Jaylen Waddle had a busy rookie season, catching a record 104 passes. And from the sound of Mike McDaniel, Waddle will be catching a bunch more passes in his second season.
“The easiest way to get yards is to give it to a really talented player,” the new coach said on a podcast with Dan Le Batard on Tuesday. I would start him in fantasy.”
Sounds intriguing enough. But Miami’s offense will be completely re-worked. Last year, most of Waddle’s catches came on quick RPO throws around the line of scrimmage, and not enough of them did much damage. He averaged only 9.8 yards per catch.
But Waddle is definitely looking like the top receiving option in Miami, probably operating opposite DeVante Parker, who’s more of a downfield target with a large catch radius.
In this kind of situation, I always like to look into what other receivers in similar situations have done. In this case, I’m seeing a wide variety of results.
In the Super Bowl era, 15 wide receivers have previously caught 70-plus passes in their first season. Of that group, six put up top-10 PPR numbers in their next season, but five others didn’t even rank in the top 50. (That includes a trio that were derailed by injuries: Anquan Boldin, Terry Glenn, Kelvin Benjamin.) Three others ranked in the top 20 in PPR production, which is solid enough.
It’s early, but I would guess that Waddle will wind up in the teens among wide receivers on my board.
| ROOKIE RECEIVERS WITH 70 CATCHES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rookie | Next Yr | PPR | Rk |
| 2021 | Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 104-1015-6 | ?-?-? | ? | ? |
| 2003 | Anquan Boldin, Ariz. | 101-1377-8 | 56-623-1 | 124.6 | 52 |
| 2016 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 92-1137-9 | 104-1245-5 | 258.5 | 6 |
| 2008 | Eddie Royal, Den. | 91-980-5 | 37-345-0 | 83.6 | 81 |
| 2014 | Odell Beckham, NYG | 91-1305-12 | 96-1450-13 | 319.3 | 5 |
| 2021 | • Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 90-912-5 | ?-?-? | ? | ? |
| 1996 | Terry Glenn, N.E. | 90-1132-6 | 27-431-2 | 82.1 | 70 |
| 2020 | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 88-1400-7 | 108-1616-10 | 332.8 | 4 |
| 2014 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 84-758-5 | 110-1157-4 | 275.5 | 9 |
| 2021 | • JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 81-1455-13 | ?-?-? | ? | ? |
| 2004 | Michael Clayton, T.B. | 80-1193-7 | 32-372-0 | 69.4 | 89 |
| 2020 | CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 74-935-5 | 79-1102-6 | 232.8 | 19 |
| 2014 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 73-1008-9 | 0-0-0 | .0 | -- |
| 2015 | Amari Cooper, Oak. | 72-1070-6 | 83-1153-5 | 232.3 | 15 |
| 1985 | Gary Clark, Was. | 72-926-5 | 74-1265-7 | 242.5 | 5 |
| 2013 | Keenan Allen, S.D. | 71-1046-8 | 77-783-4 | 179.3 | 36 |
| 2007 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 70-995-5 | 86-1022-7 | 230.2 | 16 |
| 2006 | Marques Colston, N.O. | 70-1038-8 | 98-1202-11 | 284.2 | 8 |
—Ian Allan