Tory Horton | Colorado State 6’2” 196 lbs. 11/29/02 (22)
Tory Horton was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, becoming the 22nd wide receiver and 166th overall player in the 2025 NFL Draft.
COLLEGE PRODUCTION
| Targets | Rec | Yards | RecTDs | Target Rate | YPRR | |
| 2020 | 32 | 20 | 336 | 5 | 18.9% | 1.99 |
| 2021 | 66 | 52 | 659 | 5 | 17.8% | 1.78 |
| 2022 | 109 | 71 | 1,131 | 8 | 26.7% | 2.77 |
| 2023 | 134 | 96 | 1,144 | 8 | 32.1% | 2.74 |
| 2024 | 38 | 25 | 331 | 1 | 39.6% | 3.45 |
| Totals | 379 | 264 | 3,601 | 27 | 25.9% | 2.46 |
Tory Horton is a five-year prospect who began his career at Nevada, playing under Head Coach Jay Norvell. When Norvell accepted the Colorado State job, he brought Horton, who emerged as the team’s top pass catcher. In 2022, Horton accounted for roughly 48% of the receiving work in this offense, finishing with over 1,110 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He followed this up with similar numbers in Year 4 and on an even higher target rate of 32.1%. I was surprised when Horton elected to use his final season of college eligibility in 2024, rather than declaring for the NFL Draft. Despite playing in the G5, I felt the body of work was sufficient enough to warrant decent draft capital.
Horton returned to the Rams for Year 5 but suffered a season-ending knee injury early on, ending his college career. From a career perspective, Horton was a highly efficient x-receiver and continued to improve his craft every season. His 25.9% career target rate and 2.46 career yards per route run (YPPR) are spectacular marks.
FILM
Tory Horton is a highly productive boundary receiver who can win at all three levels. Play strength and physicality are a slight concern with Horton, but I was pleasantly surprised to see he weighed nearly 200 lbs at the NFL Combine. Horton missed most of the 2024 season due to a knee injury, and we’ve yet to see him play post-surgery, which is something to be cognizant of. Horton found more success against off coverage and may struggle against press man at the NFL level. He is elusive in the open field with a package of one-cut moves, but won’t be breaking many tackles. Horton has some impressive hands and was decent in contested-catch situations, but may struggle in this department against more physical DBs.
ATHLETIC TESTING
Horton posted a 9.79 RAS, ranking 73rd out of nearly 3,500 wide receivers since 1987. He crushed the 40-yard dash with a 4.41 time and posted some impressive 10 and 20-yard splits as well. His 37.5” vertical ranked in the top third of this draft class, and as I mentioned earlier, his weigh-in of 196 pounds put some of those size/strength concerns to bed. Tory Horton is an excellent athlete, and obviously, the knee surgery didn’t hinder him at all during the NFL Combine, so Horton believers have plenty of reason to be excited.
DRAFT ANALYSIS
Rapid Reaction to Draft Capital: Below Average
Rapid Reaction to Landing Spot: Above Average
Toy Horton was selected 166th overall by the Seattle Seahawks.
Horton fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft, where most draft experts projected him to go. The draft capital was not great, but Horton lands on a team that doesn’t have a promising x-receiver heading into 2025. With DK Metcalf in Pittsburgh, the current guys out wide are Marquez Valdes-Scantling and, I guess, Cooper Kupp, assuming Jaxon Smith-Njigba stays in the slot. Kupp will struggle to separate if placed out wide, and MVS has never been one to demand a significant target share. There’s a world where Horton works his way into the starting rotation in Year 1, and it doesn’t even have to be due to injuries.
FANTASY INSIGHTS
Horton is my rookie WR15 and my 37th overall prospect in Superflex formats. I’d be comfortable grabbing Horton at the 3-4 turn in my rookie drafts, and in most of my rookie drafts thus far, he’s fallen to the mid-fourth. He feels like the ideal dart throw in the final round of rookie drafts, as a receiver with legitimate fantasy upside in a situation where he can quickly move up the depth chart. In the short term, we’d like to see Sam Darnold succeed under center because if he fails and Jalen Milroe takes his spot early, all these pass catchers in Seattle will suffer from a fantasy perspective.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
