Exiting the Miami Dolphins’ 2019 season, the pass catching group was widely considered to be one of the better position groups on the team. Between DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki’s big breakouts and the presence of promising talent like Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant and Albert Wilson, the Dolphins had a collection of players who helped serve as the identity of the team to end last year.
Fast forward to today and that group is entirely intact — after an offseason full of wholesale improvements, the wide receiver and tight end room remained completely untouched. These guys will have the chance to run it back again in 2020. Each receiver had bright moments throughout the year, too — DeVante Parker was dominant late in the year, Preston Williams was promising early before injury cut his season short. Albert Wilson and Isaiah Ford were strong as complimentary options down the stretch as well.
So while each player will be looking for a more consistent season from start to finish, the entire group can aspire to be better in one critical area:
Drops.
The Miami Dolphins, according to Pro Football Reference, were tied for the NFL lead in drops as a team in 2019 — logging 36 dropped passes on the season. Their drop percentage was 6.0%, fourth worst in the league behind Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Dallas. Seven NFL teams dropped 20 or less balls on the season last year, highlighted by the Baltimore Ravens dropping just 14 passes for QB Lamar Jackson.
If this group is going to reach their full potential as a group, they’ll need to be more consistent in converting their opportunities into catches in the passing game. If the Dolphins receivers can be better here, we can glean a better idea of which targets are best suited to fill long-term roles. And if they can’t, well then we’ll have our answer anyway — just not one that’s a best case scenario.