It wasn’t that long ago that Miami Dolphins wide receiver Albert Wilson was considered to be “on the bubble” with the team — there were cap considerations and savings at play and Wilson has been relatively quiet since first arriving with the team and breaking out over the first half of the 2018 season. But it seems as though for many Wilson has been “out of sight and out of mind” — and he’s quickly gone to work in training camp to discard of any doubt of his qualifications for this offense and team in 2021.
Wilson opted out of the 2020 NFL season due to concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic, but he’s come roaring back with a vengeance in the early portions of 2021 training camp. Wilson has been drawing positive reviews going all the way back to June for minicamp and OTAs for how he’s looked physically — the explosiveness he was missing in 2019 on account of a hip injury appears to be back.
And now, with the team back in training camp, that same explosiveness is showing up on the field. Wilson has become one of Tua Tagovailoa’s favorite targets early on in camp — so much so that he’s logged multiple 50+ yard touchdown receptions through the first two days.
Miami dropped a look at the first big strike on Wednesday; prompting excitement from Dolphins fans on social media. And now they’ve doubled down — because Tagovailoa and Wilson were back at it again on Thursday for another big strike down the field.
We're liking this connection 😎@Tua x @IThinkISee12 pic.twitter.com/z1OWlVcwrK
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) July 30, 2021
Even with WR DeVante Parker on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to start training camp and free agent addition Will Fuller tending to a minor injury on Thursday, it has been Wilson producing the highlight plays. If there was any doubt about his status on the roster, consider it put away. There’s plenty of camp left, but it is hard to envision Wilson not rolling this momentum into a roster spot when you consider his speed, ability from the slot, run after catch ability (when healthy) and his experience as an NFL talent.
Perhaps the tide will change when the pads come on. But we’re betting that it won’t.