The Miami Dolphins need to quit tiptoeing around their young pass-catchers and lean all the way in.
After a 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1, the offense already has enough questions hanging over it. Caleb Douglas was one of the few bright spots in Sin City, finishing his NFL debut with five catches for 94 yards and showing real chemistry with quarterback Malik Willis. That alone is reason enough for Miami to keep feeding its rookies as it heads into Week 2 against the 49ers in San Francisco.
The bigger issue is how the Dolphins are using the rest of the receiver group. Malik Washington is not a starting wide receiver, and the numbers from Week 1 did little to change that view. He caught three of eight targets against a shaky Raiders secondary and now sits at 7.9 yards per catch for his career in Year 3.
Chris Bell, meanwhile, looks like the most gifted receiver on the roster. He returned from a torn ACL earlier than expected and was cleared in time for Week 1, even if he was still new enough to the offense that Willis had to help him line up.
Bell said after the game, "I felt like I did okay. [...]
A lot of times where I second-guessed myself, and then [Willis] had to line me up. [...]
I do believe that [my snap count will increase]. They’re just trying to see what I’m going to do with the snaps that I do get, see…I know they got a good plan for me."
That should be enough to tell Miami where this is headed: Bell needs more snaps, and a lot more of them. He has the size, the skill, and the versatility to work in the slot, and so does Douglas. That makes the current reliance on Washington even harder to justify.
Kevin Coleman Jr. is the other rookie who deserves a bigger role. He’s also the one who makes the most sense in the slot, even though he spent just under ninety-two percent of his college snaps there.
Yet against the Raiders, he played 14 of his 16 snaps on the boundary. That usage makes little sense when the player already has a clear natural fit inside.
Washington’s case gets weaker by the week. He’s been given chances, and plenty of them, but he hasn’t made enough of them count. He is PFF’s 76th-graded wide receiver out of 84 qualifiers on the young season, which is not the kind of production that should keep the rookies waiting.
The Dolphins have a simple path if they want to give themselves any chance of making the 49ers sweat: turn the offense over to the young receivers and let them play where they’re most comfortable. Bell, Douglas and Coleman Jr. all offer more upside than forcing Washington into a bigger role than he has earned.
Against a San Francisco team few expect Miami to beat, the safest move may be the bold one. Let the kids run.
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