The ongoing conversation surrounding former Kansas City Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill continues to swirl. Hill has had plenty to say regarding his former team in the debut episode of his podcast ‘It Needed To Be Said’ with Tyreek Hill.
Hill’s latest bombshell comments centered around the skill set of his current quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs All-Pro Patrick Mahomes. The 28-year-old receiver shared his thoughts on the passing abilities of the two quarterbacks pointing out their differences.
“Obviously, like I’m gonna go with 15 (Patrick Mahomes) as the strongest arm,” said Hill. “But as far as accuracy-wise, I’m going with Tua (Tagovailoa) all day.”
The bold statement is the first-hand opinion that many fans and critics in the NFL wouldn’t expect to hear from Hill. It’s also one that the numbers simply don’t support.
According to Pro Football Focus, Mahomes had a better adjusted completion percentage than Tagovailoa in each of the past two years. This stat is a great one for measuring accuracy because it credits QBs for on-target throws that are dropped. It also doesn’t include passes that are thrown away, batted passes, spikes, and passes where the quarterback is hit. Basically, it’s a pure measurement of quarterback accuracy, taking out anything that the quarterback shouldn’t be held at fault for.
In 2021, Mahomes had a 78.3% adjusted completion percentage (second-best in the NFL) compared to Tagovailoa’s 75.3% (18th in the NFL). The former league MVP also edged the Dolphins quarterback in 2020 with 77.2% compared to Tagovailoa’s 74.2%. That year, the league average landed at 76.3%, marking Tagovailoa as below average in his accuracy. The numbers are close, but if we judge Hill’s comments at face value, he’s off the mark.
“I’ve had a chance to see Tua throw the ball, to myself, but he’s that dude,” Hill said. “Bro, like, what a lot of people don’t know, like, I’m not just sitting just saying this because he’s my quarterback now. I’m not trying to get more targets right now, but what I’m trying to say is Tua is that deal, bro. Bro, he has a heck of an arm, bro. He’s accurate. He can throw the deep ball, and he actually goes through his reads, where people are like on Twitter, saying, ‘Oh, he doesn’t go through his reads.’ Man, this dude is that dude.”
No one should expect Hill to disparage his new quarterback, but he probably shouldn’t be doing that with his old one either. Hill’s bold statements successfully drew attention to his new podcast, but they only put more pressure on his Tagovailoa to perform in 2022. Mahomes likely won’t respond to the comments about his accuracy, but it could always serve as extra motivation while working with his new wide receivers during the upcoming season.
