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T.Y. Hilton Fantasy Football 2020 Outlook

T.Y. Hilton wants a contract extension to stay Indianapolis for the rest of his career. Coming off a bad year, what is Hilton's fantasy football outlook going into 2020 season?

Corey Parson

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton was in the news yesterday. In the last season of his contract, Hilton stated that he would like to sign a deal to make him a member of the Colts for life.

Colts beat writer Phillip B. Wilson breaks it down here:

"There's no question his value to the Colts, who are 1-9 without him since he was a 2012 third-round selection. What could complicate contract talks is the fact that Hilton missed six games with a calf injury and had a career-low 50 receptions for 501 yards and five TDs."

Wilson is correct to point out the poor stats in 2019. Injuries did play a role in those career-low numbers, but let's not forget the play of quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Plus, the franchise is going to look for ways to make the argument to avoid paying top dollar.

Hilton played the majority of his career with Andrew Luck. When Luck retired abruptly, Hilton's fantasy stock dipped. Brissett is not a bad quarterback. Still, he is the type of quarterback who doesn't look to make impact plays down the field. When Hilton and Luck were at their best, Luck was driving the ball down the field to Hilton. Brissett was more of a dink-and-dunk, game manager quarterback. That's not the optimal fantasy fit for Hilton.

Luck and Hilton were on their way to becoming one of the best quarterback-receiver tandems in the league. Luck and Hilton were both drafted in 2012, so they came up together. As a rookie, Hilton had 871 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns on 50 receptions. In their other five seasons, Hilton had over 1,000 receiving yards in four of them, the other he had 966.

In early fantasy football drafts, Hilton is the 26th receiver going off the board. If this holds up, I will have a lot of Hilton this season. Brissett was not the right quarterback to take full advantage of Hilton's talents. New Colts quarterback Philip Rivers is exactly the type Hilton needs to excel. Rivers will be much more willing to drive the football down the field. As long as Hilton is healthy for 16 games, he should be a longshot candidate for the top fantasy wide receiver this upcoming season.

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Corey Parson
COREY PARSON

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