Tyreek Hill headed for expanded Year 2 role in Kansas City

Chiefs coach Andy Reid gave Fantasy owners another reason to be excited about Tyreek Hill heading into the 2017 season when he said at the Pro Bowl that Hill is headed for more work.

Hill already caught our attention after he played well in his rookie year as a receiver, running back and return man, and he finished as the No. 20 Fantasy receiver in standard leagues. He only averaged 26 snaps on offense in 2016, but Reid said he's ready for more.

"Maybe he can double that or at least take it up a couple notches and allow him to get in more in a starting role," Reid said on SiriusXM NFL Radio during the Pro Bowl. "We use him a lot on special teams, obviously. When he came to us, that's what we originally thought we had. He then said, ‘Listen, I can do this offensive thing.' He's innately a smart kid. We kept adding to it, and he got it. I'd expect him to learn that whole (playbook) by the end of all the OTAs and training camp and then be even more of a threat."

Fantasy owners would love to see that happen for Hill. Despite his limited role, Hill still had 61 catches for 593 yards and six touchdowns on 83 targets and 24 carries for 267 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 14 kickoff returns for 384 yards and one touchdown and 39 punt returns for 592 yards and two touchdowns, and his role as a return man earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Hill was electric in his rookie campaign, and he was actually clocked as the fastest player in the NFL in 2016, according to NFL.com. He had the two fastest plays of the season when he got up to 23.24 mph in Week 2 on a 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Houston and 22.77 mph in Week 12 on an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown at Denver.

Now, imagine Hill touching the ball more on offense. That idea excites Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who was with Hill at the Pro Bowl.

"He's obviously an extremely unique player," Smith said in an interview with CBS Sports. "He has so many strengths and can do so many different things. We'll build on it, and we have time this offseason to look at it. You have to balance it. You want to have him out there as much as possible, but you don't want to wear him thin. Obviously, he's a guy that you want out there as much as possible because any time he touches the football he has that play-making ability."

Hill ended up being a good Fantasy option by the end of the season, although he was touchdown dependent. He scored double digits in Fantasy points in four of his final six games, but he scored in all four of those outings.

Over those six games, Hill touched the ball an average of just 6.5 times with 25 total catches and 14 total carries. He did have 37 targets over that span, but he only averaged 5.2 targets per game for the season. And he had just seven games with more than five targets in 2016.

As Reid said, the goal is to get Hill more involved, and he had seven games where he had at least six touches last season. He averaged 10 Fantasy points in a standard league over that span, including five games with at least eight points.

That's the player Fantasy owners will be looking for when they invest in Hill in 2017, but Reid said even as a starter, Hill will remain more of a niche player than a featured receiver or running back. Reid said not to expect Hill to dominate touches at running back given his size (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) because of the blocking responsibilities.

The Chiefs could have a need at running back with Jamaal Charles, 30, coming off knee issues and not a lock to return to Kansas City, and Spencer Ware was ineffective as a starter. But Hill is not the answer, according to Reid.

"He's not real big -- he's not over 200 pounds," Reid said in the Kansas City Star. "To ask him to do that ... I don't think that's where you're going to make your living with him."

Hill needs to improve as a receiver in his sophomore campaign and continue to be the No. 2 option behind tight end Travis Kelce, who had 85 catches for 1,125 yards and four touchdowns on 117 targets. But there are two factors to consider with Hill when it comes to his situation as a receiver with the Chiefs.

The first is in regards to Jeremy Maclin, who was miserable in 2016 with 44 catches for 530 yards and two touchdowns on 76 targets in 12 games. Maclin had 87 catches for 1,088 yards and eight touchdowns on 124 targets in 2015 and could get back to that level or close to it, which would impact Hill.

And the other factor with Hill is Smith and this passing game. The Chiefs aren't going to open up the offense with Smith, so this passing game will always have a low ceiling. It could be hard for Kelce, Hill and Maclin to all post dominant stats without some game-breaking plays, which is where Hill has an edge. He had seven catches and three carries of 20-plus yards, and clearly his speed is a difference-maker the Chiefs would like to exploit.

Is answer to athletic director instability making more familiar hires?

There is newfound stability in the ACC head-coaching ranks, a nod to not only the high-quality hires who have come into the league, but also the idea that these programs are no longer viewed as "stepping-stone" jobs.

Where the turnover has come is on the athletic director level. During the past year, four athletic directors have departed for other jobs. Three spent three years or less in the ACC. Two spent less than two years in the ACC.

There is one thread that ties most together: Each cited a desire to be in a much more familiar place. When Mark Coyle left Syracuse for Minnesota after just 11 months on the job, he gave family reasons. Mike Bobinski left Georgia Tech for Purdue to get back to his roots in the Midwest. Scott Barnes left Pitt for Oregon State to be closer to family and his native Pacific Northwest. The only outlier is Boston College athletic director Brad Bates, who announced Monday that he was stepping down to join a consulting firm based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

What followed the Coyle and Bobinski departures was another similar thread. To fill the open jobs at Georgia Tech and Syracuse, the schools turned to alums with long-standing ties to their respective universities. The Jackets hired Todd Stansbury, and the Orange hired John Wildhack. Pitt is still looking to replace Barnes, while Boston College must find an AD who understands where the Eagles fit into the landscape given a much smaller athletic budget.

A trend appears to be forming, especially when you begin looking a little bit deeper. Going back to 2013, seven athletic directors have been hired in the ACC. Four had ties to either the university or area where they landed. All four remain in those jobs today: Blake James at Miami and Whit Babcock at Virginia Tech join Stansbury and Wildhack in that category. In all, six ACC athletic directors had previous ties to their respective programs.

So is this all a coincidence? Or is there a growing trend toward hiring athletic directors with program ties as a way to gain stability and the nuance needed to address the unique challenges that face every athletic department?

"I don't know if that's the trend, but I think what institutions hope for is that stability, and when you have that, a lot of times you're hiring somebody who is familiar," Barnes said. "For us, we want this to be a destination place. There are all types of reasons we think it is. Is it a trend? Every institution has a different view, but I do believe that a lot of folks are looking for leadership, continuity and stability."

Stansbury also described Georgia Tech as a destination job. He departed Oregon State after just 15 months because the pull of his alma mater was too strong. (In what is absolutely a coincidence, Barnes replaced him at Oregon State.) Stansbury not only played football at Georgia Tech in the 1980s, he learned under athletic director Homer Rice, one of his first mentors in the business.

"I just knew that if I passed on it this time, it may never come back around again," Stansbury said. "That's what it really came down to. If I'm going to do it, now's the time, and this has been the goal all along. I remember the day I left and walked out of the athletic department, and so the day I walked back in 22 years later was a pretty surreal experience."

The most dramatic exit belongs to Coyle, who took the Minnesota job while the ACC spring meetings were going on last May. Football coach Dino Babers was caught so off guard, he had no idea what to say. Wildhack brings the complete opposite profile to the table: a Syracuse loyalist who remained close to the program during his many years working at ESPN.

Though he never worked in an athletic department previously, many of the skills Wildhack used to negotiate deals and lead his various teams at ESPN have translated perfectly to his new job. His ability to understand what makes Syracuse run has been instrumental as well.

"I did do my due diligence and research on this," Wildhack said. "While it's certainly a place I care about a lot, I wanted to make sure that if I do this, we can have the success that we all want. One of the things I've tried to do is take some of that culture at ESPN and instill it here. The staff has been very receptive to that."

Stansbury described another added benefit to being at his destination job: a different view to future planning.

"It's the end of the road, so your purview changes a little bit," Stansbury said. "You're at a place where this is where you plan to stay for the rest of your career, and I think it does make you a little more reflective on the decisions that you make today. You are the one who's going to inherit them down the road, so you want to make sure you're making good decisions."

To be sure, there is not one cookie-cutter formula that works, and where a Power 5 program rates has plenty to do with the job applicant pool. Fresh perspectives are welcome, too, especially at programs where new vision and direction are needed.

But in these specific cases, it's completely understandable why so many of these programs opted for somebody with long-standing ties. Especially since an athletic director's job increasingly relies on fundraising and tapping into the community and alums for more and more support.

It has worked for Miami. James got his very first job working in ticket sales at Miami. Before he was elevated to athletic director, Miami went through two athletic directors over a four-year span. Now, the Hurricanes have much-needed stability at the top.

In the end, that's what any athletic department wants. Someone familiar with the fabric of a university's culture may be better suited for the job.

LSU seeks edge rushers during Arden Key's absence

Although LSU expects defensive end Arden Key to return to the active roster before the 2017 season begins -- probably this summer -- his indefinite absence will create uncertainty for the Tigers this spring.

Without Key, who set a school record with 12 sacks last season, or 2016 seniors Tashawn Bower and Lewis Neal, who can defensive coordinator Dave Aranda count on to supply a steady pass rush off the edge?

This is most likely a temporary concern. Key will rank among the nation's top pass-rushers once he returns, whenever that may be. The school announced last week that its star junior will spend time away from the team to tend to personal matters, with head coach Ed Orgeron adding that he looks forward "to welcoming him back home to the Tiger family at the appropriate time."

In the meantime, Orgeron and Aranda can offer extra practice reps to the contenders at a spot that has no proven performers behind Key. Here are some of the players who should get a long look this spring:

Andre Anthony: The 2016 ESPN 300 honoree is one of LSU's more intriguing contenders because we have yet to see what he can do. The NCAA ruled Anthony ineligible last season in a dispute over his academic transcript from New Orleans' Miller-McCoy Academy, which shut down in 2015. Anthony was on campus all of last season and was finally cleared to participate by bowl practice last December.

Sci Martin: The resemblance between Key's game and Martin's was a big reason why Martin was such a big get when he officially joined LSU's 2016 recruiting class more than a month after national signing day. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Martin is not quite as rangy as Key (6-6, 238), but he's close. Martin got a taste of SEC competition last season, participating in five games and making two tackles. He should be in line for a lot more action this fall.

Ray Thornton: Thornton redshirted last season after signing with LSU as the No. 61 overall prospect on the 2016 ESPN 300. He turned heads with his performances in practice late last year, though, and could compete for a starting role this season. Listed at 6-3 and a chiseled 222 pounds, Thornton already looks like someone who can contribute in a hybrid end-outside linebacker role in Aranda's defense. This spring we'll see whether he can continue his progress from late last fall.

Isaiah Washington: Don't sleep on Washington, whose first two seasons at LSU were impacted by injuries. He missed the beginning of the 2015 season after breaking his hand during preseason camp but later appeared in six games, notching three tackles plus a forced fumble against Ole Miss. A preseason knee injury knocked him out of the 2016 season, but he should be good to go this spring.

More help is on the way, too.

Signee K'Lavon Chaisson will not be on campus for spring practice, but he could make an instant impact in this department once he arrives in the summer. Orgeron mentioned several times on national signing day that Chaisson was the top pass-rusher in the 2017 class, and the No. 34 overall prospect on the ESPN 300 seems able to do many of the things that make Key so dangerous.

Once the Tigers are able to team up Key and Chaisson on the edge, their pass rush might give opposing quarterbacks nightmares. But LSU is not to that point yet, and this spring will offer their position mates an opportunity to carve out roles for themselves too.

What to know about new Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll

Nick Saban took his time finding his new offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Brian Daboll will be Saban's third coordinator in three months.

On Monday -- nearly two weeks after Steve Sarkisian surprised everyone by becoming the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons -- Saban announced that Daboll, the former New England Patriots assistant, will be Bama's OC.

Daboll, 41, has an interesting resume, replete with five Super Bowl wins.

To get you better acquainted with the Canadian-born former defensive back, here are four factors to consider:

1. He's a graduate of the Saban-Belichick coaching tree

Of the many interesting things Lane Kiffin said on his way out the door as Alabama's OC, his comments about how he might not have been the best fit personality-wise with Saban were interesting. It was an admission that, yes, Kiffin and Saban butted heads from time to time. And watching them from afar, it was easy to see that in their three years together, they never quite figured out how to deal with one another.

But that learning curve shouldn't be such an issue with Daboll. The fact is that he and Saban are cut from the same cloth.

Daboll got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant in 1998 at Michigan State, where Saban was the head coach, and credits him as an important career influence. Daboll spent the 1998 and 1999 seasons in East Lansing before Saban left to become the head coach at LSU. But in the process of moving on, Saban helped get Daboll a job with Patriots coach Bill Belichick, one of Saban's closest friends in coaching.

Belichick and Saban had worked together with the Cleveland Browns, and Belichick hired Daboll as a defensive assistant coach in 2000 and later promoted him to wide receivers coach in 2002. He spent a total of 11 seasons in two stints in New England before accepting the job at Alabama.

2. He left the Patriots in 2007 for a reason

When Sarkisian left Alabama, one of the primary questions about what to do with the vacant OC position was whether to target a candidate who had a wealth of quarterback experience. Jalen Hurts played remarkably well as a true freshman last season, but he struggled throwing the ball down the stretch and could have benefited from a coach with a strong history of developing quarterbacks.

Daboll, for better or worse, is not necessarily that guy. He isn't a former QB, which Sarkisian and Kiffin are. Instead, he was a safety at the University of Rochester and coached the defensive side of the ball until Belichick moved him to receivers coach in 2002.

But it's important to note why he left New England after the 2006 season. It wasn't just to follow fellow Patriots assistant Eric Mangini to the Jets. Daboll wanted to build his resume working with quarterbacks as well.

During his first season with the Jets, he had to navigate starting two quarterbacks when Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens combined to throw for 15 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. The next year, however, Daboll was able to work with future Hall of Famer Brett Favre.

Although Daboll didn't work hands-on with Tom Brady during his time in New England, having that level of proximity to a quarterback many already consider the best of all time can't hurt in his new role as coordinator and QB coach of the Crimson Tide.

3. He was an offensive coordinator three times

Judging harshly, you could say that Daboll has been a failure as a coordinator in the NFL. In his four seasons as offensive coordinator with the Browns, Dolphins and Chiefs, his teams ranked 29th, 31st, 20th and 32nd in scoring.

But that's not the entire picture, of course.

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, and you have to look at who he had to work with at the position. In Cleveland, it was Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson one year, and Colt McCoy and Jake Delhomme the next. Daboll had Matt Moore and Chad Henne in Miami, and Matt Cassel and Quinn in Kansas City.

What's more, Daboll wasn't equipped with much skill elsewhere. His most productive receivers were Mohamed Massaquoi, Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Bowe.

4. He knows about running the football

If you're one of the many disgruntled Alabama fans starving for a return to a more consistent running game, we've saved the best for last. If there's one takeaway from Daboll's time in the NFL, it's his willingness to rush the football.

Most recently with the Patriots, in addition to coaching tight ends, he and offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia helped coordinate a running game that relied on a number of backs through the years, including LeGarrette Blount, Jonas Gray and Dion Lewis.

But even before that, as an offensive coordinator, Daboll liked to feature running backs. With the Browns, Jerome Harrison and Peyton Hillis had productive years. And with the Dolphins and Chiefs, Reggie Bush and Jamaal Charles each rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

Police charge woman with falsely reporting rape by 2 Sacred Heart football players

A New York woman is facing charges after police say she confessed to lying about being raped by two football players from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, because of fears a third student would lose romantic interest in her.

Nikki Yovino of South Setauket, New York, has been charged with falsely reporting an incident and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

The 18-year-old Yovino said two football players sexually assaulted her in a bathroom in October during an off-campus party.

The men said it was consensual.

Capt. Brian Fitzgerald told WABC-TV that another student informed authorities of explicit text messages among the three. He says one man also recorded some of the incident on his cellphone.

Yovino's lawyer, Mark Sherman, told The Connecticut Post that he hadn't seen the arrest warrant affidavit, and his client stands by her original story.

The Connecticut Post also reported that the students were dismissed from the team, stripped of their scholarships and had withdrawn from the school, but Sacred Heart provided a conflicting report in a statement.

"The federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act prevents us from providing information about specific students. However, I can say that some of the early information that was released is inaccurate. Sacred Heart never expelled the two students nor was any student stripped of scholarships because of any allegations," Deb Noack, Sacred Heart University's director of communications, said in the statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.