Landry's exit could open door for Stills
Speedy sixth-year player is Dolphins’ most dependable option at receiver.
Note: This continues a series spotlighting individual players for the Dolphins. In addition to reliving highlights and lowlights of the past season for each, we’ll provide analysis and criticism, plus take a look at how each player fits — or doesn’t fit — into the team’s plans for 2018.
DAVIE — Pop quiz time: Which NFL receiver has the best per-catch average since Kenny Stills entered the league in 2013?
If you said Stills because this is about him, you’re wrong. But not by much.
Tampa Bay’s DeSean Jackson is first at 17.2, but Stills is second at 16.1. That alone offers a reminder of the kind of impact he can have on the Dolphins’ offense.
The question now is how will Stills’ performance change as so much around him also changes? He has a new/old quarterback throwing to him in Ryan Tannehill but no longer has Jarvis Landry to help spread secondaries thin. In Landry’s place are Danny Amendola and Albert Lewis, plus two rookie tight endsvia the draft. And there’s the continuing enigma that is DeVante Parker.
Bottom line: There’s more on the shoulders of Stills than there probably ever has been in Miami. And that might be a good thing.
“Do I think he’s the leader of that room?” coach Adam Gase said. “Yes. I think he’s one of those guys where guys look up to and they watch what he does and how he goes about his business, and they follow his lead. When he speaks in that room and he tells guys what he thinks, he’s very open. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything and I think guys respect him and they listen to what he says.”
One testament to his professionalism is what he accomplished in 2017. Stills enjoyed the second-best season statistically of his career despite playing with a torn tendon in his right hand, which he didn’t disclose until the season ended.
“You just start playing through the pain a little bit,” he said. “… Regardless of what’s going on, I’m always going to try to be out there for Sundays. It’s fine.”
It’s hard to see how the trade to acquire Stills from the Saints could have worked out better for the Dolphins. He’s one of the fastest players on the team, a game-breaker as his average indicates who can operate in traffic, and he has a team-friendly contract. He also has won the team’s Nat Moore Community Service Award for tireless work with kids on the players’ days off.
What more could the Dolphins want? Coaches being coaches, Gase said, “There’s plenty of room for improvement. I think he’s done a lot of really good things for us these last two years. … The last two years, I think he’s one of the most productive slot players there’s been in the league. He’s a guy that creates explosive plays and gets his touchdowns. We hit the home run when we throw the ball to him. He’s a game-changer.”