Waddle the Latest on COVID-19 List

The Dolphins very well might be without their leading receiver when they face the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium

There's yet another Miami Dolphins player headed to the Reserve/COVID-19 list, and this one might be the most significant of all.

Rookie first-round pick Jaylen Waddle will become the fifth Dolphins player on the COVID-19 list three days before the team is set to face the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium.

Waddle will join rookie second-round pick Jevon Holland on the COVID-19 list, along with running backs Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and Phillip Lindsay.

Holland has had a very impressive rookie season, but there's no one on that list who has had the kind of impact that Waddle has had for Miami in 2021.

Waddle leads the Dolphins in receptions with 86, 27 more than anybody else on the team and more than double the total of the second-leading wide receiver, DeVante Parker (30 catches).

Unquestionably Tua Tagovailoa's go-to guy in the passing game, Waddle had 26 catches in the three games since Tua returned as the starting quarterback. He's currently on pace to tie the single-season franchise record of 112 receptions, though he'll obviously fall off that pace if he doesn't play against the Jets.

Assuming Waddle is vaccinated, he'll need to have two negative tests at least 24 hours apart to be able to play against the Jets.

Waddle conceivably could become eligible to play with a negative test Sunday morning if the results come back in time (assuming, obviously, he also would test negative Saturday).

But it's also entirely possible that the Dolphins will have to make do without Waddle, which logically would mean a dose of slants for DeVante Parker, who caught five passes against the Giants in the team's last game Dec. 5 but on different kinds of routes.

Regardless, the Dolphins offense clearly would be more effective with Waddle in the lineup.