The Dolphins spent the day before the first practice of training camp looking at eight tryout players, and the group came with a little bit of everything: a former first-round running back, two quarterbacks with no NFL game action, four wide receivers and a massive tackle who has never played football.
The most recognizable name on the list was Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who joined the Chiefs as the final pick in the first round of the 2020 draft after Miami had already used its three first-round selections that year on Tua Tagovailoa, Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene. Edwards-Helaire was the first running back taken in a class that also included D'Andre Swift, Jonathan Taylor, J.K.
Dobbins and A.J. Dillon.
His NFL career started well enough. As a rookie, he ran for 803 yards and four touchdowns.
Since then, though, the production has dropped every season, falling to 517 yards in 2021 and then to 302, 223, 46 and just 13 last season. He has played in only two games in each of the past two seasons after being part of that record-setting LSU offense in 2019.
Miami could view him as a possible challenger to Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon II for the backup job behind De'Von Achane, but only if the team believes there’s still something there.
If Edwards-Helaire is the name that jumps off the page, Ben Te Kura is the one that really makes you stop and look twice.
Te Kura never played college football, and he has never played football at all. He comes from Australian Rules Football, where he stands out even before you get to the size: 6-9 and 268 pounds, making him the tallest player in the history of that sport.
He was released this year from his contract with the Brisbane Broncos so he could chase an NFL dream, with the hope of following the path of Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata. Mailata was another Australian Rules convert, a seventh-round project who has grown into one of the NFL’s top left tackles.
That kind of leap would be a lot to ask from Te Kura, but his size and Mailata’s success make him a player worth a closer look.
The two quarterbacks in the group, Jack Plummer and Austin Reed, arrived with similar resumes. Both first entered the league as undrafted rookie free agents, and neither has appeared in an NFL game.
The rest of the tryout list was made up of wide receivers Elijhah Badger, Elijah Cooks, Jakobie Keeney-James and Tyler Vaughns, plus tackle Ben Te Kura.
Tuesday also brought tryout news for four former Dolphins who were working out for the Washington Commanders, and one of them landed a contract. That was punter Matt Haack, one of the authors of the famous "Mountaineer Shot" play of 2019.
The other former Dolphins trying out for Washington were wide receivers River Cracraft and Dee Eskridge, along with punter Thomas Morstead.
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Colts Just Landed On One Brutal List After Daniel Jones Bet
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It is the kind of market that can make a splash look smart in March and reckless by November. Jones is coming off a serious injury, Willis has only a handful of starts behind him, and the Steelers even added Aaron Rodgers on a short-term deal built around one last run. For teams like the Dolphins, the lesson is obvious enough: when the quarterback market gets this thin, the price of chasing a fix can be steep, and the real verdict usually takes a while to arrive. [Read more 🡒]