The Extra Point

Miami running back Jeff Wilson Jr. mostly practices wide receiver drills during his offseasons, partly because running back drills are second nature to him, but also because he understands the importance of being a pass catcher in today’s NFL.

“I remember one point in time, it was a running back league,” Wilson said. “Even growing up, around when Adrian Peterson was in the league, you would have three or four every year come out, a running back, in the first round. But the game has changed . ... Speed has changed.”

Wide receiver value has soared in the past decade with rule changes that favor offense and teams using receivers in different areas of the run game and pass protection.

“With the amount of talent at the quarterback position in this league, where guys can place the ball down the field in really tight windows, there is no coverage or defensive philosophy ... that can replicate having an elite player at that position,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.

Few teams understand that better than the Dolphins, whose offseason acquisition of Tyreek Hill has been a massive part of their success.

Miami has the NFL’s No. 2 passing offense thanks largely to the connection between Hill and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Entering Sunday’s game against San Francisco, Hill leads the league in yards receiving (1,233) and trails only Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs with 87 receptions.

Hill reached 1,104 yards receiving in Week 9, the most by an NFL player in a team’s first nine games in the Super Bowl era. He could be the first NFL player to surpass 2,000 receiving yards in a single season and break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record (1,964) set over 16 games in 2012.