Jaylen Waddle was selected sixth in the first round of the NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins. They passed on generational tackle prospect Penei Sewell to draft Waddle, so his expectations will be very high.
Waddle is an excellent route runner with impressive top line speed. He will have the weight of a top 10 selection on his back throughout his rookie season with the Dolphins. It will be fascinating to see how he handles it.
Waddle will be the second most hyped rookie in the state of Florida and he will have to help buoy a struggling Dolphins offense. Tua Tagavailoa is a young quarterback with a lot of upside, but he has had health issues and a severe lack of weapons.
Ryan Fitzpatrick needed to step in multiple times this past season to boost the Dolphins. Waddle will give Tua his first top-end outside threat. Here are three predictions for the pair's first season together.
1) WR1 for the Dolphins
Waddle will almost certainly step immediately into the top wide-out role in Miami. His speed and route running allows him to break off deep runs against elite corner talents and he has very solid hands. The expectation for Waddle should be that he is immediately the best skill player on the Dolphins and he is likely to be leaned on as such.
This is a lot to ask of a rookie, but it is what will be asked of Waddle by the Dolphins. Tagavailoa is super raw in terms of experience at QB and Waddle will be expected to grease the wheels of the offense immediately. Waddle has proven capable of that with many different quarterbacks at Alabama, but Miami is certainly a different level of competition.
2) 6 Touchdowns and 1,000 Yards
Finding an exact stat prediction is tough for Waddle. Rookie wide receivers tend to be super inconsistent in terms of what can be expected from them. Waddle is a top 10 pick, though. Combine that with his immediate role as WR1 in Miami, he should be set up with a chance to get huge numbers for the Dolphins.
Waddle is a big play receiver and his touchdown and yard totals will likely reflect that with the Dolphins. He has elite separation ability on the outside. He is also an elite red zone threat. Not because of his elite size, but because of his hands. He can get up for almost any catch and he has a knack for getting his feet down.
Six touchdowns are a solid bet with the Dolphins because he can get them in the deep game and in the red zone. Projecting 1,000 yards is much more a bet on Tua being able to find him deep, but he could potentially rack up some major yard totals within games.
3) The Tua Connection
The big help for the Dolphins will be the consistency that Waddle provides for QB Tua Tagavailoa. They were an elite duo in college and Tua could really use that consistency to get his career started. Tua's main skill is his deep ball accuracy and Waddle's biggest strength is his ability to get open deep.
Waddle would play directly into Tua's main strength with the Dolphins, and that allows for some comfort and chemistry to be built between the two.
Waddle could very well be a favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year this season with the Dolphins. He has an immediate role and some very translatable strengths. Tua Tagavailoa and Jaylen Waddle could immediately be a top offensive duo in the sport. Waddle's translatability is more obvious than most other offensive rookies and this could speak well to his potential rookie season.
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