They don’t call him “Cheetah” for nothing. Newly acquired Miami WR Tyreek Hill is entering his seventh season this year, and there are no reasons to think he’s slowing down any time soon, but his production could look different.
Hill joined the Dolphins via trade during the offseason after the Chiefs decided he wasn’t worth the extension he was requesting. There have been plenty of critics regarding Kansas City’s decision, but they got back five draft picks so only time will tell.
Tyreek will look to prove the critics right in his first season outside of Andy Reid’s offense. With Miami, he’ll be working under Mike McDaniel, the offensive coordinator who unleashed Deebo Samuel on the league last season when he was with San Francisco. Analysts have praised the pairing, saying that Hill has all the requisite skills to be lethal in a similar dual threat role to Samuel. It’s worth noting, though, that Hill has proven to already be an elite receiver in ways that Samuel hasn’t, so expecting his role to change drastically is unrealistic.
In fact, if Hill’s role changed anytime, it was last season when he was still in Kansas City. Always known as a deep threat, Tyreek was lethal in the short game in 2021. The change came from more double teams and softer coverage that allowed him work within five yards of the line of scrimmage rather than burning past corners and safeties to get downfield.
His saw 159 targets in the new scheme, which was a career high and ranked #7 in the NFL, while his 313 slot snaps and 536 routes run landed him in the Top 20 of both. His average target depth of 10.4 yards was a steep decline by his standards, but was fairly average amongst the rest of wide receivers. The air yards were still there, though, as he finished with 1,709, which ranked #3. and his 2.31 yards per route run ranked #11. His year end total fantasy points was 186, which ranked #43 among all players and #7 among wide receivers.
Health & Draft Analysis – As an explosive wide receiver, Hill’s recent history of hamstring and quad strains is a concern. He typically makes a pretty quick return, but this is something that can get more severe each time it occurs. Miami went out and got him though, so I’d expect they plan to use him as much as possible. I’d put him as a Top 10 receiver, but he’s closer to #10 than he is to #1.
| REC | YDS | TD | REC/G | YDS/R | YDS/G |
| 111 | 1239 | 9 | 6.5 | 11.2 | 72.9 |
