Metcalf reached 22.2 miles per hour on his 73-yard touchdown against the Cowboys on Thursday night, which is the fastest by any ball carrier in 2023, according to Next Gen Stats.
Miami’s wide receivers room loved the stat and offered a challenge to their superstar. Dolphins’ wide receiver coach, Wes Welker, told Hill he should race Metcalf.
“You just need to put a race together this summer,” Welker said.
Welker was quickly followed up by a less than enthusiastic Hill, who said, “I’m not racing nobody. I don’t get paid for that, bruh.”
But Welker would not let this one go, continuing to tell Hill how it could properly be done.
“No, I’m saying, if you build the whole platform and everything, you can get sponsors, put up a million-dollar deal or something,” Welker said.
It appears that Hill — although he did not seem persuaded at all — did think about it a little more when he was out in practice.
“I hit 23 (mph) my rookie year. I’ll probably won’t never hit that again,” Hill told the other receivers.
While Hill thinks he is far off from Metcalf and reaching that same speed he once achieved, he is closer than some might think. Hill is the second-fastest ball carrier at 22.0 mph this year, according to Next Gen Stats. Hill also reached a top speed of 21.68 mph in Week 13, which is the fifth-fastest speed by a ball carrier this season. If that’s not enough, Hill has reached 20 mph or more 16 times this season, which is 10 more than the next closest ball carrier.
While Hill might not be looking to race against anyone outside of the football field in the near future, he definitely continues to put on a show when his feet touch the field.
On Sunday, against the Commanders, Hill became the fourth player in NFL history and first in the Super Bowl era to reach 1,400 or more receiving yards and 10 or more receiving TDs in the first 12 games of a season, per NFL Research. Hill also remains on pace to become the first WR in history to tally 2,000 receiving yards in a season.
Overall, Hill may not want to race anyone, but the stats don’t lie — he is still the Cheetah.