Receiver Reflections: Waddle, Chase and the 2021 Draft

Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle keeps justifying the Miami Dolphins' draft decision of 2021, if it's not already done

The NFL Twitter account used shots of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Ja'Marr Chase to promote the Thursday night matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, and there's a good argument for that choice.

But if the idea was to highlight the wide receivers — say, instead of the QB battle between Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa — maybe it would have been more appropriate to have Jaylen Waddle representing the Dolphins in the promo instead of Hill.

No disrespect to Hill, who deserves all the attention he's getting, but it's Waddle who leads the Dolphins in receiving yards, yards per reception and touchdown catches.

Maybe more to the point, Chase and Waddle were the first two wide receivers taken in the 2021 NFL draft, and even more to the point as it pertains to the Dolphins, they could have had Chase had they really wanted to get him.

REVISITING THE 2021 DRAFT AND THE DOLPHINS DECISION

To review, the Dolphins entered the 2021 offseason with the third overall pick courtesy of the Houston Texans and the Laremy Tunsil trade where they would have had their choice of any non-quarterback given the expectation (which panned out) that Jacksonville and the New York Jets would select Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson first and second.

Instead of staying put at No. 3 overall, where they could have drafted either Chase or tight end Kyle Pitts, the Dolphins orchestrated that major trade with the San Francisco 49ers that gave them the 12th pick plus two additional first-round pick and then moved back up to sixth in another deal with the Eagles by surrendering one of those two extra first-round picks along with swapping other draft selections.

So essentially the Dolphins ended up with Waddle and the 49ers' 2023 first-round pick instead of Chase (or Pitts, if that's the direction they had chosen).

Is there anybody right now who would turn down that trade from a Dolphins standpoint?

WADDLE KEEPS GETTING BETTER

Chase is an absolutely dynamic wide receiver, and he proved it last year with a spectacular 2021 performance — 81 catches for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns — that earned him NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

In the meantime, Waddle set the NFL rookie record with 104 catches, though he didn't nearly as much damage in the Dolphins' limited offense.

With new head coach Mike McDaniel, Hill opposite him and a better offensive line, Waddle has been a game-breaker in the first weeks of the 2022 NFL season, easily topping Chase's contributions so far.

While Hill has been spectacular and a difference-maker for the Dolphins passing game, Waddle has had at least one huge play in each of the team's three victories — the 42-yard touchdown on fourth-and-7 against New England, the game-winning touchdown at Baltimore, the 45-yard catch that set up the game-winning score against Buffalo.

Truth is, Waddle would get more votes than Chase for any postseason accolade at this early stage of the season.

Regardless of what happens Thursday night when the Dolphins face the Bengals, it should go without saying that both teams are very happy with the way things have turned out with their wide receiver selection in the 2021 draft.

For the Dolphins, it should go on as a brilliant decision. And considering how good Chase is, that's saying something there about Waddle.