Last year at this time, the Indianapolis Colts were considered one of the teams in the AFC primed for Super Bowl contention. That was when the offense was led by the dynamic Andrew Luck-T.Y. Hilton connection.
After Luck’s surprising retirement, the starting quarterback role went to Jacoby Brissett and the results were underwhelming. One of the main players whose production suffered the most was Hilton. Injuries certainly played a key role, but the drop-off from Luck to Brissett was problem No. 1.
Heading into the 2020 season, Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni expects Hilton to have a ‘great bounce back’ after dealing with injuries. Sirianni went a step further stating his belief he expects the ‘2018 version’ of the star receiver.
“I expect a great bounce back from a year he had a lot of injuries,” Sirianni said, via Jim Ayello of the Indianapolis Star. “I expect the 2018 version of him. If T.Y. stays healthy, there’s no doubt that’s what we’ll see. … He’s still the main piece of this offense. T.Y. Hilton is who this pass offense runs through.”
The production Hilton provided the Colts in 2019 was down naturally considering he appeared in just 10 games. He hauled in 68 catches for 501 receiving yards and five touchdown grabs. From a per game standpoint, he had his lowest yards per game (50.1) output of his NFL career.
For Hilton to achieve what Sirianni believes he is capable of doing, Hilton would need to come close to the 76 catches, 1,270 receiving yards, and six touchdown receptions he posted in 2018. To achieve that goal, his average for yards per game would need to increase up to 40.6.
There is plenty of reason to expect a bounce-back season from Hilton. Being healthy to start the upcoming season should help him alone, but having a more dynamic quarterback in Philip Rivers should provide a considerable boost in production as well.
Simply put, Jacoby Brissett rarely took shots down the field and that’s an area where T.Y. Hilton thrived with Andrew Luck. There will be no fear from Philip Rivers to take those types of risky throws and that will help to open up the Indianapolis Colts’ offense as a whole.
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