Tyreek Hill Goes To Extreme Lengths To Prove He's A Pure Hands Catcher, And Steve Smith Is Still Not Convinced
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There's this "weird hill to die on" take that Steve Smith has about Tyreek Hill. Smith claims the Miami Dolphins superstar is not a "pure hands" catcher and that he lets the ball go into his body too often, which irked Cheetah so much that he had to resort to bizarre substances in an effort to prove his point.
After Hill successfully executed pure hands catches with his hands covered in syrup and then butter on TikTok, Smith issued a rebuttal that consisted of all kinds of shit. I was cackling throughout Agent 89's rant because it's just like dude, what are we doing here? Tyreek leads the NFL with 961 receiving yards through Week 8, putting him on pace for over TWO THOUSAND for the year. There have been plenty of instances during Tyreek's electrifying 2022 campaign where he's made many of his 69 receptions with only his hands.
What Smith surprisingly doesn't bring up as he lays out stipulations and further exotic challenges for Tyreek is the fact that...well you tell me, reader. Don't you think putting syrup on your hands would actually make them sticky and therefore make it easier to catch a ball from the JUGS Machine? Just saying.
The genesis of this whole spat came from Smith's appearance on Shannon Sharpe's show. I don't know why Sharpe didn't push back more initially, as both men proceeded to disrespect one of the most electrifying playmakers in NFL history.
I'm sure there's a certain jealousy factor for both guys because Tyreek is faster than they ever could've dreamt of being. Like you have to poke holes in someone's game, so because Tyreek has let some balls get into his body or had a few drops here and there, it's chic to call him out and point to a phantom flaw in his arsenal.
Now, according to PFF, Tyreek did have nine drops in 2020 and 10 the next year, but he averaged fewer than five in all the seasons prior to those. Amid his maiden year in Miami, he's had only three drops and a career-low drop rate of 4.2%. Cheetah's yards per route run is at a whopping 3.68 compared to just 2.11 in 2021 when he had 111 receptions.
Mayyyybe there is something to Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel's assertion that Tua Tagovailoa throws "the most catchable ball" he's ever seen — and maybe Tyreek gassing Tua up in the offseason in the way that he did wasn't totally unfounded. I'm not saying Tua is better than Patrick Mahomes. Come on now. But anyway...I guess whichever way Tyreek is catching the ball is working out pretty damn well.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok