Welker Dishes on Rejoining the Dolphins, Watching Waddle, Developing Deebo, and More
Jaylen Waddle was the topic that came up most often for Wes Welker when he was part of the media session involving the Miami Dolphins coaching staff, and that was to be expected.
Waddle, after all, is the most prominent player who Welker will be working with in his new role as Dolphins wide receivers coach as he returns to the organization for the first time since 2007 when he was traded to the New England Patriots.
It was far from the only topic he touched on, though, during his 30-minute session, as other subjects included his playing career, Deebo Samuel's development with the 49ers, going up against Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison in practice and later in regular season games after he moved to New England.
Back Where It All Started
One funny exchange happened early when Welker was asked about contributing to the Dolphins' struggles of the past 20 years. The only thing was that the reporter meant that Welker was part of the problem because of how well he played for the Patriots, while Welker thought he meant his three seasons in Miami.
"I was a young player at that time," Welker started. "Now I'm gonna try and rectify that the second time around."
That's when Welker was informed of the meaning of the good-natured question.
"Yeah, no, obviously, I had a great team up there in New England and being in the division and everything and it was some a little bit extra whenever I got to play the dolphins at the time and, and I'm really just excited to be back down here and work into whoever needs to do to make us a contender."
Welker added that the idea of returning to Miami always was intriguing to him — and his wife, who he said had about 10 destinations she liked.
"I mean, this is where I started my career," Welker said. "This is where I went from being basically a free agent to becoming a good player in the league and different things like that, but this is where it all began. And I think that's special for anybody in this profession, and very blessed to have had the opportunity to play here and help coach here so I'm really looking forward to it."
Watching Waddle
With reporters moving from coach to coach during the session, the same question invariably will come up again, and so it was with Welker being asked his impression of Waddle, the 2021 first-round pick coming off his NFL record-setting rookie season that also included him landing team MVP honors.
Every time, Welker made it a point to mention Waddle as a person before he talked about his on-field ability.
It also should be noted that Welker and Waddle had a prior connection of sorts because both played for head coach Nick Saban, Welker with the Dolphins in 2005-06 and Waddle at the University of Alabama.
"I remember him coming out (of Alabama)," Welker said. "You know how much I liked him. His speed. You know the urgency and the passion he plays a game with and you can tell he was a guy that was going to come in and be a pro early on and and really excited to be working with him.
"We'll be working hard to make him the best player that he can possibly be and I know he's gonna work his tail off to be the best player he can be as well."
Of course, Welker did talk about Waddle's speed, which he called "Tyreek Hill-ish."
"I think it's acceleration," Welker said. "Especially like when he gets a ball in my hand. We've got the ball in his hands, it's kind of Tyreek Hill-ish, how he's just able to get that ball and really burst out of it. A little bit different body types and stuff. But I kind of that's what came to mind whenever I was kind of watching him coming to Alabama and seeing him on film here."
Passing on Knowledge
Welker stressed early in his session that he wasn't coaching himself, which sounds simple enough but is very much on point.
After leaving the Dolphins, Welker became a five-time Pro Bowl selection for the Patriots and he did it more on savvy than pure physical ability. And that was just about continually adding to his game the more experience he got.
And that's what he's going to be looking for from his players.
"I think that's something I learned early on in coaching," he said. "All that was developed over time. I can't talk to him like it's year seven, year eight or anything like that. I've got to talk to him like it's my rookie year and really kind of start there and then and then we build up from it. And so having that starting point of coaching and then over time we build it up.
"And you can talk about the situation all you want, you can show them on film. They have to feel it, and then you continue to talk about it over and over and over again."
Developing Deebo
Because Deebo Samuel became such a dynamic two-way threat at wide receiver for the 49ers, a lot of attention has been given to who could play that role for the Dolphins since head coach Mike McDaniel came from San Francisco.
But Welker made it clear it's not quite that simple.
"I think you you build around your personnel and you kind of build from there," he said. "It's not like we drafted Deebo right off the bat and said, all right, we're gonna make him a running back. We were going to build him up as a receiver and coach him up as a receiver and then it just kind of happened to start using him at running back a little bit. It's all about the skill sets of your guys, how comfortable they are, with all those positions. You can't sit there and start right off the bat, OK, you're gonna play receiver and running back your rookie year or anything like that. It's something that happens over time and you continue to work with guys and prepare them and get them ready and some guys can handle that. Some guys can't. And Deebo is just one of those special players that can handle it."
Welker's Receivers Will Block
The San Francisco offense was known for its running game the past few years, so it's no surprise that Welker says the wide receivers will be expected to block.
"Yeah, no, it's huge," he said. "That's how we get explosives in the run game. It's something that you've seen a lot of teams kind of miss the boat on and it's a huge part of what we do and it's a non-negotiable.
"I never worry about it because I know guys when we show them on tape and and show the explosive runs and different things like that and how it sets up the pass game and all those different things. guys start to realize, 'Oh, OK, that's OK. So blocking can help me be a better receiver,' and all those different things, but as long as you show them and make them understand how important that stuff is, guys tend to buy in pretty quickly."
