It's difficult to have a worse debut with a new team. Green Bay Packers free-agent addition Mecole Hardman is battling for a spot on the 53-man roster, and he needed to make a positive start to the preseason. However, in a crowded receiving room, Hardman may have played his way off the roster.
Having played limited offensive snaps for the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets over the past two seasons, Hardman's calling card is his game-changing potential on special teams. He has to make that work, but the veteran looked anything but a former All-Pro return specialist on Saturday night.
Hardman made three negative contributions. He dropped a pass, bizarrely fielded a punt at the 5-yard line, and then fumbled another. Talk about a nightmare start.
Mecole Hardman may have sealed his fate with Packers after brutal preseason debut
The Super Bowl champion is comfortably the Packers' most experienced receiver, but you'd never have guessed it.
And the writing may be on the wall. At best, Hardman is fighting for the sixth spot at the position. Matthew Golden, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, and Savion Williams are roster locks, leaving Hardman to battle it out with several others for the sixth and likely last opening.
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Malik Heath is part of that competition. While he also had a night to forget, the Packers seem to prefer him on offense.
Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company has tracked the Packers' first-team offense snaps from Family Night and the preseason opener, and it's clear whether the team stands. By Mosqueda's count, Heath has outsnapped Hardman 18 to four at outside receiver and 10 to seven in the slot. As the article notes, many of Hardman's slot snaps at Family Night came late during a two-minute drill.
Based on snap counts alone, the Packers seem to prefer Heath over Hardman on offense, making Hardman's special teams contributions so important.
Can the Packers afford the luxury of keeping a WR6 solely for special teams? That's already a tough question to answer, but if they do, Hardman needs to be the undisputed returner. We didn't see that on Saturday night.
He had a game to forget, a nightmarish debut.
Hardman's path to regular offensive snaps is already blocked by the Packers' receiving depth. Add in that the Chiefs only used him on a little over 10 percent of their offensive snaps a year ago, and he has to deliver on special teams.
The harsh reality is that Hardman may have played his way off the roster after a disastrous debut against the Jets.