’s at least double what Hill, a first-round talent who went in the fifth round that year due to his guilty plea in 2015 for domestic abuse of Espinal, was stipulated to earn $1.6 million by this point in his career.

Hill still has a family to support, and a lucrative payday — one that would potentially approach or surpass Odell Beckham Jr. money, hovering at or around $20 million per year — would certainly help him recoup lost earnings.

The best and worst position groups heading into the NFL season | Yardbarker

Best: Kansas City Chiefs pass catchers

It appears the Chiefs will have Tyreek Hill to start the season, so it’s the defense where the team has major needs. Despite that, Kansas City used its first 2019 draft choice on wideout Mecole Hardman. He now will not be Hill’s replacement; rather the two likely are set to play together — at least for 2019. They join two-time All-Pro Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins in outfitting Patrick Mahomes with another slick weaponry corps that figures to be at full strength for the stretch run.

2019 Fantasy Football Team Previews: With Tyreek Hill active, Chiefs are a juggernaut again | CBS Sports

With the NFL announcing that Tyreek Hill will not be suspended in 2019, the Chiefs entering the season with the same cast they featured en route to a razor-thin loss to the Patriots in the AFC championship game. That offense was one of the best the NFL has ever seen, with first-year starter Patrick Mahomes putting up one of the greatest performances any quarterback has ever had. There weren’t enough superlatives to use to write about them, and now they bring that whole team back with another year of experience under their belts. That’s scary.

AFC team-by-team training camp preview | The Toronto Sun

Kansas City Chiefs

Critical camp questions: Can reinstated WR/PR Tyreek Hill indeed put his off-field troubles behind him, after both criminal and league probes have cleared him of assaulting his young son? Will “Spags” take the new talent and finally field a good Chiefs defence to complement head coach Andy Reid’s lethal offence?

Why Patrick Mahomes is the new spokesman for a company you’ve probably never heard of | KC Star

For decades, the Government Employee Health Association has steadily grown customers and revenues. But Darren Taylor, the company’s president and CEO, said few people have even heard of it.

“We’ve been pretty humble,” he said.

Not anymore.

GEHA, which provides health, dental and vision plans to federal employees, just inked a partnership deal with the Kansas City Chiefs and the team’s star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. The company celebrated the multi-year deal with a Friday afternoon press conference at GEHA’s headquarters in Lee’s Summit.

The Haunting of the 2017 NFL Draft | Revenge of the Birds

A little over two years later, all three quarterbacks have led their teams to the post season. Mahomes looks primed for a Hall of Fame career, while Watson has a sparkling 45/17 TD to INT ratio in just 23 games played. Even Trusbiky, the clear cut #3 QB of this group, set several passing records in Chicago last season. The former Tarheel was a missed field goal away from leading the dormant Bears to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals have gone through one of the most publicly embarrassing quarterback searches in recent memory. The team started three different signal callers in 2017, in route to a mediocre 8-8 record. The following season, Keim invested nearly $25 million in free agent dollars to secure the likes of Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon. A month later, he finally pulled the trigger on a trade up, packaging multiple picks to move from 15 to 10 and securing UCLA’s Josh Rosen in the process.

Who is the top senior prospect in the 2020 NFL draft class? | Bleacher Report

Eric Fisher was the last offensive tackle selected first overall back in 2013, as play has dropped off at the position across the NCAA. However, Washington’s Trey Adams will give Herbert a strong run from inside his own conference for top senior in the class. NFL teams will also pay close attention to Jon Runyan (Michigan) and Prince Tega Wanogho (Auburn), both of whom could emerge as the top senior in the draft class with good years.

How do you stop pass-rushers like Von Miller? Blockers gather, swap secrets | ESPN

The oversized group was watching clips of Denver Broncos pass-rusher Von Miller dominate offensive linemen across the league while Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz provided a scouting report of his rival. Schwartz suddenly stopped mid-sentence and nonchalantly blurted, “Don’t watch that one.”

The comment drew chuckles across the room as they watched a clip of Miller getting the best of Schwartz on a rep last season. Schwartz then continued with his assessment of Miller’s game. Others added their input on the seven-time All-Pro.

”He’s got elite quickness and elite timing,” one lineman said. “That is a pretty s---ty combo to go against.”

Xavier Williams is Projected to Be the #108 Defensive Lineman in 2019 | Scout.com

Xavier Williams is not projected to be worth a roster spot. His 40 projected fantasy points puts him at #108 behind L.J. Collier and ahead of Jonathan Woodard. He has averaged 2.6 fantasy points in his past 15 games. Our projected per game average is virtually the same. His projected per game average is 2.5 fantasy points. His rank based on avg proj (#110) is worse than his rank based on total fantasy points. Xavier Williams is expected to come up short of last season’s #64 fantasy position rank.

A Salute to the NFL Ironmen of the Decade | Yahoo Sports

Kickers & Punters

The three punters: Britton Colquitt, Dustin Colquitt and Sam Koch. I have long been a fan of punters, and how can you not love that both of the Colquitt brothers make this list? Britton played for the Broncos from 2010 through the Super Bowl 50 victory, and has been a Brown ever since. He did have two games with zero punts—as you may have expected from the punter on a Peyton Manning team—including a memorable 51-48 shootout win over the Cowboys. But Colquitt is credited in the box score with nine special teams snaps, thanks to Matt Prater’s six extra points and three field goals—his ability to hold on placekicks kept the streak alive. Dustin, meanwhile, enters his 15th season with the Chiefs. Koch has handled every single Ravens punt since 2006.

Around the league

Vic Fangio bans music at Broncos training camp | NFL.com

The Denver Broncos head coach took the time during Day 2 of training camp Friday to address why he doesn’t want any music played during workouts.

”There’s no music in games. And when it comes to the point where we need to simulate crowd noise in practice, which we will do, it will be noise. It won’t be music,” said Fangio, via NFL Network’s James Palmer. “Noise, by definition, sounds annoying. Music sounds nice.”

There’s no word yet on how this decision will impact the players overall, although it’ll be interesting to see if players voice any displeasure.

Eagles agree to terms to re-sign RB Sproles | ESPN

The Eagles agreed to terms with the 36-year-old running back on a one-year contract Friday. He’ll join a loaded backfield that includes Jordan Howard, rookie Miles Sanders and Corey Clement.

Sproles was supposed to retire after the 2017 season but spent a good portion of the year on injured reserve with a torn ACL and didn’t want his distinguished career to end on that note. Injury hit Sproles last season as well, as he missed 10 games with a hamstring injury. So he’s coming back to try to finish things the right way.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Travis Kelce: We’re excited to get Tyreek Hill back in the building

“We’re all just excited to get him back in the building and going to work with him,” Kelce said. “Everyone knows how important he is to this offense and we’re just happy to get our guy back in the building and excited to find a new kind of feel for this team knowing we have so many new defensive players and everybody’s got to be on the same page, and the chemistry really has to flow.

“Starting this thing off in training camp, finding our new identity I think is going to be huge coming up in the next week or so.”

Under Andy Reid, the Chiefs have a coaching staff built to succeed

As good as Andy is at teaching players, he may be even better at developing young coaches and surrounding himself with experienced ones.

Reid’s coaching tree is arguably the strongest in the league. Entering the 2019 season, six of the NFL’s head coaches were assistants to Reid at some point. They include both offensive and defensive-minded coaches. John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens and Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles have both led their franchises to championships. Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera took his team to a Super Bowl.

Follow Arrowhead Pride on Social Media

AP Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

AP Instagram: Follow @ArrowheadPride

AP Twitter: Follow @ArrowheadPride

AP Editor-in-Chief: Pete Sweeney: Follow @pgsween

610 Sports Twitter: Follow @610SportsKC


Disclaimer: I did not come up with the nickname ‘Legion of Zoom’ myself. The idea was coined by the Brit Chief.

Arrowhead Pride Premier

Sign up now for a 7-day free trial of Arrowhead Pride Premier, with exclusive updates from Pete Sweeney on the ground at Arrowhead, instant reactions after each game, and in-depth Chiefs analysis from film expert Jon Ledyard.