Tag: TY Hilton

Wisconsin makes top schools for 2025 WR, son of former NFL great

Wisconsin makes top schools for 2025 WR, son of former NFL great

Wisconsin made the top seven schools for class of 2025 wide receiver Eugene Hilton Jr. Sunday afternoon.

The young wide receiver is the son of former NFL wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, one of the more productive and dependable receivers of the 2010s.

Hilton is 247Sports’ No. 432 player in the class of 2025, No. 60 wide reciever and No. 7 recruit from his home state of Indiana.

Related: Braelon Allen gives his all-time Wisconsin running back Mount Rushmore

Wisconsin makes the final cut alongside Missouri, Miami, Georgia, Ole Miss, Kansas and Purdue. It should be noted that 247Sports currently has four crystal ball predictions for Hilton to choose Georgia, including one from Director of Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong.

Wisconsin’s class of 2025 currently ranks inside the nation’s top 10 at this early stage in the process. Since it is yet to receive a commitment from an offensive skill position, Hilton would fill a major need in the class.

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Former Colts WR T.Y. Hilton reacts to Jonathan Taylor not getting the ball with Texans game on the line

Should the Colts have thrown the ball to Jonathan Taylor instead of Tyler Goodson?

At least one former Indianapolis Colts player seems to think that his old team should’ve put the 2023 season in the hands of another player.

After the Colts fell to the Houston Texans on Saturday for a chance at the playoffs with a brutal drop from running back Tyler Goodson, former Indy wide receiver T.Y. Hilton took to social media and appeared to advocate for another option on the play.

Hilton imagined a world where the Colts threw the ball to elite running back Jonathan Taylor instead of Goodson. Hilton thinks Taylor would’ve caught it.

Goodson’s drop (and quarterback Gardner Minshew’s throw) will be scrutinized within the Colts fandom for quite some time, and Hilton might be speaking for plenty of Indy fans who wonder why coach Shane Steichen didn’t give Taylor the ball in such a critical situation.

Taylor is far and away the Colts’ best player, and it’s very hard not to imagine how this play would’ve gone with Taylor running that quick route instead of Goodson.

It’s all water under the bridge now, as the Texans kept the season alive and the Colts headed home with more questions than answers over the play that sent them there.

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Could any of these free agent WRs get Chiefs out of offensive rut?

Could any of these veteran free agents help get the #Chiefs out of their recent offensive rut?

The Kansas City Chiefs offense is in a rut. Patrick Mahomes looks more like a middling starter than the NFL’s reigning MVP, and the media is already questioning whether Andy Reid’s system has been figured out by defensive coordinators around the league.

After the trade deadline passed without a new addition to the Chiefs’ receiving corps, Kansas City’s options to rectify the void of talent at the position are severely limited.

While none of the players currently available have been standouts in recent seasons, there are some who have put together sneaky successful careers in the NFL despite their free-agent status.

Take a look at these six veteran options to see if the Chiefs should grease the wheels on its offense or be content to stand pat heading into the toughest part of their 2023 schedule:

Wisconsin offers the son of a current NFL wide receiver

Wisconsin is getting active on the 2025 recruiting trail:

Wisconsin extended an offer to class of 2025 wide receiver Eugene Hilton Jr. this week.

Hilton is a three-star recruit according to 247Sports.com and holds offers from West Virginia, Purdue, Ole Miss, Miami, Louisville and Kentucky.

The Zionsville, Indiana, native is the son of NFL wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, who is a free agent after spending some of the 2022 season on the Dallas Cowboys. Of note, T.Y. played his college football at Florida International University, a program also on his son’s offer list.

Related: Ranking the five toughest games on Wisconsin’s 2023 schedule

The 2025 wide receiver is 247Sports’ No. 357 player in the class, No. 46 player at his position and No. 4 recruit from the state of Indiana.

How re-signing WR Ashton Dulin impacts Colts’ draft plans

The re-signing of WR Ashton Dulin gives the Colts some nice depth, but the position should still be a target in the draft.

The Indianapolis Colts have indicated with the release of quarterback Matt Ryan that they are moving on to the future, including evaluating and drafting a rookie quarterback in the 2023 draft.

No one but the team knows who that player will ultimately be, but one thing remains clear: the team must set that player up for success.

Since pairing former Colt T.Y. Hilton with future Hall of Fame receiver Reggie Wayne, the team has been looking for a consistent product from its receiving corps. They drafted several receivers along the way, with standout players in Parris Campbell, Michael Pittman, Jr., and Alec Piece.

However, Campbell may have seen his last days in a Colts uniform. Despite returning from multiple seasons with injuries and producing his best season, the team may be unable to re-sign him. His potential contract is likely on par with upper market value and above what their roster can handle.

With that, it makes sense that the Colts worked to bring back second-team All-Pro special teams contributor and wide receiver Ashton Dulin. The former undrafted free agent landed a two-year deal worth up to $9.2 million.

He’s a versatile player that allows the team to boost its wide receiver depth and serve as special teams gunner on punt coverage.

By allowing Dulin the flexibility to serve in two roles, general manager Chris Ballard can work to find a cheaper option to fill the void Campell would leave if he signs elsewhere. It’s a reasonable assumption to think this option may be available in the draft.

If this is the choice, there are several options, including an intriguing fit in Ole Miss’s Jonathan Mingo. Mingo is a big-bodied receiver who would feast in Jim Bob Cooter’s offense, and Mingo also has experience playing in the slot, Campbell’s specialty.

Regardless of what happens with Campbell’s future with the team, the re-signing of Dulin shouldn’t prevent the Colts from looking at upside prospects in the draft at the wide receiver position.

While decisions loom large, the clock is ticking.

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Cowboys desperately need second receiving option to step up

The Dallas Cowboys passing attack is boom or bust based on CeeDee Lamb and desperately need someone to step up beside him. | From @ReidDHanson

When the Dallas Cowboys bid adieu to Amari Cooper last March, they did so without a clear replacement in mind. They hoped their No. 2 man, CeeDee Lamb, would elevate up to the top role, but they were still down a legitimate starting option.

Factoring in the loss of Cedrick Wilson and the recovery timeline of Michael Gallup, the Cowboys had to start the 2022 season without three of their top four receivers from the season prior. Their main replacement pieces, Jalen Tolbert and James Washington, would be asked to pick up the slack.

A task both failed to do.

With only one game left to play this season, Tolbert and Washington have combined for 12 yards on two receptions. They’ve been so ineffective on offense, Tolbert has only logged 89 total snaps on offense and Washington has been released altogether.

Here’s how Cowboys signing T.Y. Hilton should be processed

A look at what Hilton has left in the tank, how he impacts the WR room and roster in general, along with possibly the continued pursuit of Beckham. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have added a veteran receiver to the mix, just not the one many originally expected. During the offseason, after jettisoning Amari Cooper to create much needed cap space, there was a lot of speculation whether or not Dallas would sign a cheaper veteran to help fill the void. A handful of names were floated around, with the Cowboys settling on unmentioned James Washington on a very inexpensive deal.

As the season has gone on, speculation that the Cowboys were going to land Odell Beckham, Jr. crescendoed over the course of two months, until he came in for a visit and it became public knowledge he still had rehab work to do before getting on the field. The Cowboys aren’t going to stand pat, even if they remain interested in Beckham’s services. On Monday, following their narrow victory over the 1-11-1 Houston Texans, Dallas looked to boost their receiving corps by signing four-time Pro Bowler T.Y. Hilton.

But what does Hilton bring to the table and what does it mean for the WR picture in Dallas?

Potential free agent target for Cardinals: WR T.Y. Hilton

Should Arizona take another chance on a veteran former AFC South Pro Bowler to fill their number 2 receiver role?

In a continued look at free agents the Arizona Cardinals could sign, we look at the veteran wide receiver T.Y. Hilton.

Hilton appears to have lost a step this past season with the Indianapolis Colts, but still could fill the role of a number two wideout that Arizona seems to desperately need. However, his days of being an All-Pro number one type receiver seem to be behind him.

Last season with the Colts, Hilton finished with 56 receptions and 762 yards and five TDs in 15 games, along with a solid 77.7 PFF grade. He is just two years removed from a season with 76 catches for 1,270 yards.

Hilton may have lost a step, but he is still fast and would not have the burden of being the number one receiver in Arizona. He is a good route runner and could line up inside and outside. In Arizona he would likely see single coverage far more often than in Indianapolis.

A couple of other factors could be his fit in head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s scheme (which would seem to be an easy fit from Frank Reich’s offense in Indy) as well as his desire to win another championship. The Colts have a good bit of cap room and are chasing their own championship, though they don’t usually seem to spend a ton of money in free agency.

Spotrac estimates his contract to be $10.1 million per year, and actually predicted that Arizona would be the team to sign him.

What do you all think? Should Arizona make a splash and bring in another former AFC South Pro Bowler?

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Multiple free agent receivers reportedly interested in Dolphins

Multiple free agent receivers reportedly interested in Dolphins

Each and every NFL franchise heads into the offseason with a ‘to do’ list. And, in many cases, the players pegged to successfully address issues on each team’s issues will leave those teams at the altar — after all, there’s only one Allen Robinson and while about 25 teams would like to sign the star receiver from Chicago, only one team will actually do so. For the Dolphins, a talented wide receiver market is going  to bring multiple reinforcements into the picture.

And while we don’t know which players the team is most interested in, there should be some peace of mind that, at the very least, there’s interest in the Dolphins organization from some of the players set to hit the market.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote up an extensive outlook on the Dolphins’ wide receiver situation yesterday and along the way it was revealed that more than one experienced veteran receiver would have interest in the Miami Dolphins next month when free agent negotiations kicked off.

“(A) source said (Marvin) Jones (76 catches, 978 yards for Detroit) got a call from former Lions teammate Matt Stafford about potentially joining him with the Rams but Miami and Jacksonville also would be two teams that would interest him…(Colts receiver T.Y.) Hilton, who attended FIU, would welcome Dolphins overtures after a 56-catch, 762-yard season in Indianapolis…An associate included Miami on a list of teams that could hold appeal to (Steelers WR Juju Smith-Schuster) if the Steelers don’t keep him.” – Barry Jackson, Miami Herald

Marvin Jones. T.Y. Hilton. Juju Smith-Schuster. The Dolphins will clearly have options — as the program their building in South Florida under the watch of Chris Grier and Brian Flores continues to earn respect from other talents across the league. This is fairly uncharted waters for the Dolphins in recent memory; being a desirable free agent destination.

The Dolphins of the past would have needed to commit extra cash to get players to pick Miami over other contenders — and those talents rarely materialized as quality additions for the team. The end result was a bloated salary cap with several prominent underachievers in tow. And a rebuild to purge a decade’s worth of bad habits after that.

So consider this development a positive change, Dolphins fans. Players have their eyes on Miami and they like what they see. Of course, the Dolphins are still going to have to pay up to seal the deal but at the very least they’re on the list. That’s half the battle.

Behind Enemy Lines: 5 questions with Colts Wire ahead of Week 14

See what you should be watching out for this Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers return home in Week 14 after two-straight road wins. The Bucs have been playing some of their best football of the season and have a chance to pull their record to 6-7 with a win over the visiting Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts, meanwhile, have lost four of their last five games and are desperately trying to stay afloat in the AFC playoff race. A loss would all but end their season, so the Bucs should prepared to face a Colts team playing with an added sense of desperation and urgency.

We talked with Kevin Hickey of Colts Wire to find out more about this Indy team ahead of Sunday’s Week 14 matchup.

1. The Colts have lost four of five games and seen their playoff hopes slip away. What’s the realistic expectation for this team for the rest of the season?

They will continue to compete but it is very unlikely they make the playoffs. They are currently the ninth seed entering this matchup while the teams ahead of them hold the tiebreaker for the playoff seeding. There is still the smallest of chances they get in but with four games remaining, it is time to begin looking at the future.

2. How do the Colts plan on stopping Tampa Bay’s offense, which ranks in the top 5 in the league?

It’s a good question and a tough challenge. The Colts have been pretty solid defensively for the majority of the year, especially recently. Because Jameis Winston has a knack for throwing interceptions, I expect the Colts to dial up some blitzes. Cornerback Kenny Moore is typically used on nickel blitzes but he’s ruled out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they use linebackers Darius Leonard or Bobby Okereke on blitzes more often. They will also have to take advantage if/when they secure turnovers. Scoring points after a change of possession is something they have struggled with this season.

3. What grade would you give Jacoby Brissett this season?

C+ maybe? It’s tough because he’s a talented quarterback. He has a big arm, strong pocket mobility and a strong command of the offense. But he simply doesn’t throw with timing and anticipation to be an above average starter. If he has to deal with a blitz, all bets are off. He’s talented and still relatively young, but right now he’s an average quarterback that doesn’t love to push the ball downfield.

4. What’s the key matchup everyone should be watching for on Sunday?

It’s going to be Shaq Barrett against Colts right tackle Braden Smith. Barrett is having a career year leading the NFL in sacks while the second-year Smith has been solid for the most part this season. The Colts offensive line dictates how much success the entire offense will have every week. Needing to win the edge battles is a massive need, and it likely comes down to this matchup.

5. Who wins and why?

The Colts are going to be competitive in this game, but the injuries are too much. Without T.Y. Hilton, the passing offense isn’t the same. Without Kenny Moore, the Colts have no one to line up against Chris Godwin. It will be close, but the Colts offense doesn’t have what it takes to keep up with the Bucs. I’ve got it Bucs, 28-20.

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