Miami remade its receiving corps in the offseason. Gone are Davone Bess, Anthony Fasano and Reggie Bush, who were 2nd, 3rd and 4th in receptions last year. The question is which players, new or old, will benefit.
At the team's first practice, it wasn't pricey wideout Mike Wallace. That's the word from the Miami Herald and reporter Armando Salguero, anyway.
According to Salguero, Ryan Tannehill misfired trying to connect with Wallace, having a lot more success throwing to holdover Brian Hartline. That's to be expected early on, but Salguero notes that Tannehill did have success throwing to a pair of newcomers, Dustin Keller and Brandon Gibson.
Wallace will of course be running deeper routes, lower-percentage plays by nature. And it's only July. But we had our doubts about Wallace transitioning from Pittsburgh's offense to Miami's anyway, and aren't certain things will improve dramatically. Defenses seem to have caught up to Wallace over the last couple of seasons. Working with a new quarterback and a new offense could also work against his success.
It will be something to watch as training camp moves forward. But for now, we see little reason to be excited about this passing offense.
--Andy Richardson