When he wasn’t dealing with an injury, there were times that Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton disappeared for long chunks of a game. Sometimes that even spanned a group of games.
In what was an injury-marred 2019 campaign, Hilton also had to deal with the lack of passing volume and production following the retirement of Andrew Luck. The consistent success that Hilton found was no longer there.
Even as a team that believes in running the football as much as they do, Colts head coach Frank Reich admitted that the success of the unit comes with Hilton as the centerpiece.
“You just want to get him the ball more. I said it yesterday, if we’re going to fulfill our vision and win the games that we want to win he has to be at the center of it,” Reich told reporters Monday. “We are still going to be a run-the-ball team, but T.Y. (Hilton) has to be at the center of it. He is a great player and it is our responsibility to get him involved and get him the ball.”
Dealing with the injuries and a struggling passing game, 2019 wasn’t kind to Hilton. In the 10 games he did play, he failed to reach 100 yards in any of them. His season-high came all the way back in Week 1 when he had 87 yards against the Los Angeles Chargers. His yards per reception mark shrunk to a measly 11.1 average.
There was a bevy of factors that led to Hilton’s down year. From injuries to the change at quarterback and even the philosophy of running the ball more all factored into the worst season of his career.
The Colts will use the next month or so to truly evaluate and dig into why the offense failed the way it did.
One of the conclusions they will likely find is that Hilton wasn’t involved nearly enough. If they want to be an explosive offense, they must find more ways to get Hilton the ball.