Colorado State's Tory Horton celebrates a first down during a home game against San Jose State at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024 in Fort Collins, Colo. Logan Newell/The Coloradoan / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NFL analyst names rookie WR Seahawks' top summer breakout candidate

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Russell Baxter | Last updated Jun 2, 2025 5:02 PM ET

It’s been a fascinating offseason for the Seattle Seahawks’ offense. There’s a new coordinator in Klint Kubiak, a new starting quarterback in 2024 Pro Bowler Sam Darnold (late of the Vikings), and new veteran wideouts in Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

In late April, general manager John Schneider selected 11 players in the NFL draft, nine on the offensive side of the ball. That included a pair of wide receivers in Tory Horton (5b-Colorado State) and Ricky White III (7c-UNLV). Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine came up with a breakout candidate for each NFL team this summer, and the former was his choice for the Seahawks.

“Tory Horton put himself on the NFL draft radar in 2022 and 2023 with back-to-back 1,100-yard receiving seasons at Colorado State,” offered Ballentine. “Unfortunately, a knee injury limited him to six games in his final season and he slipped all the way to the fifth round.

“Horton may come along slowly in early OTAs, but he has a great opportunity to make up for lost time as he gets healthier. The Seahawks have a completely remodeled receiver room outside Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and there’s going to be space for him to show what kind of player he is.”

The talented performer snared 26 passes for 353 yards and one score in limited action this past season. However, the somewhat-hidden value when it comes to Horton that in each of his three years at Colorado State he returned a punt for a touchdown. Despite a shortened 2024 campaign (after 2 seasons at the University of Nevada), Horton totaled 193 receptions for 2,620 yards (13.6 average) and 17 scores in three years (30 games) with the Rams.

Once Horton is up to speed, he could wind up being a big-play threat in the passing game as well as on special teams for Mike Macdonald’s club.