Dolphins seeing glimpses of what Miami Hurricanes alum can bring to return unit, offense
Braxton Berrios says his father no longer feels any heartache.
After watching his son wear the uniforms of two of the Dolphins’ biggest rivals (Jets and Patriots) during the first four seasons of Berrios’ NFL career, Berrios’ dad finally got the chance to watch him play in a game — albeit preseason — on Friday night in his hometown team’s jersey.
“I’m very honored and blessed to be here. My dad is from Miami. I have a lot of family in Miami,” Berrios said recently. “I grew up a Dolphins fan, so this is kind of a dream come true.”
It was a modest debut for Berrios with two catches for 11 yards and two punt returns for 8 yards in Miami’s 19-3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
And it ended with him getting stitches on his forehead in the locker room after taking a hit on the second of those returns.
But for Berrios, who starred as a receiver and returner at the University of Miami, a dream homecoming has just begun.
The Dolphins hope Berrios brings home some of the same qualities that energized the Hurricanes offense and return game during that 2017 season when UM won its first 10 games and ascended to a No. 2 national ranking.
They hope he can breathe life into a kick return game that has struggled to find an explosive option since they traded Jakeem Grant to the Bears in October 2021.
The Dolphins averaged a league-worst 5.8 yards per punt return and ranked 31st out of 32 teams in yards per kickoff return (18.9).
Miami has not returned a punt for a touchdown since Grant ran one back 88 yards against the Rams on Nov. 1, 2020, and hasn’t had anyone return a kickoff for a score since Grant did it on Nov. 17, 2019 against the Bills.
But Berrios is looking for much more than just returning punts and kickoffs. He is battling Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Robbie Chosen for the No. 3 wide receiver spot behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, which would add more speed to one of the NFL’s fastest receiving corps.
Originally drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round in 2018, Berrios was eventually waived and signed with the Jets. He caught 107 passes for 1,085 yards and five touchdowns through the past four seasons in New York and was an All-Pro in 2021, averaging 30.4 yards per kickoff return, including a 102-yard return for a touchdown.
Berrios was timed as fast as 21.03 mph in 2021, according to NextGen Stats, which is not far behind Hill’s 21.9- and 21.7-mph marks on two of his fastest touches last season.
And his YAC (yards after catch) of 6.0 in 2021 and 5.6 last season ranked 10th and 13th in the league, respectively, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Dolphins believe he can be even more of a versatile weapon in their offense as a pass catcher and perhaps as a rusher. His speed and dependability in the slot should create space in the middle with Hill and Waddle commanding so much attention from defenses on the boundaries.
“Braxton is doing an unbelievable job,” Dolphins wide receivers coach Wes Welker said. “He has good speed. He has a lot of football knowledge. He can get in and out of breaks. He’s been doing really well out there and just another guy that can separate and get edges and also has some speed to take to the house, if the opportunity presents itself.”
Berrios has relished the chance to work closely with Welker and try to develop into a more consistent offensive player.
“If you study him and the way he runs routes, it’s different and I think he coined that,” Berrios said. “There’s a lineage after that that took from that. I’ve been watching him since I can really remember football. There’s some things that he does that you just can’t replicate because of who he is and nobody can be that.”
Berrios has shown flashes of what Miami was hoping to see so far in camp, including a 70-yard touchdown catch from Skylar Thompson.
In Friday’s game, there was a brief glimpse of his potential contributions on offense when he caught a short 5-yard pass from his former Jets teammate Mike White to convert a third-and-2 situation during Miami’s first drive. His second catch came on a screen pass, a play the Dolphins could choose to target him on in different looks.
“Short-area quickness is so good,” White said. “He does such a great job making those one-step cuts. He has a really good feel for zone looks as well. Man to man he’s fast and he’s crafty so he’s going to beat you off pure speed most of the time. But it’s the zone looks too [that he excels in]. It’s a lot of fun playing with him.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
