Chiefs pass game coordinator: Adding Hopkins has been ‘a rebirth for everybody’

Kansas City Chiefs pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier says he’s been fired up ever since KC acquired receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a trade last week.

He’s really had no choice. Hopkins has provided that kind of energy in the Chiefs’ facility.

“It’s almost that excitement level when training camp first starts, and the guys are new to the system and really eager to learn. He’s brought that,” Bleymaier said Friday. “It’s kind of a rebirth for everybody being around him, just that intensity.”

Bleymaier, who’s been with the Chiefs since 2016, says he’s already seen the 12-year veteran Hopkins put a lot of pressure on himself to learn things quickly while trying to help the team’s offense.

His impact, though, has been felt in other ways too. That includes some mentorship, as young receivers like 21-year-old rookie Xavier Worthy and even JuJu Smith-Schuster, 27, are interested in what Hopkins has to say.

“It’s one thing to run a slant route. But when you’re DeAndre and you’ve run a million of them, and the guy’s playing inside leverage, it’s another thing to set them up and win on that,” Bleymaier said. “So those little nuances that the veterans have from having done it for so long, it’s one thing for the coaches to say it, and then it just resonates 10 times when they hear from somebody they’ve looked up to — especially generationally like that.”

Make no mistake: The Chiefs are looking for Hopkins to produce on the field, too.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid has promised twice since Hopkins’ debut against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday — when he played 23 offensive snaps — that the receiver’s role will expand beginning with Monday night’s home game against Tampa Bay.

Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, meanwhile, has been impressed with Hopkins’ constant work to pick up the team’s playbook.

“We knew we had to keep a little bit of an eye on how much we could give him on somewhat of a short week,” Nagy said of preparing for the Raiders game. “But he’s been great.

“Love his attitude. Super smart. ... Obviously, the football part on the field, within the plays, is easy for him, because he’s played so much.”

Nagy also has visions of Hopkins balancing the Chiefs’ passing attack.

Opposing defenses know player strengths and often will try to adjust their schemes accordingly. A player like receiver Mecole Hardman, for instance, is known for his work in short and horizontal routes; in contrast, Worthy has to be respected deep because of his 4.21-second 40-yard dash speed.

This makes Hopkins’ role all the more important. He — along with tight end Travis Kelce — could provide another intermediate option to make defenders respect that area of the field.

“Being able to do different things with those guys,” Nagy said, “it allows us to be more flexible conceptually in what we do.”

Bleymaier says this is also a point in the season where the team will begin testing Worthy’s limits — while also expecting him to do more than he has.

Rashee Rice experienced this as a rookie before emerging as the team’s best wideout. The Chiefs began the 2023 season by focusing on routes that were Rice’s strengths; then, each week, they added more complementary pieces to his game to see how he did with those.

Worthy is in a similar spot now. The Chiefs are now beginning to integrate more nuanced routes for him while wanting to give defenses more to consider.

“He’s getting more and more comfortable in those routes or maneuvers against defenses that he maybe wasn’t as comfortable with early in the season,” Bleymaier said. “And so that doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet, but as the season goes, that comfort level starts to show up with him winning routes and catching passes.”

One recent example didn’t result in a big play, but it did show Worthy’s potential.

During the Chiefs’ two-minute drill late in the first half against the Raiders, Worthy used his speed to threaten a defender on the outside, then snapped out of a break for a deep out-route.

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The combination of moves had Raiders cornerback Jack Jones reeling. The Las Vegas defender flipped his hips in the wrong direction, leaving Worthy wide open for a deep pass if the Chiefs’ offensive line had been able to give quarterback Patrick Mahomes a few more seconds of protection.

Mahomes ended up throwing it away, but the tape still indicated better days could be ahead for Worthy.

“It’s really savvy,” Bleymaier said, “where he’s setting a guy up, and when he’s utilizing his speed not just to run by somebody and score a deep touchdown, but also to stop and to change direction and then to maneuver how defenses are playing him underneath.”

Some of those openings could come easier now with Hopkins demanding additional attention in the middle of the field.

That’s the hope, at least, as the Chiefs’ receivers look to elevate their own level of play — while also learning from a potential Pro Football Hall of Famer in Hopkins.

“The guys look up to him and are able to go talk to him,” Bleymaier said. “So it’s been great just seeing that.”