What has Dolphins excited about Washington. And analysts weigh in on Dolphins
Talk to Dolphins receivers about rookie receiver Malik Washington, and you keep hearing some variation of the same line:
“He’s going to play in this league a long time,” Tyreek Hill said.
“He’s a guy the Dolphins can count on for a long time,” River Cracraft said. “The fan base should be very excited about him and his future.”
“Very excited about his future,” receivers coach Wes Welker said.
Perhaps nobody on the offense has improved more since the summer than Washington, who was drafted in the sixth round (184th overall) out of Virginia, where he had 110 receptions for 1,426 yards and nine touchdowns last season.
For a month, he has consistently logged the most offensive snaps among the team’s receivers, excluding starters Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Sidelined early this season by a quadriceps injury, Washington has done several things well in recent weeks:
▪ He has eight receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown. He had a key catch to help close out the Dolphins’ win at the Rams.
▪ He has been a factor on reverses, rushing four times for 36 yards, including an 18-yard TD run on the Dolphins’ first possession against the Rams.
▪ He had competently replaced injured Braxton Berrios as the Dolphins’ primary punt returner, averaging 6.7 yards on nine returns.
“I was talking to Wes about this and I’m like, ‘Malik is one of those guys that can play in the league for a long time,’ because obviously he’s smart, but he’s one of those guys that he doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty,” Hill said. “He’ll go in and block a D-end, block a linebacker and then he’ll come and then make a clutch third-down catch, and that kind of reminded me of me my rookie year coming into the league.
“I had to do some of those similar things and it kind of developed my game a lot and it kind of gave me the trust of the coaches amongst the staff in Kansas City. So Malik, he’s a hard worker, very coachable guy. Loves the game, always the first one in meetings, always. And he’s just one of those guys that every receiver coach wants in his room because he’s eager to learn, always asking questions, too many questions, but he’s going to play in this league a long time.”
Welker cited a few things that have allowed Washington to earn trust from the coaching staff:
“Consistency. Day in and day out, he’s the same guy. Brings the same energy every practice. When you screw stuff up, we correct it. And it’s so nice as a coach not to have to worry about it after that. He’s a pro’s pro, almost like a vet as a rookie. Very coachable kid. Very smart kid.”
From a skill standpoint, “he is good at getting open,” Welker said. “Really worked on his releases. Has some quick twitch to him, great balance, very precise in route running and where he needs to get to, getting his foot in the ground.” Welker called him a younger version of Cracraft.
Washington has enjoyed running the reverses. In college, he had only 29 yards rushing on 18 carries.
“I got a chance to do some of that in the preseason and proved I could do it in the regular season when it matters it the most,” he said.
Scoring his first touchdown on a Monday night against the Rams, on that reverse, was surreal: “I don’t think you can even describe kind of that emotion, that feeling when you first cross that pylon on prime time football. I got the ball with me; that will be something I keep the rest of my life.”
What has helped him in recent months, he said, is “understanding the game plan and role they need me to fill and going 100 percent in on it.”
ANALYSTS WEIGH IN ON DOLPHINS
Some thoughts from network analysts on the Dolphins’ defense and Tua Tagovailoa:
▪ ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky: “This Dolphins defense is just as hot as the Dolphins offense. The way their defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver, is using their front and some of their simulated pressures [is impressive].
“You better block Zach Sieler. In the run game, he is an absolute destructive force. He’s just blowing up plays. If you single block him in pass protection, you better make sure you can win that one on one matchup because he is hunting quarterbacks.
“Chop Robinson, you have to make sure you have an athletic enough tackle [to slow him]. His bend is showing up. I’m telling you these pressures are a problem. Four of their last six games, they [held their opponent] below 20 points. Their defense gives them a chance to hang in that game” against Green Bay.
And on Tagovailoa: “There aren’t five more quarterbacks more important to their football team in our league than Tua,” Orlovsky said. And we’re seeing that. And anybody who ever wants to argue about it with me, don’t ever do it again.”
▪ ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth, on Tagovailoa: “Stock is at an all time high. I’m bullish on Tua, the way that he’s playing. We’ll see what happens when they hit that cold weather.”
▪ Former Washington quarterback and ex-ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III: “People say anyone can run the Miami Dolphins offense at the same or better level than Tua Tagovailoa, don’t know ball.”
PAUL PROGRESSING
Rookie left tackle Patrick Paul, who played only on the left side in college, has been cross-training at right tackle and said he now feels a comfort level there.
“You just have to flip your brain,” he said of switching sides.
Right tackle Kendall Lamm said “Pat is so athletic for his size and intellectual. He’s very eager and prideful and wants to be good. If you put that with 6-7 and 340 pounds, Pat can be the real deal in the league for a long time. And I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it.”
Paul said he has benefited from the Tuesday off-day sessions that Terron Armstead runs with offensive linemen.
“He shows us different techniques to use in different situations,” Paul said.
Here’s my six-pack of Wednesday morning Dolphins 6-pack, including the three scenarios in play for Shaq Barrett and the timing for each.
