The Miami Dolphins’ quest to improve their wide receiver room is going to result in a lot of searching over the course of the next few months. Free agency, the NFL Draft and potential trades should all be considered on the table. And while the team is going to have a long list of targets when their vetting of the options comes to a close, you may as well divide that list up across several fronts. Because not all wide receivers are created equal — and it appears as though the Dolphins are going to continue believing that with their upcoming roster construction.
A report yesterday from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald quoted a source indicated that the Dolphins believe they need an upgrade in the slot:
“According to a source, the Dolphins believe they also need a twitchy receiver capable of playing in the slot,” wrote Jackson.
But there’s also the need for help on the outside, where Miami has boasted a massive duo of receivers in Devante Parker and Preston Williams when healthy. And there lies a big part of the problem, as the fine print states that the duo is featured when healthy — circumstances that are becoming increasingly infrequent. Jackson’s report continues to state that “boundary receiver also will be addressed”; indicating that Miami will continue to embrace different body types for different roles within the room instead of morphing into a more ambiguous style of receiving room.
There are size receivers, like Parker, Williams and Mack Hollins. There is a speedster in Jakeem Grant. And there are several multi-tool receivers with slot prowess, such as Albert Wilson, Lynn Bowden Jr. and Malcolm Perry.
Will the Dolphins continue to remain committed to such archetypes? If so, you can start to further narrow down and identify combinations of receivers for the Dolphins to target. Miami could replace Grant with a speedster like Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle (1st-round), Western Michigan’s Dwayne Eskridge (Day 2) or North Carolina’s Dazz Newsome (Day 3) in the draft this April. Perhaps the team could also dial in on Curtis Samuel in free agency to replace Albert Wilson in the “gadget/hybrid” group, too. Mack Hollins figures to be the receiver on the chopping block from the “big” receiver room given Miami has plenty of defensive backs who could fulfill his special teams role if need be. Perhaps Tennessee’s Corey Davis could fit the bill there and a more price-friendly option to Chicago’s Allen Robinson, who figures to command $20M per season?
This is, of course, speculation based on Miami’s current roster splits at the receiver position and Jackson’s report specifying the need for both an inside receiver and an outside target. But if you can lump receivers into different buckets, which is how the team is reportedly looking at the chore of completely overhauling the room, you can start to further define what the combinations and possibilities look like.