The Lowdown on the Dolphins' New Wide Receiver
The Dolphins' re-signing of wide receiver Ricardo Louis was just the first step in addressing the position, as it turned out.
One day after bringing back the former Cleveland Browns wideout, the Dolphins added another wide receiver when they signed veteran Chester Rogers.
Rogers played the past four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts after coming into the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Grambling.
Rogers' best season came in 2018 when he started 10 games and had 53 receptions for 485 yards and two touchdowns.
For his career, he's got 111 catches for 1,221 (an 11.0 average) and five touchdowns.
Rogers has one 100-yard receiving game in his career, that coming in November 2017 when he had six receptions for 104 yards in a 20-17 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
His career high for receptions in a game is eight, which he did twice — in back-to-back weeks, actually — in 2018 against the Houston Texans and New England Patriots.
Rogers comes to the Dolphins after his 2019 season was cut by a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve in early December.
While he showed flashes during his time in Indy, Rogers struggled with consistency and had his fair share of dropped pass.
While he's got more experience than many of the other wide receivers on the Dolphins roster, he shouldn't be considered a lock to make the team.
"He’s the typical overachiever, an undrafted wide receiver who made something of himself with a modestly successful career," said Phillip B. Wilson, the publisher of AllColts on the SI.com network. "While he’s made some impact plays, he’s also had issues with drops. And he’s defensive about the latter. The Colts realized they needed to upgrade the position, and Rogers was expendable based on suffering a season-ending knee fracture and the fact his ceiling is somewhat limited, in terms of consistency. He can be a decent No. 3 or No. 4 WR, just don’t expect too much. That is, don’t expect too much more than that.
"Personally, he’s what I call a tease. Every time he does something impressive, and you start to think he’s raised his stock, he disappoints in a key situation or drops a bad pass."
Aside from Rogers and Louis, the Dolphins wide receiver corps includes DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Isaiah Ford, Jakeem Grant, Gary Jennings, Mack Hollins, rookie free agents Kirk Merritt and Matt Cole, as well as rookie seventh-round pick Malcolm Perry, who figures to get a look as a slot receiver even though he's listed as a running back.
The Dolphins, of course, found themselves short on wide receivers after Allen Hurns and Albert Wilson both decided to opt out this week.
