Tua Tagovailoa: We fed ball to Tyreek Hill to get him to 2,000 yards

The Miami Dolphins force-fed the football to Tyreek Hill in 2023 in hopes of getting the receiver to 2,000 yards, according to Tua Tagovailoa.

“Last year, we were really, in a way, trying to help [Hill] get to that 2,000-yard mark,” Tagovailoa told Dan Le Batard in an interview earlier this week. “It wasn’t like we were trying to hide that. It was pretty obvious, you know, trying to feed him the ball and what not.

“We all have a good enough relationship off the field to where Jaylen [Waddle] can come up to me at any point — even in the games — and tell me like ‘Bro, I’m not messing with this. I need some shine too.’ … [Hill] would be cool with that. Well the cool thing about it was [Waddle] knew we were trying to do that for [Hill] and he’s like ‘Dude, I’m just here to support.'”

Hill made it clear prior to the 2023 season that 2,000 receiving yards — a number no NFL player has ever reached in a single season — was a personal goal. He was on pace to reach the milestone until December when an ankle injury derailed his chances. Still, he finished with 1,799 yards, a Dolphins franchise record and the seventh most in NFL history.

The notion that the Dolphins were trying to get the ball in the hands of Hill so he could make history isn’t exactly shocking. He’s arguably the most dangerous weapon in the NFL and his prolific season helped Miami to finish the year No. 1 in total offense and No. 2 in points scored.

Still, it’s a bit of a surprise that Tagovailoa would admit as much. Personal accolades are usually treated as “selfish” or a detriment to team goals, and Tagovailoa says that the Dolphins made Hill’s aspirations an offensive priority.

Hill even seems to think as much. Earlier in training camp this year, he told reporters that he doesn’t feel good about his 2,000-yard goal, in hindsight.

“The position that I’m in and me being one of the leaders and just singling out an individual goal like that — because I had time to go look at it and talk about it with my family — and that’s very selfish of me,” Hill said in July.

“Moving forward … I would want us to, A: win a playoff game. I would love that. We’re going to start with that. Then moving forward continuing to build on that, we’re going to move to the Super Bowl. It’s one step at a time. If I’m able help this team do something special as a team goal, I would definitely count that as an individual goal as my own. And that’ll feel good.”

Perhaps the removal of the 2,000 goal will allow the Dolphins to spread the ball around more. Then again, it’s not a terrible idea to feed Hill, a player capable of turning just about any play into a touchdown.