Jaylen Waddle’s historic rookie season had one flaw. The Dolphins’ additions can fix that
Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle’s rookie season had about everything a first-year player at his position could ask for. 104 catches, a league rookie record. A team-high 1,015 yards and six touchdowns.
But despite a productive season that placed the 23-year-old among the league’s up-and-coming receivers, Waddle acknowledged one thing was missing.
“Man, I ain’t going to lie, I think my average was like 9.5 or something like that a catch,” Waddle said during a recent interview on the I Am Athlete podcast. “I gotta show something ... I gotta be YAC [yards after catch] crazy out there.”
Waddle, in fact, averaged 9.8 yards per catch in 2021, which ranked tied for 109th. And his 439 yards after the catch ranked 19th. Considering Waddle was known for his big-play ability at Alabama, his inability to produce down the field and after the catch may have made his record-setting year even more impressive.
“I go back and look at all the film last year,” Waddle said Wednesday. “Try to improve my game, not just in YAC, but in different areas. Knowledge of the game, identifying defenses faster, things like that. When you go back and look at it, when you self-evaluate, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing all offseason.”
Yards after catch is a stat that has been quickly prioritized by new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and his staff. “We’re trying to YAC the heck out of teams,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said last week.
Waddle’s continued relationship with Tagovailoa, which dates to college, should help with that. So should the bevy of offseason additions on offense.
The most notable, the team’s trade for Tyreek Hill, gives the Dolphins arguably the fastest pair of wide receivers in league history.
In Hill’s six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, he became the league’s premier deep threat. Since Hill entered the league, his 19 touchdowns of 50 or more yards are the most in the NFL. Just the mere presence of Hill is expected to help Waddle, who coaches last season acknowledged was game-planned for more as the year progressed.
“Honestly, we all know ‘Cheetah’ is fast,” Waddle said. “I’m known for being a speed guy. I think it’s something that’s going to be helpful to open up different things in the offense. Just knowing they have to respect the vertical threat.”
Waddle also noted the benefits of new wide receivers coach Wes Welker, whom he said “set the standard of a modern slot receiver.”
“He can give insight,” Waddle said, “and go into detail and really get into your head and know what it’s like to be out there. It’s been great, working not just with me but how he’s coaching up the whole receiver room.”
With Cedrick Wilson, who projects as the team’s slot receiver, tight end Mike Gesicki and new running backs Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds, Waddle’s volume could decline, especially in what may be a run-first team. But his impact could be even greater for an offense that has high expectations for 2022.
“With this offense, it’s going to be so many guys,” Waddle said. “[McDaniel is] going to put the right guys in the right position.”
