The Chiefs, who were 7-5 at the time, still had a need at the position. So they tabbed Avant to fill it, because they knew exactly what he was about.
“He’s a good person, number one, and then he works his game like no other,” Reid said. “It is just practice, practice, practice, practice with him. You grow to appreciate how he does his job.”
It did not take Avant’s new teammates long to see what Reid meant.
During one of Avant’s first meetings with the rest of the receivers and position coach David Culley, Wilson spotted a fresh notebook in front of Avant.
Culley, Avant’s longtime position coach in Philly, was going over the upcoming opponent, the Denver Broncos. Wilson, 22, noted Avant — a nine-year pro, mind you — taking copious notes.
“It was his first day here, and you have some leeway learning some things, because they give you a second or two (to pick it up),” Wilson said. “But he was there … and I look over at his book, and he had notes like he’d been here three or four days already. I was just looking like, he’s that detailed?”
Avant also made an impression with attention to detail on the practice field, too. His teammates soon noticed that he quickly and aggressively went about building a rapport with Smith.
“After every play, he’s going ‘This is what I saw, this is how I’m running it, is this how you want me to run it?’ ” rookie quarterback Aaron Murray said. “You’re like ‘Man, this guy, he’s (about) business.’ ”
Smith said it’s clear that Avant understands the importance of communication between a quarterback and receiver.
“He is very detailed, absolutely,” Smith said. “He definitely goes out of his way to make sure that we are on the same page, that he is telling me his train of thought, no question on any given play and making sure that we are thinking the same thing.”
Avant’s attention to detail isn’t simply confined to his mind. When it comes to route running, few are more deceptive.
“I think some younger guys come up to him and ask him how to run a certain route,” backup quarterback Chase Daniel said. “He’s so slippery out there, he’s quick in his route running. I think it’s one of the best things he brings.
“He sometimes fakes us out practice,” Daniel added with a laugh.
It’s all part of the Avant package, Pederson said.
“Bottom line, he’s a perfectionist,” Pederson said. “And hopefully it’s rubbing off on some of our young guys.”
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First-year receiver Frankie Hammond, 24, said that even prior to Avant’s arrival, the receivers already had an idea what he could do.
“We would just go back and watch film from Philly and be like ‘That guy did it the right way,’ ” Hammond said. “So when that guy came, we already had knowledge of what type of guy he was.”
All of which makes it easier to listen to him when he speaks.
“You want to take every bit of knowledge he has, because he’s been in Coach Reid’s offense for so long, so many years,” Hammond said. “So anything I can grab from him — which I am doing — I’m soaking it all in because everything he does, he does it right. He does it the right way.”
Hammond added that Avant has been good about explaining chalkboard concepts from a player’s perspective, when asked, and Wilson said the same applies when they get on the field.
“If he sees something I did or I see something he does I like, I’ll just ask him about it and he’ll sit there and break it down and tell me,” Wilson said. “Or if we’ve got a play coming up that he knows, he’ll just come to me and say ‘Remember, when you get to this point, (the corner) does this or does that.’”
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