Fins rookie gets help from Pro Bowler
Asix-pack of Dolphins notes: Can receiver ● Preston Williams, who tantalized in the offseason program, join Davone Bess, Dan Carpenter and several other undrafted Dolphins to make a real impact here?
Undrafted out of Colorado State — where he was top five in the country in receptions and yards last season — Williams used his 6-4 frame and good speed to make a bunch of catches in the offseason program. He was especially impressive in red-zone drills, hauling in several touchdown passes from Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen.
There were also some mistakes, including a few penalties and drops, but enough good things to leave the front office and coaching staff believing he could develop into a rotation player here, according to a club source.
And this is encouraging: Since the offseason program ended, Williams has been taking steps to improve.
Fitzpatrick set him up with former Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall, and Williams and Marshall (the former Dolphin and six-time Pro Bowler) have worked together in the past month, both on conditioning and on-field football work.
Williams has been working out at a training facility in South Florida, determined to capitalize on this opportunity.
There have been plenty of Dolphins receivers who flashed in the offseason program and ended up
footnotes — from J.R. Tolver to Roberto Wallace to Drew Morgan (the former Arkansas receiver who recently retired).
For Williams to avoid that fate, “we have to find a consistency there,” Fitzpatrick said, noting he mixed “great plays and boneheaded plays. He’s definitely a guy that, as a quarterback, you take notice at some of the plays. He certainly has enough talent to do it.” Encouraging to hear
● that Rosen has spent at least some of his off time in South Florida, throwing to Williams and Kenny Stills, among others. Rosen knows he has ground to make up in the quarterback battle.
Pro Football Focus
● rates the Dolphins’ offensive line worst in football but cites rookie thirdrounder Michael Deiter one reason for hope; he was third overall and third in run blocking among all college starting guards last season.
Yet more reasons why
●
Kenyan Drake warrants more than the 7.5 carries per game he received last year: Among the 54 NFL backs with 100 or more carries where they’ve been contacted at or behind the line of scrimmage since 2016, Drake ranks tied for as first with the Cleveland Browns’ Nick Chubb in yards after contact per attempt (3.7). And the average for the group was just 2.3. And Drake’s 4.9 yards per carry is fifth highest in the NFL since 2016. The question is whether Drake — who drops more passes than you would like — is better suited than Kalen Ballage for third-down work, with Mark Walton hoping to become a factor there after impressing as a receiver out of the backfield in offseason practices.
Williams isn’t the only ● undrafted receiver that the Dolphins like. They also appreciate the reliability and intelligence of Stanford’s Trenton Irwin and have asked him to study Patriots receiver Julian Edelman. Williams, Irwin, Brice Butler, Isaiah Ford and long-shot Reece Horn are battling for fifth and possibly sixth receiver jobs.
None of the eight players ● from the Alliance of American Football stood out in the Dolphins’ offseason program, with edge rusher Jayrone Elliott especially disappointing considering he was the AAF’s best pass rusher and has extensive NFL experience with Green Bay.
In fact, the player from another league who most impressed was former Canadian Football League linebacker Sam Eguavoen, who had more practice interceptions of Rosen (two) than he had in three seasons in the CFL (one).
CHATTER
Heat people say privately
● that rookie guard Tyler Herro has exceeded their expectations so far.
“He can give us whatever we need,” Heat summer league coach Eric Glass said. “The thing that’s surprised me is his feel. He looks like he’s a second- or third-year guy out here. That’s the thing that jumps out.”
ESPN announced
●
Wednesday that it will air a Dwyane Wade documentary sometime in
2020, using footage and interviews “shot over the last 10 years with Wade, his family, and many others. And the filmmakers utilized hundreds of hours of never-before-seen home movies, video diaries and all-access verité footage.” UM announced a 2020 ● non-conference schedule of Temple (Sept. 5), Wagner (Sept. 12) and UAB
(Sept. 19) — all at home — and a game at Michigan State on Sept. 26.
What former firstround
● left-handers Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett are doing at Single A Jupiter ranks among the best farm system news for the Marlins. Garrett, fully back from Tommy John surgery, has a 2.88 ERA in 13 starts, with 89 strikeouts in 68 innings. In his last 26 innings, Rogers has allowed 10 hits and two runs with 35 strikeouts.
“He’s so physical; he’s turned into a man,” Marlins executive Mike Hill said of Rogers, who was drafted 13th overall out of a New Mexico high school in 2017.
Both could be ready by 2021; the Marlins now have at least 15 realistic potential big-league starting pitchers in their system.