The Seattle Seahawks got a steal in the fifth round of the 2025 draft. It may have taken them until Week 2 to realize it, but at least they made up for it in Week 2 when they turned to Tory Horton.
Make that finally turned to Tory Horton. After repeated standout performances in training camp, it was reasonable to assume that the Seahawks would make heavy use of Horton once the games counted. Okay, maybe not heavy use, but more than the 20 snaps and zero targets he saw in Week 1. Maybe OC Klint Kubiak didn't think he was ready. It's possible he truly wasn't ready.
But the 12s weren't the only folks who saw Horton as the Seahawks' new deep threat. Clearly, John Schneider thought he was ready as well. After all, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was signed to replace DK Metcalf. And when to time came to trim the roster to 53 players, MVS was the one sent on his way, not the fifth-round draft pick who missed half of his final college season. Horton was ready.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tory Horton proves the last doubters wrong
I don't believe that Kubiak doubted Horton at all. I believe that in Week 1, he was more focused on getting the running game going and getting Sam Darnold into rhythm. Neither of those happened until the win in Pittsburgh, but at least they happened. Darnold threw a couple of picks, one particularly bad one, but in crunch time, he was everything the Seahawks needed.
As for Tory Horton, all he did was score on his very first NFL reception. No big deal, right? Apparently, he took it in stride. According to Cooper Kupp, Horton didn't have much of a reaction to his first league touchdown at all. In the post-game press conference, Kupp said, "He didn't even seem that excited coming off the sideline. He was barely even smiling. So I don't know what that was all about."
Coop had a lot more to say about the Seahawks' oh-so-sweet win over the Steelers. So if you're interested, take a quick detour. Go ahead, you deserve it.
I think I have a pretty good idea of why the rookie didn't look that excited when he came to the sidelines. I believe it's because he expected it, and he expects many, many more. Yes, it's a big deal. I mean, all he did was break a 22-game streak without scoring a TD on the opening drive for the Seahawks. And speaking of deserving nice things, go ahead, 12s. Revel in Horton's first career TD.
So maybe it took a week longer than it should have. Tory Horton was ready in Week 1 and proved it in Week 2. Points were hard to come by in the first half; in fact, Seattle's only points came from that first Darnold to Horton connection. Expect many, many more as the wins continue.