Steve Smith Sr. and Shannon Sharpe were discussing Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill together when they noted that Hill is not exactly a “hands catcher”, as Smith put it.
They weren’t trying to insult the former Kansas City Chiefs star, but there are different types of pass catchers in the league. Some of them utilize great hands. Others utilize great speed. Many more utilize exceptional footwork.
To say that a certain wide receiver does one of those things well and another not as well isn’t totally shocking, because most wide receivers do not excel at all three.
The former Carolina Panthers wide receiver said:
“Tyreek Hill is [fantastic], he’s Cheetah. He runs faster than anyone I’ve known at wide receiver.
Sharpe added:
“This is not a knock, but he’s not a natural catcher of the ball.”
Smith continued:
“He’s not a pure hands catcher.”
Hill saw the clip and shared it on his Instagram.
He followed up that clip of the two former pass catchers discussing his skills with a few clips of him making a few impressive catches, mostly using his hand skills.
He captioned it:
“24 hours to respond… Respect to both you greats.”
He is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and didn’t love seeing a Hall of Famer and a future Hall of Famer talk about him in a way that he perceived as inaccurate and possibly disrespectful.
Tyreek Hill’s first season without Patrick Mahomes
There was a lot of offseason discussion about how well the former Chief would do without Patrick Mahomes and vice versa. So far, the Chiefs offense looks as good as ever, so they don’t miss their former star too much.
With the quarterback carousel in Miami this season (thanks to Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater sustaining concussions) and the preconcieved notion about Tagovailoa’s passing abilities, one might have expected the wideout to struggle.
That has not been the case though. He currently leads all pass catchers in receiving yards with 701, almost 50 yards clear of the next player on the list.
He has a staggering 116 yards per game, and much of that has been with a backup or even third string quarterback.
What he has been able to do in just his first season in Miami is impressive, even if NFL analysts aren’t convinced of his hand skills.
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