Malik Washington is carving out a prominent role in Dolphins offense
People often don’t select the nickname they are given.
The best nicknames happen organically, and that appears to be the case for Malik Washington when it comes to the nickname the Miami Dolphins head coach has given him.
Because of the second-year receiver’s physical play style, Mike McDaniel has occasionally compared Washington to Washington Commanders receiver Deebo Samuel, a 2021 All-Pro receiver, whom McDaniel coached during their time together with the San Francisco 49ers.
“He actually calls me ‘Maleebo’ every now and then. I don’t like it,” Washington said while laughing.
The comparison comes from the way the 5-foot-9, 195 pound receiver has a knack for running through tackles, producing yards after contact.
“I’ve watched some Deebo Samuel tape. He’s probably one of the best at just going into the backfield and making plays happen,” Washington said, discussing Samuel, who has pulled down 350 receptions and carried the ball 206 times in his seven NFL seasons.
Samuel has produced 4,924 receiving yards, and 3,198 of them have come from yards after the catch. He has also scored 44 touchdowns in those seven seasons.
“He’s been a huge guy I’ve looked up to as far as what he does in the run game, and how versatile he is, kick returns,” Washington continued. “He’s playing great and I kind of want to, not necessarily follow in those footsteps, but kind of create my own game in that sense and be as versatile.”
Washington is Miami’s second-leading rusher, gaining 52 yards on six carries the past three games.
He’s fourth on the team in receptions with six catches, which he has turned into 34 yards.
In those limited opportunities he has broken three tackles.
Washington has also returned seven kickoffs, gaining 156 yards, and he has returned three punts for 96 yards — the bulk of those in the 74-yard punt return for a touchdown in Miami’s Week 2 loss to the New England Patriots.
So far in his two NFL seasons he has scored two touchdowns. One rushing, and one as a returner.
The receiving touchdown can’t be too far away considering he’s progressively becoming one of Tua Tagovailoa’s favorite targets.
“He’s understanding of how he needs to play to be successful and understanding the offense,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said about Washington, whom the Dolphins praised for how studious he was in learning the playbook and assignments.
However, there was room to improve considering the 2024 sixth-round pick only contributed 26 catches for 223 yards, and 25 rushing yards and a touchdown off five carries in 2024.
“The whole offseason allows you to take in what you learned and then now kind of, it’s like you have a bunch of papers on a desk and you kind of know where everything is and then the next year your able to put them in the folder so you can organize it correctly to extract when you need that information,” said Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith. “Since the day he got here, you would’ve thought he had been in the NFL for several years the way he goes about his business.”
Miami’s hope is that the better Washington plays the more he opens up the field for the Dolphins frontline receiver, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, forcing defenses to space out their coverage, and occupying some of the pass game attention.
