Off to the races
With Fuller and Hill, the Texans and Chiefs possess blazing speed that poses a challenge for defenses
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If wide receivers Will Fuller and Tyreek Hill were involved in a track meet, it would be an extremely close race.
A former college sprinter, Hill ran the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds when he was auditioning for the NFL four years ago.
Fuller was slightly faster coming out of Notre Dame that year, covering the same distance in 4.28 seconds on NFL scouts’ stop watches.
The element of speed looms large during Sunday’s AFC divisional-round showdown between the Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fuller and Hill are two of the most dangerous and fastest deep threats in the game.
I’ve only gone that fast like in a car, so I don’t know how it feels other than that, but both those two are real fast guys,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “It gives you an opportunity to obviously stretch the field.”
When Fuller is in the lineup, his explosive presence transforms the Texans’ offense into a much more potent attack that worries opposing defensive coordinators. It’s nearly impossible to devise a game plan to combat Fuller’s ability to scorch cornerbacks.
Fuller has 94 catches for 1,452 yards and 14 touchdowns in just 22 games played with quarterback Deshaun Watson. He caught 14 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons earlier this season.
Fuller has nine catches of 30 yards or more this season and five catches of 50 or more yards in his career.
The Texans went 8-3 during the regular season with Fuller in the lineup and 2-3 without him. He missed five games because of injuries, including a strained hamstring and a groin pull.
Fuller is still dealing with the groin injury and was limited in practice but will be active on Sunday. After getting hurt against the Buccaneers, an MRI determined that it was a threeweek injury. He is not expected to be 100 percent, though, until he has time to fully heal up this offseason.
The presence of Fuller still has to be accounted for, though.
“He stretches the field,” Reid said. “He’s a gifted kid. We know that. We know that he can scoot, so you’ve got to respect that.”
Hill commands a ton of respect, too.
Known as “the Cheetah,” Hill lives up to the nickname.
He caught five passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns during a 31-24 loss to the Texans in October.
Since his rookie season in 2016, Hill is tied for first in the league with 53 catches of 25 yards or more.
Hill leads all NFL receivers in total touchdowns since entering the NFL with 41 scores. That ranks him ahead of the Packers’ Davante Adams (40), free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown (37), Texans All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins (37) and the Buccaneers’ Mike Evans (34).
“I don’t know who we have that can run with Tyreek,” Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said. “That guy’s really fast. I don’t know what we’re going to have to do to try to slow him down.”
A year ago, Hill caught 87 passes for 1,479 yards and a dozen touchdowns. He has 19 career plays of at least 50 yards, recording that type of play in 36 percent of his career games.
“Tyreek is always a threat to go deep on routes or catch-andrun,” Texans cornerback Bradley Roby said. “He’s a guy you have to get him on the ground and limit the missed tackles. That’s where you get a lot of big plays.”