The Green Bay Packers signed wide receiver and return specialist Mecole Hardman this offseason. The 27-year-old Georgia alum should help the Packers on both offense and special teams. But what kind of role can we expect Hardman to have this season?

Obviously, Hardman will contribute on kick and punt returns. Last season, Hardman returned 20 punts for the Chiefs and averaged 10.2 yards per runback. For his career, he has a 9.2-yard average and has returned one punt for a touchdown.

He has been less active as a kick returner in recent seasons. In 2024, Hardman ran back only five kickoffs and averaged 26.4-yards per return. The last time he returned a significant number of kicks was his rookie year back in 2019. For his career, he averaged 23.8 yards on 45 runbacks including a 104-yard touchdown in 2019.

Keisean Nixon already indicated after the season that he didn’t want to return kicks anymore despite being named All Pro as a return specialist twice. Nixon wants to concentrate on playing cornerback. Meanwhile, Jayden Reed has been serviceable at best as a punt returner. The Packers would like Reed to concentrate on being a wide receiver where he is expected to take on an even bigger role in 2025 with Christian Watson expected to miss at least half the season as he rehabs from knee surgery.

On offense, Hardman caught 12 passes last season on 14 targets for the Chiefs. He averaged only 7.5-yards per catch.

Despite the lack of eye-popping numbers from Hardman last season, Chiefs head coach believes Hardman will find a role in the Green Bay offense in 2025. “Yeah, they will find a role for him,” Reid told reporters this week at the NFL owners meetings. “Good kid, and fast. He'll do a nice job for them.”

Speed is the key for Hardman. That’s why the Packers added him. Matt LaFleur could use Hardman in a role similar to what we saw from Tyler Ervin in 2019 and 2020 with the Packers. Ervin didn’t start, but he got about a half dozen touches per game including jet sweeps, end arounds, screen passes, and gadget plays designed specifically for him. Hardman could take on a similar role in 2025.

Defenses won’t view Hardman as a primary player they need to stop, but when he enters the lineup, defenses may be on the alert for gadget plays and packages the team runs for Hardman. That could also open up opportunities for teammates.

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst admitted that because of his speed, Hardman could help the Packers in some way to offset the absence of Watson.

“We brought in Mecole and he’s got a lot of speed,” LaFleur said when asked how the Packers will try to replace Watson’s role early in the season. “Certainly, Jayden [Reed] fits that bill as well. Luke Musgrave is a guy if we can consistently keep out on the field, provides a speed element that can stretch the defense, so I think we have that ability even without Christian. Christian’s a pretty dynamic guy, there’s not many guys like him in our league, so when he’s out there it certainly changes things. Getting him healthy down the stretch will be a really important part of that, but I do think we can handle that as we are.”

Hardman will not be expected to play a major role in the offense. As of now, Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks will all start training camp ahead of him on the depth chart. Hardman may battle for a depth role with Bo Melton and Malik Heath and any other receivers the Packers add at the position in this year’s draft.

But don’t overlook Hardman. He could be a useful role player on offense while giving the team solid play as a return specialist. His role may not be big, but it can be effective and useful and give opposing defenses one more player to think about when Hardman checks into the game.