Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Gets Undeserved Top 10 Ranking

In an ongoing series of positional breakdowns, ESPN has released its list of the Top 10 wide receivers in the NFL based on the opinions of leagues executives, coaches and scouts. In Jeremy Fowler’s aptly titled list “Execs, coaches, scouts rank the NFL’s top 10 WRs for 2025,” he has Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill as the third-best in the league.

Like many others upon hearing this, I’m in the “oh, do tell; this I gotta hear” category.

“The Dolphins can save $14.9 million on the 2025 cap if they trade Hill, which would be a surprise,” Fowler writes. “But the notion that most Dolphins fans can hear that first line and not blink says a lot about Hill’s turbulent 2024 campaign — objectively his worst full season since becoming an NFL starter in 2017.

“Hill struggled mightily without Tua Tagovailoa in the lineup, appeared to quit on his team in Week 18 and has been saying all the right things since. He averaged 1,557 yards per season between 2020 and 2023 (at least 16 games played). That number fell to 959 yards in 17 games last season.”

So, if he didn’t break 1,000 yards in 17 games and he “appeared to quit on his team,” how is he the No. 3 wide receiver in the NFL when there are so many other highly productive wideouts that don’t quit on their teams?

Speed kills and warrants high ranking in Top 10

Of course, speed comes to the ballpark everyday. That’s probably more of a baseball truism, but it applies to football as well. When you’re that fast (and challenging world-class Olympic sprinters to running races would indicate that you are) you simply have to be accounted for.

Even though Hill didn’t produce at a high level last season, he still had to be accounted for on every play.

“Yet, Hill fell just one spot in the rankings,” Fowler explains. “The reason is simple: attention. He commands it from defenses. His mere presence changes the math on the field. Since joining Miami in 2022, Hill’s 14 receiving touchdowns on throws of 20-plus yards downfield is tied for the most in the league with Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown.”

You know who else commands a lot of attention? The aforementioned Brown and Dallas Cowboys superstar CeeDee Lamb, both of whom are behind Hill in the rankings. Poll these executives, coaches, scouts and mascots again and ask them directly if they’d ever take Hill on their roster over Brown or Lamb. Post those results.

Experts say Hill still “hasn’t fallen off”

It wouldn’t seem like Hill has lost much athletically – if anything at all – at age 31. And perhaps we shouldn’t hold it against him for not producing because Tua Tagovailoa is out, because the entire offense goes in the toilet when that happens.

And, according to the experts, the speed still is too much for defenses to ignore.

“He still impacts how you prepare for them so much due to his speed,” an NFC executive said. “He dictates so much. His speed hasn’t fallen off, despite the down year.”

A veteran AFC scout likens him to former Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green, without ever remotely alluding to Darrell Green. They used to talk about Green losing a step late in his career, but that guy had a step or two to lose.

“Even if he’s lost a half-step, he’s still more explosive than everyone — power with raw speed,” the scout said. “I do think defenses have made some adjustments to that [Miami] offense, letting him run around with window dressing and limiting big plays.”

No one can deny Hill’s greatness, but No. 3 on this list? That’s going to be a tough sell.