Looking at the Dolphins this week I said to myself, it's a really thin group of wideouts they have. And that was before they traded Jaylen Waddle to the Broncos yesterday.
The haul was pretty good: 1st, 3rd and 4th-round picks, plus a 4th going to Denver. Essentially it's the 30th pick, and a 4th (the Broncos lose a third, but climb 20 spots in the 4th). One hopes the Dolphins plan to use an early pick on a wide receiver, since right now their top duo appears to be Malik Washington and Tutu Atwell. Seriously.
Waddle put up top-12 numbers in each of his first two seasons in the league. One of those was with Tyreek Hill on the roster, back when Tua Tagovailoa was looking like a long-term franchise quarterback. Miami's 6th overall pick seemed like he'd be having a great career.
But the offense declined since then, and Waddle seems to have declined some with it. Over the last two seasons, he's averaged 4 catches for 54 yards per game, with 8 total touchdowns. Among wide receivers to start at least half the time, that's not even in the top 40 in PPR scoring. (Table shows the top 50.)
| WIDE RECEIVERS PER GAME, 2024-2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | No | Yds | TD | PPR |
| Ja'Marr Chase, Cin. | 33 | 7.6 | 94.5 | .76 | 21.8 |
| Puka Nacua, LAR | 27 | 7.7 | 100.2 | .56 | 21.6 |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 34 | 6.8 | 78.4 | .68 | 18.8 |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Sea. | 34 | 6.4 | 86.0 | .47 | 18.0 |
| Malik Nabers, NYG | 19 | 6.7 | 77.6 | .49 | 17.4 |
| Drake London, Atl. | 29 | 5.8 | 75.5 | .56 | 16.7 |
| Davante Adams, LAR | 28 | 5.2 | 66.1 | .80 | 16.6 |
| Tee Higgins, Cin. | 27 | 4.9 | 65.1 | .79 | 16.4 |
| Nico Collins, Hou. | 27 | 5.1 | 78.6 | .53 | 16.3 |
| CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 29 | 6.1 | 78.3 | .32 | 16.1 |
| A.J. Brown, Phi. | 28 | 5.2 | 74.4 | .50 | 15.6 |
| Justin Jefferson, Min. | 34 | 5.5 | 75.9 | .35 | 15.2 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 22 | 4.7 | 62.4 | .64 | 15.1 |
| Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 24 | 5.7 | 62.5 | .47 | 14.8 |
| George Pickens, Dall. | 31 | 4.9 | 75.1 | .39 | 14.7 |
| Chris Olave, N.O. | 24 | 5.5 | 65.1 | .42 | 14.5 |
| Terry McLaurin, Was. | 27 | 4.4 | 62.1 | .59 | 14.2 |
| Brian Thomas, Jac. | 31 | 4.4 | 64.2 | .44 | 13.6 |
| Jameson Williams, Det. | 32 | 3.8 | 66.2 | .47 | 13.5 |
| Zay Flowers, Balt. | 34 | 4.7 | 66.8 | .29 | 13.5 |
| Courtland Sutton, Den. | 34 | 4.6 | 61.7 | .45 | 13.4 |
| DeVonta Smith, Phi. | 30 | 4.8 | 61.4 | .40 | 13.4 |
| Stefon Diggs, N.E. | 25 | 5.3 | 60.4 | .32 | 13.3 |
| Ladd McConkey, LAC | 32 | 4.6 | 60.6 | .42 | 13.2 |
| Jauan Jennings, S.F. | 30 | 4.4 | 53.9 | .51 | 13.0 |
| Jakobi Meyers, 2tms | 30 | 5.3 | 60.7 | .24 | 13.0 |
| Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 21 | 4.9 | 58.3 | .33 | 12.9 |
| DK Metcalf, Pitt. | 30 | 4.2 | 61.4 | .40 | 12.7 |
| Tetairoa McMillan, Car. | 17 | 4.1 | 59.6 | .41 | 12.6 |
| Wan'Dale Robinson, NYG | 33 | 5.6 | 51.9 | .21 | 12.1 |
| DJ Moore, Chi. | 34 | 4.4 | 48.5 | .41 | 12.1 |
| Quentin Johnston, LAC | 29 | 3.7 | 49.9 | .55 | 12.0 |
| Jordan Addison, Min. | 29 | 3.6 | 51.2 | .48 | 12.0 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 32 | 4.7 | 47.5 | .34 | 11.5 |
| Emeka Egbuka, T.B. | 17 | 3.7 | 55.2 | .37 | 11.5 |
| Khalil Shakir, Buff. | 31 | 4.8 | 49.7 | .26 | 11.3 |
| Marvin Harrison, Ari. | 29 | 3.6 | 51.5 | .43 | 11.3 |
| Parker Washington, Jac. | 21 | 3.6 | 50.0 | .44 | 11.2 |
| Michael Pittman, Ind. | 33 | 4.5 | 48.2 | .31 | 11.2 |
| Alec Pierce, Ind. | 31 | 2.7 | 58.9 | .42 | 11.1 |
| Deebo Samuel, Was. | 31 | 4.0 | 45.1 | .32 | 11.1 |
| Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 31 | 3.9 | 53.4 | .28 | 11.1 |
| Josh Downs, Ind. | 30 | 4.3 | 45.6 | .30 | 10.7 |
| Jerry Jeudy, Cle. | 34 | 4.1 | 53.9 | .20 | 10.7 |
| Cooper Kupp, Sea. | 28 | 4.1 | 46.5 | .30 | 10.5 |
| Michael Wilson, Ari. | 33 | 3.8 | 47.1 | .33 | 10.5 |
| Calvin Ridley, Ten. | 24 | 3.4 | 55.0 | .21 | 10.4 |
| Jayden Reed, G.B. | 24 | 3.1 | 44.3 | .33 | 10.3 |
| Romeo Doubs, G.B. | 29 | 3.5 | 45.7 | .37 | 10.3 |
| Rome Odunze, Chi. | 29 | 3.4 | 48.1 | .31 | 10.1 |
Presumably, Sean Payton and company believe that Waddle is better than this; that his issues were Tua Tagovailoa's struggles, and the overall offense. But it's not like these guys don't make mistakes (for example, Evan Engram at this time last year).
To be clear, I think Waddle's a talented guy, and not at fault for things falling apart down in Miami. But the compensation is a lot for a guy whose best season was three years ago.
As for Denver's other wide receivers, well, not a great sign for any of them. I presume they'll still have Courtland Sutton; possible they try to trade him, but the lean is no; there's a rapport with Bo Nix, and this is a team trying to win a Super Bowl, not tread water. Definitely a negative for Troy Franklin, who made the most sense as the other starter. Now I'm thinking he might be the guy on the block for whatever they can get. Not a ton of trade value, but there was a stretch midseason where he was putting up better numbers than Sutton. Marvin Mims and 2nd-year guy Pat Bryant will have a harder time making a big impact, with Sutton and Waddle the top 2.
Back to Miami for a moment. They've a got new head coach and a new young quarterback in Malik Willis. Surely they're going to give him a little more to work with than Atwell, Washington and undrafted Theo Wease. (A Dolphins fan friend of mine wonders if they're going to truly embrace the full-on rebuild by trading way DeVon Achane too, but I'm guessing they want to have someone to put on the promotional items.) Regardless, scary-looking group of wideouts they've got there right now.
--Andy Richardson
