Tyreek Hill signing brings explosiveness back to Miami

With the acquisition and introduction of Tyreek Hill, the Miami Dolphins are receiving a player not had by the franchise in decades. Literally. The former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver has the big-play, home-run electricity that the Dolphins have been longing for.

At Thursday’s media presser, Hill’s confidence was on full display, and the six-time Pro-Bowl selection is already ahead of the game in the pantheon of decorated Miami wideouts in career achievements.

Mark Clayton was named to five career Pro Bowls, and his “Marks Brother,” Mark Duper, had three to his credit. The last Pro Bowl wide receiver for Miami was Jarvis Landry, who made three-straight Pro Bowls in South Florida and continued that streak with the Cleveland Browns in two more seasons. Hall of Famer, Paul Warfield had seven career Pro Bowl honors, five of which came as a Dolphin and two with, ironically, the Browns.

End of season honors aside, it’s that big-play threat that Hill brings which Miami has lacked since Dan Marino was throwing.

The last time Miami had a player catch three passes for touchdowns in one game was Thanksgiving Day in 2003 when Chris Chambers had his signature performance in Miami’s throwback threads. Chambers shocked the Dallas Cowboys crowd with five catches, 96 yards, and his hat-trick on way to a 40-21 win.

Before Chambers, the last Miami receiver to post three in one game was a prime-time affair when Marino found Lamar Thomas for a trio of scores, leading to a 31-21 victory on Monday Night Football. Thomas had career-highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns that night with six catches for 136 yards and those scores.

Enter Hill, who has a hat-trick of hat-tricks to his name. He did so as recently as Week 4 last season against the Philadelphia Eagles, when he had 11 catches for 186 and scored not once, not twice, but thrice. He also accomplished three touchdowns in 2020 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and back in 2018 against New England. All three times were road games.

Eight of his top-ten highest single-game yardage outputs occurred on the road with one of those times being against the New York Jets in 2017. In that game, he recorded six catches, 185 yards and a pair of scores.

Coincidentally, the last player to accomplish scoring a rushing and a receiving touchdown in the same game against Miami was Hill himself back in 2020. The last Dolphin to accomplish this was Kenyan Drake, the “Miami Miracle” man, himself.

Miami’s seasonal record for receiving is, no surprise, owned by Clayton with 1,389 yards back in 1984. Hill’s career single-season best is 1,479 in 2018. Last season, Hill caught 111 passes, which could make for a nice combination with Jaylen Waddle, who started his NFL career off in 2021 with 104 receptions. Miami’s single-season receptions mark is 112, set by Landry in 2017.

To set the bar, the Dolphins’ record for longest reception is 86 yards, owned by Warfield. Hill’s longest so far in his career is 79 yards. That’s seven yards off, and perhaps he can surpass this mark, from 1971, in his seventh NFL season.