Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill on surpassing 1,000-yard mark in eight games: 'I've been calling my shot since I came in this league'
Through eight games, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is halfway to his goal of 2,000 yards in 2023.
Hill put up 112 receiving yards with a TD on eight catches in Sunday’s 31-17 win over the New England Patriots, giving him 1,014 yards on the season.
“It feels great. God is great. I’ve been calling my shot since I came in this league,” Hill said Sunday, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “A lot of people doubted me, saying I couldn’t do this and do that, but it’s all about believing in yourself.”
Hill’s 1,014 yards and eight receiving TDs lead the NFL, entering Monday Night Football.
The wideout became the first player in NFL history to earn 1,000-plus yards through the first eight games in a single season in the Super Bowl era, per NFL Research.
- Tyreek Hill: 1,014 rec. yards, 2023
- Torry Holt: 978 rec yards, 2003
- Marvin Harrison: 962, 2000
- Hill: 961, 2022
- Wes Welker: 960, 2011
- Isaac Bruce: 960, 2000
The only other players to generate 1,000-plus receiving yards in the first eight games of a season all came before 1962: Charley Hennigan (1961), HOF Elroy Hirsch (1951) & HOF Don Hutson (1942).
With a 17-game schedule, Hill is on pace for 2,155 receiving yards in 2023 (Calvin Johnson holds the single-season receiving yards record with 1,964 in 16 games in 2012).
In eight games, Hill has been held under the 100-yard mark three times and went over the 150-yard barrier four times, including a 215-yard output in Week 1. His season-low came in Week 2 against the Patriots, when he had five catches for 40 yards but still scored a TD. He has at least one touchdown in seven of eight games.
Hill has dominated defenses on deep passes. Despite often seeing safeties over the top, opponents still can’t match the wideout’s speed. Hill leads the NFL with 12 catches for 470 yards and six TDs on deep targets in 2023 (20-plus air yards), per Next Gen Stats.
Hill will attempt to keep up his otherworldly pace against his former team, Kansas City, next week when the current top two seeds in the AFC face off in Week 9 in Frankfurt, Germany.
“I’m ready, man. It’s just another game. I’m just excited to play against my old brothers,” he said. “It’s just like if you’re in high school and you move to a different city, it’s still ball. At the end of the day, my job is to go out there and do what I’ve been doing all year, and that’s have fun, help lead this team and create opportunities for whoever. I’m still going to be the same old Cheetah, baby.”
