The Seattle Seahawks made a massive overhaul of their receiver group this offseason. Veterans DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett left the team, and general manager John Schneider brought in free agent acquisitions Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Cooper Kupp. But it's one rookie that might make the biggest difference.
Tory Horton was chosen in the fifth round of the 2025 draft. He would have probably gone higher but for a knee injury in his final season of college. What wasn't clear was if Horton would be ready for training camp. If he couldn't practice, he was unlikely to play early in the season.
A lot of teams did not want to take that risk, so Horton continued to fall in the draft. The Seahawks look like the lucky ones, though.
Tory Horton keeps shining for the Seattle Seahawks ahead of the 2025 regular season
Not only has Horton shown in training camp, where he was full-go from Day 1, that he has excellent hands and speed, but he is versatile, too. He can return kicks and punts when asked. But it is as a receiver where Horton is truly going to make his NFL bones, and he appears on the verge of being a very good one.
In fact, based on Seattle's first preseason game of 2025, Horton might have already surpassed MVS on the depth chart to move to WR3. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, he proved why. Horton was slippery on routes, a fluid runner, and had great hands.
He caught just three of his seven targets, but some of those targets were not catchable. His 10-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was excellent, however. He caught the ball cleanly in traffic, turned and twisted smoothly through defenders and into the end zone.
FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN 😮💨 @toryhorton11
📺: @King5Seattle or @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/PnURclUrWr
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 8, 2025
He didn't look like a rookie on the play, but instead a four-year veteran. The play was an extension of how well Horton has played against his teammates in training camp. Head coach Mike Macdonald told the media after the game how pleased he was to see Horton succeed against the Raiders, too.
The Seahawks coach said, "...to see him catch the punt was awesome, I'm not sure how long that return was, but that helped us there. Then obviously the touchdown, and you just felt him out there in those situations, which was a continuation of what we're seeing in practice. Great to see it in a game setting."
The punt that Macdonald was referring to was only a five-yard return, but it hinted at magic. The catch alone was impressive, and then he showed he could be a dangerous punt returner in the future.
The Seattle Seahawks are probably going to use a lot of two tight end sets in 2025 with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system. This means more plays where Seattle has just two wide receivers on the field. Those are more likely than not to be Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Kupp. But when a third receiver is needed, Tory Horton appears to have the lead for those reps.
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