For the first time in the 14-year history of NFL.com’s preseason list of the top 100 players in the league, a wide receiver sits at #1. And that wide receiver is the Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill.
Hill tops the list one season after flirting with history. He put the league on notice in Week 1 when he caught 11 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Chargers. Hill was on pace to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 yards and surpass the 2,000-yard mark until an injury late in the season slowed his production. Still, Hill amassed a league-best 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The Dolphins posted an 11-6 record and finished second in the AFC East. Hill’s production since he joined Miami is also a big reason why his quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension this offseason — $167 million of which is guaranteed. Without Hill, Tagovailoa doesn’t get that kind of contract.
For his career, the former Coffee Trojan has played in 124 NFL games and caught 717 passes for 10,139 yards and 76 touchdowns. He has made eight Pro Bowls (each year he’s been in the league), been named to five All-Pro teams, and won one Super Bowl (2019 season with the Kansas City Chiefs).