T.Y. Hilton: Colts "Have Three Number One Wideouts"

Anyone who has read this site at all over the past month knows at least one thing about the Colts: that the wide receiver position is absolutely stacked.

One of those receivers, T.Y. Hilton, also knows about the quality of receivers on the roster, even going so far as to say that they, "have three number one wideouts" when he spoke to the media on Monday.  A follow up question was asked about whether or not he considers himself to be one of those wideouts, and he said "without a doubt" while saying that "all you have to do is turn on the film and watch me play" to see that it's true.

Those three wideouts Hilton was referring to are himself, Reggie Wayne, and Hakeem Nicks.  Between the three of them, they have 20 NFL seasons of experience (252 games started in 297 games played), 1,449 catches, 20,172 yards, 119 touchdowns, 13.9 yards per catch, and eleven 1,000+ receiving yard seasons.  That's as impressive as it gets for a team's top three receivers.  For years Reggie Wayne was the Colts number one receiver, and then Hakeem Nicks was the number one receiver for the New York Giants.  Hilton, who is entering his second year, stepped into the number one role last season for the Colts after Reggie went down with a torn ACL.

Of course, with three number one caliber receivers on the roster, only one of them will truly function as the Colts' number one guy this year, and that's T.Y. Hilton.  On the verge of a breakout year (even more so than last year), Hilton is a legitimate threat and should be a weapon with Andrew Luck for a while.  The timing that he has established with his quarterback makes him especially dangerous.  On a team with several number one receivers, T.Y. Hilton is the number one receiver among them, and he's looking good.  He's impressed head coach Chuck Pagano greatly:

"T.Y.? He never ceases to amaze us. I mean the guy is just a spectacular athlete. The game has obviously slowed down tremendously for T.Y., he knows this thing inside and out now. There's not one play call we have, and we have a pretty big play list and big play book, but there's not one play call we have that he's out there thinking, from a defense perspective, when he lines up he's able to just look across and he understands what he's getting from a coverage standpoint, he's just going to keep building on the success that he's had in year one and year two."

Hakeem Nicks, who is functioning as the Colts' third wide receiver behind Hilton and Wayne, also has been very impressed with Hilton:

"T.Y. is a great athlete, definitely knows the game of football, we talk football a lot. We talk defenses and stuff like that. I think playing with him, I look forward to that and playing with him on the field on Sundays and in practice. I feel like we can do some good things in the future."

By all accounts, Hilton is in store for a huge year in 2014 with Luck, but it's not just him - Wayne and Nicks will play major roles too, and while those are the three receivers that Hilton said are number one guys, there's a real chance and hope that rookie Donte Moncrief will develop into a number one caliber receiver in the future, and at the same time he'll be able to help the Colts out this year.  With Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener at tight end, the Colts are loaded with weapons, including three guys who have been and can be number one receivers - and the number one among them is T.Y. Hilton, who just continues to impress.