Tyreek Hill Is Not the Greatest Deep Threat in NFL History And That's Fine

Tyreek Hill is an awesome football player. He's blazing fast and makes a big catch in seemingly every game by blowing by one or more defenders to take the top off the defense down the field. Hill is probably the fastest receiver in the league, and there are certainly no deep threats better than him right now.

Pro Football Focus took all that a step further and incensed their followers by claiming Hill may be the greatest deep threat of all time.

Within an hour Randy Moss highlights were all over the place and Desean Jackson was trending on Twitter. Even the Minnesota Vikings' account noticed and tweeted out a highlight reel of all of Moss' 40-plus-yard catches, which is nine minutes long. Safe to say, we the people did not agree.

Hill is the best deep threat in the game right now and has been for a few years. But he isn't the greatest ever. That title belongs to Moss, who was torching defenses into his mid-30s thanks to his other-worldly speed. Jackson is also a strong contender and an argument can certainly be made he was more effective in the deep passing game than Moss, even if Moss was a far better overall receiver.

That doesn't take away from how great Hill is. He averaged 14.7 yards per reception in 2020, good for 19th in the league. It was his lowest mark since his rookie season when he started one game. Hill can both be great and not the greatest ever.

But the discussion isn't over quite yet. Hill will never reach the combination of career heights and statistical acumen that Moss has, but the KC receiver has only been in the league for five years. He's 27-years-old. The speed will fade eventually, but the aforementioned Jackson is still getting behind the defense and he's in his mid-30s. For guys like that, the decline from extremely fast to very fast isn't particularly noticeable.

Hill would have to stay at this level for the next five or six years, when he'd have his own nine-minute highlight reel of deep catches. That isn't out of the realm of possibility at all, especially since he has what both Moss and Jackson never did: an all-time great quarterback throwing him the ball for his entire career. Hill isn't likely to catch Moss and take the title of the greatest deep threat in NFL history, but it'll sure be fun to watch him try.