All eyes will be on the Miami Dolphins front office this upcoming NFL Draft after news broke this morning that they were sending former first round pick (6th overall in the 2021 Draft) Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. This trade comes in the wake of the release of Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, and Tua Tagovailoa, as well as head coach Mike McDaniel, signaling that the team in South Beach is going into a full rebuild. Waddle was a great understudy to Tyreek Hill, with Waddle eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons in Miami. The Alabama alum failed to break 1,000 yards last season but still managed 64 receptions for 910 receiving yards along with six receiving touchdowns in a Dolphins offense that ranked near the bottom of the league all season.
With Waddle now heading to the Mile High City, the Dolphins will look to acquire some young talent through the NFL Draft this April. After acquiring the Broncos first-round pick (30th overall), the Dolphins now have two first-round picks with the Broncos pick as well as the 11th overall pick. I would not be surprised to see Miami prioritize pass catchers, whether that is a wide receiver at 11 and a tight end at 30 or maybe two wide receivers given how loaded that position class is this draft cycle.
The Dolphins wide receiver room after the Waddle trade:
Tutu Atwell (was with LA Rams 2022-25)
64 games played; 105 receptions, 1,535 receiving yards, 5 receiving touchdowns
Jalen Tolbert (was with Dallas Cowboys 2022-25)
55 games played; 91 receptions, 1,093 receiving yards, 10 receiving touchdowns
Malik Washington (drafted by Dolphins in 2024)
31 games played; 72 receptions, 540 receiving yards, 3 receiving touchdowns
Theo Wease (drafted by Dolphins in 2024)
3 games played; 6 receptions, 139 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown
It will be interesting to see what direction the Dolphins take in the draft. My first pick that I would make if I was the Dolphins general manager would be to take Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate who had 51 receptions for 875 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns while averaging 17.2 yards per catch. Tate is at the top of every team's draft boards given his physicality catching the football and ability to make big plays so I will be very surprised if he falls to Miami at 11. The next best option for the Dolphins could be USC wideout Makai Lemon, who hauled in 79 receptions for 1,156 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns for the Trojans, or Texas A&M WR1 KC Concepcion. Concepcion recorded 61 receptions, 919 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns for the Aggies last season and has the speed to break open games at any moment. Concepcion might be the guy the Dolphins take at 11 given Lemon and Tate should be drafted before him. Either way the Dolphins have a lot of work to do to give new starting quarterback Malik Willis some options especially given how small their wide receiver room is at the moment with Tutu Atwell being 5’9” and Jalen Tolbert barely clearing 6’.
