When Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill said in July that, “I will break 2,000 yards this year,” it would have been easy to dismiss, as no one in NFL history has ever recorded 2,000 receiving yards in a season. No one can dismiss Hill’s chances now.
Hill has 1,324 receiving yards through 11 games, which puts him on pace for 2,046 yards in a 17-game season. The NFL record for receiving yards in a season was set by Calvin Johnson in 2012, with 1,964 receiving yards.
With 76 yards at Washington on Sunday, Hill will be the fifth player in NFL history to reach the 1,400-yard mark within the first 12 games of the season. The others to do it were Johnson in 2012, Lance Alworth in 1965, Charley Hennigan in 1961 and Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch in 1951.
No wide receiver has ever been named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, and it’s very unlikely to go to any non-quarterback in today’s NFL, where quarterbacks control the game in a way no non-quarterback can. But if there’s a non-quarterback who’s in the MVP conversation it’s Hill, who is playing the game at a level than no other wide receiver can reach.
