Call me crazy, but I kind of like Tory Horton as a long-range prospect. There’s a path for him to succeed, and I kind of like that he was hurt last year at Colorado State.
He’s a fifth-round pick, making expectations modest, but it’s not that uncommon for wide receivers taken that late to have good careers. Very good careers. Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Puka Nacua and Khalil Shakir were all fifth-round picks.
In the last 10 years, nine different receivers selected in the fifth round, in fact, have had at least one top-40 season while playing on their rookie contract (that is, in their first four seasons). About one per year.
In the chart below, you’re seeing the best seasons by fifth-round receivers in the last 10 years – one season per player, and only seasons that occurred in the first four years of their career.
| 5TH-ROUND RECEIVERS WITH TOP-40 NUMBERS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Yr | No | Yards | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2018 | Tyreek Hill, K.C. | 3 | 87 | 1479 | 17.0 | 14 | 334.0 | 2 |
| 2023 | Puka Nacua, LAR | 1 | 105 | 1486 | 14.2 | 6 | 298.5 | 4 |
| 2021 | Hunter Renfrow, L.V. | 3 | 103 | 1038 | 10.1 | 9 | 261.1 | 10 |
| 2018 | Stefon Diggs, Min. | 4 | 102 | 1021 | 10.0 | 9 | 266.3 | 10 |
| 2021 | Darnell Mooney, Chi. | 2 | 81 | 1055 | 13.0 | 5 | 219.7 | 24 |
| 2015 | Marvin Jones, Cin. | 4 | 65 | 816 | 12.6 | 4 | 173.9 | 36 |
| 2019 | Darius Slayton, NYG | 1 | 48 | 740 | 15.4 | 8 | 170.0 | 37 |
| 2024 | Khalil Shakir, Buff. | 3 | 76 | 821 | 10.8 | 4 | 182.5 | 37 |
| 2021 | K.J. Osborn, Min. | 2 | 50 | 655 | 13.1 | 7 | 158.5 | 40 |
In Horton’s case, he had knee and ankle injuries that sidelined him for about half of last season, otherwise he probably would have gone a couple rounds sooner. But the Seahawks checked him out and think he’s OK. He ran 4.41 at the combine, and that supposedly was at less than full strength.
While Horton played in only six games last year, he caught 167 passes and 16 TDs in his previous two seasons at Colorado State. He’s been productive.
The Packers had success drafting a couple of these kind of pass catchers a few years back – Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft both slipped in the draft after having injury-reduced final seasons in college.
I don’t think there’s much chance of Horton playing much right away. The Seahawks have Jaxon Smith-Njigba as their No. 1 guy, and they signed Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. MVS was sneaky good on deep routes for the Saints last year (playing for Seattle’s new OC); I think he’ll be their third receiver for now.
But Kupp and Valdes-Scantling are both older guys. Horton might not have to wait for long.
Granted, it’s a stab in the dark. I wouldn’t expect to be drafting Horton in a dynasty draft unless the rosters were pretty deep. But definitely a guy I’ll want to get eyes on in the preseason.
—Ian Allan