Hyde: Waddle is what Dolphins need more of
The cheeky ease with which the kid started — in a place that’s haunted the Miami Dolphins — matters in a good way. Everyone knew Jaylen Waddle was fast. Was anyone sure he’d be this quicksilver fast in turning NFL heads?
His first NFL play was a 17-yard catch. His first NFL touchdown showed a mix of fast and furor. His first NFL game ball went to his mother, showing he was raised right.
Everyone know time is the big test. But there’s a special place for the rookies who don’t need a process or patented patience to announce their arrival.
“It’s great,’’ Waddle said of his day, with a go-to word he kept going to. “Every win is going to be great. But first one in a big game, it was a great atmosphere and playing against guys you know on the other side, so it was great.”
Bill Parcells’ Dolphins era wasn’t as great as the lines he left. One was how, “puppies bite or they never will.” There has been so few puppies biting in this Dolphins rebuild, this was something to watch.
Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, the 30th pick in 2020, wasn’t activated for what was to be a big-step-forward second season. He’s 21. Sure, there’s time. But after not playing much his first year, this wasn’t he way to start the second.
Everyone misses. That’s the rule of the draft. The bigger question is who General Manager
touchdowns in the 52 games he’s played since entering the NFL as a first-round pick in 2016, wouldn’t just leapfrog Jaylen Waddle, DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson.
Those were the three receivers Miami used at a high-rep-rate against the Patriots, a game where Miami passed for 202 yards, and all three have spent time establishing chemistry with Tagovailoa since the spring and summer.
“We have an idea of where we want to play him. But at practice we got to get timing,” Flores said. “It’s not putting people on a page as far as drawing something up. Getting timing with the quarterback, getting timing with the run game. You have to practice.”
Fuller practiced sparingly for two weeks, before he had to take a hiatus away from the team because of the suspension that stems from him taking a banned supplement in 2020 while a member of the Houston Texans.
Fuller was Miami’s biggest addition this offseason after he was signed to an incentive-laden one-year deal that is worth a base salary of $10.5 million, and features another $3 million in incentives. In the past he’s used his speed and playmaking ability to stretch the field, and the Dolphins are hoping he’ll play a similar role in Miami’s offense.
Parker, who has had similar struggles staying healthy, and missed most of training camp and the preseason because of a shoulder injury, got off to a hot start in the season opener.
The team’s leading receiver for the past two seasons caught four passes for 81 yards. Waddle, whom the Dolphins selected with the sixth pick in the 2021 NFL draft, also caught four passes and turned them into 61 yards and a touchdown.
But no other receiver had a reception on Sunday. Whether or not Fuller becomes an immediate contributor in Miami’s offense will be determined by him, and how well he looks this week in practices preparing for the Dolphins’ home-opener on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
The Dolphins must make room for Fuller on the 53-man roster by either waiving a player and potentially demoting him to the practice squad, placing an injured player on injured reserve, where he’ll be sidelined for at least three weeks, or have tight end Adam Sheehen remain on the COVID-19 reserve list for another week.
Sheehen was already nursing a knee injury that was going to keep him sidelined for a few weeks, so using his roster spot — one way or another — seems like the most logical option.