In the debut episode of the podcast It Needed To Be Said, Hill was happy to circle and discuss what led to the break-up of his relationship with the Leaders from the start. “If the teams want to give us favorable one-on-one matches against their best corner, I do not understand why the teams are not using their best receiver,” Hill said, according to Pro Football Talk. “And that’s where it probably’s just like me and the Leaders broke up right there. When I’m like, yes, I do not mean to talk or become a diva in a situation, but I can see the pill at some point, please? Just give me the ball, please”. Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus, who appeared on the podcast, reiterated the feeling that Hill’s talents were occasionally wasted by the Chiefs in 2021. “There were many times during the year that we felt that Tyreek was underused and not fully appreciated and that he was not really taking full advantage of all his skills and talent,” Rosenhaus said. “But Tyreek is a soldier. He never saw it. He was extremely professional.” Surely there is no shortage of No. 1 wide receivers in NFL history who see themselves as starving, but does Hill’s claim have value? It is objectively true that Hill had five or fewer goals in five games in 2021 compared to 2020, when Wideout scored less than six goals only once. It is also objectively true that Hill had double-digit goals in ten games last season, surpassed 100 hits for the first time in his career and had a high career in goals (159) – he finished the year in seventh place in the league this statistic. Where the numbers seem to align for both the club and the player, it includes Hill’s yards per slot. Having earned the nickname “Cheetah”, Hill has long been the main threat of the league to drop the top from an opposing defense. Last season, his yards per reception fell to 11.2, more than four yards from his average between 2017-2020 and the lowest performance since his rookie campaign.
