Dolphins Offseason Thread (OTA's, Mini-Camp, Etc.)
- Thread starter TXFinFan
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2006
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,364
4 current/former Dolphins made PFFs top 10 comeback player of the year for 2025.
Tua number 5 in PFF comeback players of the year for 2025, and we had actually 4 players in the top 10, well one former but still, inury prone players except Wilkins getting injured again? Who couldve predicted
Tagovailoa’s best and only fully healthy season came in 2023, when he started all 18 games, including the playoffs. He led all quarterbacks that year with an 88.6 PFF passing grade and logged 36 big-time throws on 600 attempts, doubling his previous career high from 2022.
With a roster already facing depth concerns, the Dolphins can't afford another season derailed by quarterback injuries. Tagovailoa’s health will be one of the defining factors in Miami’s 2025 campaign, and another extended absence would raise serious questions about his long-term viability as the franchise’s $212.4 million investment.
Chubb was in the midst of a career-best season when he went down, earning an 88.8 PFF grade, 12th among 112 qualifying edge defenders in 2023. He set personal highs in total pressures (70), pass-rush grade (84.9), run-defense grade (71.1) and coverage grade (88.5).
Phillips was an ascending star before injuries derailed his progress. In 2022, his second NFL season, he posted a 90.1 pass-rush grade and made a massive leap in run defense, improving from a 44.8 grade as a rookie to 74.8. With promising young pass-rusher Chop Robinson, who ranked among the top 20 in pressures as a rookie, already in the mix, the potential return of a fully healthy Chubb and Phillips could give Miami one of the most dangerous edge units in the league.
Prior to the injury, Wilkins was one of the NFL’s most durable interior defenders. He logged a league-high 1,990 snaps across the 2022 and 2023 seasons among defensive tackles and hadn’t missed a game since 2020. His best play came in 2021 and 2022, when he consistently ranked among the top 10 interior defenders in the league.
To shore up depth, the Raiders selected Tonka Hemingway (South Carolina) in the fourth round and JJ Pegues (Ole Miss) in the sixth. While both rookies could contribute, the defense — which ranked 30th in team grade last season (57.3) — will desperately need Wilkins back in the lineup to return to form.
www.pff.com
Tua number 5 in PFF comeback players of the year for 2025, and we had actually 4 players in the top 10, well one former but still, inury prone players except Wilkins getting injured again? Who couldve predicted
5. QB Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins appeared to be a team on the rise after securing their first 11-win season since 2008, but momentum was quickly halted in Week 2 when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years. Later in the season, a hip injury sidelined him for the final two games, bringing his total games missed to six — another frustrating chapter in what has been an injury-marred career in Miami.Tagovailoa’s best and only fully healthy season came in 2023, when he started all 18 games, including the playoffs. He led all quarterbacks that year with an 88.6 PFF passing grade and logged 36 big-time throws on 600 attempts, doubling his previous career high from 2022.
With a roster already facing depth concerns, the Dolphins can't afford another season derailed by quarterback injuries. Tagovailoa’s health will be one of the defining factors in Miami’s 2025 campaign, and another extended absence would raise serious questions about his long-term viability as the franchise’s $212.4 million investment.
9. ED Bradley Chubb/Jaelan Phillips, Miami Dolphins
While the loss of Tua Tagovailoa understandably dominated headlines in Miami last season, the Dolphins also suffered significant blows on defense. Bradley Chubb missed the entire season while recovering from a torn ACL suffered in December 2023. And then Jaelan Phillips was lost for the year in Week 4 after tearing his ACL, his second major injury in less than 12 months, following a torn Achilles in November 2023.Chubb was in the midst of a career-best season when he went down, earning an 88.8 PFF grade, 12th among 112 qualifying edge defenders in 2023. He set personal highs in total pressures (70), pass-rush grade (84.9), run-defense grade (71.1) and coverage grade (88.5).
Phillips was an ascending star before injuries derailed his progress. In 2022, his second NFL season, he posted a 90.1 pass-rush grade and made a massive leap in run defense, improving from a 44.8 grade as a rookie to 74.8. With promising young pass-rusher Chop Robinson, who ranked among the top 20 in pressures as a rookie, already in the mix, the potential return of a fully healthy Chubb and Phillips could give Miami one of the most dangerous edge units in the league.
10. DI Christian Wilkins, Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders made a major investment in Christian Wilkins in March 2023, signing him to a four-year, $110 million deal, making him the second-highest-paid defensive tackle in the league. Unfortunately, Wilkins appeared in just five games last season before suffering a season-ending Jones fracture in his foot. There is speculation that he may require a second procedure, which could delay his return well into the 2025 season.Prior to the injury, Wilkins was one of the NFL’s most durable interior defenders. He logged a league-high 1,990 snaps across the 2022 and 2023 seasons among defensive tackles and hadn’t missed a game since 2020. His best play came in 2021 and 2022, when he consistently ranked among the top 10 interior defenders in the league.
To shore up depth, the Raiders selected Tonka Hemingway (South Carolina) in the fourth round and JJ Pegues (Ole Miss) in the sixth. While both rookies could contribute, the defense — which ranked 30th in team grade last season (57.3) — will desperately need Wilkins back in the lineup to return to form.
2025 NFL Comeback Watch: 10 players returning from injury
For players recovering from major injuries, OTAs mark a pivotal milestone in the rehab process. For some, it’s their first time navigating a serious setback. For others, it's a familiar road they hope leads to full recovery and renewed impact.
www.pff.com
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2007
- Messages
- 11,049
- Reaction score
- 15,005
I just saw Wilkins apparently had a setback is his recovery and still can't practice yet
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2006
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,364
Waddle fantasy projection, the last sentence does worry me with his history:
PLAYER PERFORMANCE
Waddle was the sixth overall pick of the 2021 draft. He immediately became the top wide receiver on a Dolphins depth chart that had DeVante Parker, Albert Wilson and Mack Hollins. His 7.0-yard average depth of target was the lowest of his career, leading to a low 9.8 yards per reception. He earned 104 receptions for 1,015 yards. He finished 15th in fantasy points per game.
The Dolphins made some major changes in 2022, including adding Mike McDaniel as head coach and trading for Tyreek Hill, which moved Waddle to the second wide receiver spot on the depth chart. Waddle only experienced a slight decrease in target rate, but his average depth of target jumped up to 12.2 yards. He remained great after the catch, leading to a high 18.1 yards per reception. He moved up to 13th in fantasy points per game, while Hill finished third.
In 2023, the Dolphins continued to have the entire passing game go through Hill and Waddle. In the past decade, there have only been three cases where a pair of players received over 50% of their team’s targets in back-to-back seasons, joining the Denver Broncos of 2015 and 2016 with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in addition to the 2022 and 2023 Philadelphia Eagles with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Dolphins accomplished this despite Waddle missing three games. His target rate increased dramatically, but he was less effective on a per-reception basis. This led to fewer receiving yards but a better receiving grade.
Injuries started to become a problem for Waddle at the start of the 2022 season. He started the season in the injury report due to a quadricep injury, spent two weeks off the report and then spent nearly a month with a groin injury, over a month with a shoulder injury and a week with a fibula injury before he was listed again with a shoulder followed by an ankle to end the season. In 2023, it was an oblique, followed by a concussion, which cost him a game. He returned and was relatively healthy for a month but then dealt with back, knee and ankle injuries that cost him the final two games of the regular season.
Last season was the worst of Waddle’s career, but he was relatively healthy throughout. He caught five passes for 109 yards in Week 1. He averaged 32 yards per game over the following five games with Tua Tagovailoa out. He showed up on the injury report for a week due to a quadricep injury, but he still struggled for another month with 34 yards per game during a four-game stretch. He finally returned to form for three weeks, finishing with 21 receptions for 296 and a touchdown over three weeks. He suffered a knee injury in the following game, costing him two games, and then returned to a quiet game. While Waddle didn’t appear on the injury report nearly as much in 2024 as the previous two seasons, his NGS Tracking Data suggests his speed was slower last season compared to previous years.
Despite the injuries and low level of play last season, he’s still among the better receivers once the ball is in his hands. His 5.8 yards after the catch per catch over the last three years is second-best among all wide receivers. This has helped him gain at least 10 yards on 69.3% of his receptions, which is also the second-highest rate.
PROJECTED ROLE
Waddle has been the team’s X receiver by his pre-snap alignment, but his usage is different than most X receivers. His average depth of target has decreased each season, as has his deep target rate and, naturally, his contested target rate.
His primary competition for targets remains Tyreek Hill, although there have been trade rumors on and off throughout the season. Waddle is around the age when wide receivers peak, while Hill is around the age when wide receivers retire, so it’s possible that Waddle becomes the team’s target leader. The Dolphins have tried out several different wide receivers for the third, fourth and fifth spots on the depth chart during Mike McDaniel’s term. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine appears to be taking that third role this season, despite competition from Malik Washington. None of them will threaten Waddle’s target rate, and one will need to step up if Hill is traded.
The Dolphins added Jonnu Smith last season, leading to the Dolphins targeting tight ends 99 more times in 2024 than in 2023. De’Von Achane emerged as more of a receiver out of the backfield, leading to a few more targets to running backs compared to the previous year. This led to 85 fewer targets for wide receivers. It’s hard to tell how much of this Smith and Achane stepped up compared to how much Hill and Waddle had a down season. It will be difficult for Hill and Waddle to return to 2023 levels while Smith and Achane stay at 2024 levels because there are only so many touches to go around.
IMPACT OF TEAMMATES
Waddle will continue catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa, as he has throughout his career, and will be entering his fourth season with Mike McDaniel as his head coach. Tagovailoa’s generally strong passing and low deep target rate have benefited Waddle. His ability to avoid sacks and scrambles has also helped Waddle and will continue to help all of the skill players in Miami.
McDaniel has a history of rotating his star wide receivers out more than most teams, which is why Waddle’s route snap percentage is relatively low compared to wide receivers of his caliber. That is unlikely to change anytime soon, especially with Hill and Waddle’s injury history.
BOTTOM LINE
Waddle is a top-10 fantasy wide receiver at his best, but he had a down season last year, and there is no clear reason why. It was probably the cumulative effect of injuries over several years. If that’s the case, maybe he’ll be back to normal next year, but it’s also possible he’ll never be back to being the same player.
PLAYER PERFORMANCE
Waddle was the sixth overall pick of the 2021 draft. He immediately became the top wide receiver on a Dolphins depth chart that had DeVante Parker, Albert Wilson and Mack Hollins. His 7.0-yard average depth of target was the lowest of his career, leading to a low 9.8 yards per reception. He earned 104 receptions for 1,015 yards. He finished 15th in fantasy points per game.
The Dolphins made some major changes in 2022, including adding Mike McDaniel as head coach and trading for Tyreek Hill, which moved Waddle to the second wide receiver spot on the depth chart. Waddle only experienced a slight decrease in target rate, but his average depth of target jumped up to 12.2 yards. He remained great after the catch, leading to a high 18.1 yards per reception. He moved up to 13th in fantasy points per game, while Hill finished third.
In 2023, the Dolphins continued to have the entire passing game go through Hill and Waddle. In the past decade, there have only been three cases where a pair of players received over 50% of their team’s targets in back-to-back seasons, joining the Denver Broncos of 2015 and 2016 with Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in addition to the 2022 and 2023 Philadelphia Eagles with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Dolphins accomplished this despite Waddle missing three games. His target rate increased dramatically, but he was less effective on a per-reception basis. This led to fewer receiving yards but a better receiving grade.
Injuries started to become a problem for Waddle at the start of the 2022 season. He started the season in the injury report due to a quadricep injury, spent two weeks off the report and then spent nearly a month with a groin injury, over a month with a shoulder injury and a week with a fibula injury before he was listed again with a shoulder followed by an ankle to end the season. In 2023, it was an oblique, followed by a concussion, which cost him a game. He returned and was relatively healthy for a month but then dealt with back, knee and ankle injuries that cost him the final two games of the regular season.
Last season was the worst of Waddle’s career, but he was relatively healthy throughout. He caught five passes for 109 yards in Week 1. He averaged 32 yards per game over the following five games with Tua Tagovailoa out. He showed up on the injury report for a week due to a quadricep injury, but he still struggled for another month with 34 yards per game during a four-game stretch. He finally returned to form for three weeks, finishing with 21 receptions for 296 and a touchdown over three weeks. He suffered a knee injury in the following game, costing him two games, and then returned to a quiet game. While Waddle didn’t appear on the injury report nearly as much in 2024 as the previous two seasons, his NGS Tracking Data suggests his speed was slower last season compared to previous years.
Despite the injuries and low level of play last season, he’s still among the better receivers once the ball is in his hands. His 5.8 yards after the catch per catch over the last three years is second-best among all wide receivers. This has helped him gain at least 10 yards on 69.3% of his receptions, which is also the second-highest rate.
PROJECTED ROLE
Waddle has been the team’s X receiver by his pre-snap alignment, but his usage is different than most X receivers. His average depth of target has decreased each season, as has his deep target rate and, naturally, his contested target rate.
His primary competition for targets remains Tyreek Hill, although there have been trade rumors on and off throughout the season. Waddle is around the age when wide receivers peak, while Hill is around the age when wide receivers retire, so it’s possible that Waddle becomes the team’s target leader. The Dolphins have tried out several different wide receivers for the third, fourth and fifth spots on the depth chart during Mike McDaniel’s term. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine appears to be taking that third role this season, despite competition from Malik Washington. None of them will threaten Waddle’s target rate, and one will need to step up if Hill is traded.
The Dolphins added Jonnu Smith last season, leading to the Dolphins targeting tight ends 99 more times in 2024 than in 2023. De’Von Achane emerged as more of a receiver out of the backfield, leading to a few more targets to running backs compared to the previous year. This led to 85 fewer targets for wide receivers. It’s hard to tell how much of this Smith and Achane stepped up compared to how much Hill and Waddle had a down season. It will be difficult for Hill and Waddle to return to 2023 levels while Smith and Achane stay at 2024 levels because there are only so many touches to go around.
IMPACT OF TEAMMATES
Waddle will continue catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa, as he has throughout his career, and will be entering his fourth season with Mike McDaniel as his head coach. Tagovailoa’s generally strong passing and low deep target rate have benefited Waddle. His ability to avoid sacks and scrambles has also helped Waddle and will continue to help all of the skill players in Miami.
McDaniel has a history of rotating his star wide receivers out more than most teams, which is why Waddle’s route snap percentage is relatively low compared to wide receivers of his caliber. That is unlikely to change anytime soon, especially with Hill and Waddle’s injury history.
BOTTOM LINE
Waddle is a top-10 fantasy wide receiver at his best, but he had a down season last year, and there is no clear reason why. It was probably the cumulative effect of injuries over several years. If that’s the case, maybe he’ll be back to normal next year, but it’s also possible he’ll never be back to being the same player.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2006
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,364
Our defense is going to get so cooked in those practices lol
The article is just wrong about Allen playing at an elite level for 5 years straight. In 2 out of 5 he’s had elite QB numbers. The middle 3 during this time were average.
The media is doing the lazy thing and looking at team accomplishments and attributing them to individuals. Not to mention that in the past 5 years he’s played in 12 playoff games and has been average once and below average in 5. That’s 50% of being average or worse.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2006
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,364
They are basing it off PFF grade cause it’s a PFF article, PFF score first, so he never has less than a 90 PFF grade the past 5 seasons.
PFF score Comp. YDS. AVG. TD. INT. LNG SCK RATE. QBR
2020 90.3. 69.2 4,544 7.9 37 10 55 26 107.2 76.6
2021 90.9 63.3 4,407 6.8 36 15 61 26 92.2 66.3
2022 91.8 63.3 4,283 7.6 35 14 98 33 96.6 73.4
2023 92.1. 66.5 4,306 7.4 29 18 81 24 92.2 70.3
2024 91.9. 63.6 3,731 7.7 28 6 64 14 101.4 77.3
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2006
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,364
OTCs thought on value of Jonah trade
5. Dolphins select G Jonah Savaiinaea
Implied Cost: 591 points(The 115th pick in the draft)
Implied Salary Lost: $6.58M/Year
This is another example of trading up into a position you probably should not be trading up for. The team loses out on value by dropping to the non-premium tier of positions and gives away their comp pick along with a swap in the middle of the draft. The value given up here is really big meaning the player has to be a higher end starter to make up that difference. That isn’t impossible but it is not likely
5. Dolphins select G Jonah Savaiinaea
Implied Cost: 591 points(The 115th pick in the draft)
Implied Salary Lost: $6.58M/Year
| Selection | Points | Expected Value Added | Traded Picks | Points | Expected Value Lost |
| 37 | 1,170 | $8,041,528 | 48 | 1,038 | $8,618,806 |
| 148 | 468 | $3,881,668 | 98 | 676 | $5,615,985 |
| 135 | 514 | $4,268,450 | |||
| Total | 1,638 | $11,923,196 | 2,229 | $18,503,241 |
So they have some sort of a formula using those stats to create a grade? Do you know what “LNG” means or how each stat is weighted? I thought I’d ask before I try to find out on my own in case you already know.
I say this in the nicest possible way, all of these articles and stats you keep posting, while appreciated, may be served in a better thread. Perhaps a 'catch all' of the information you come across, as opposed to the one about tweets/news about offseason activities
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2006
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,364
Yea the longest completed pass play of the year by yardage
The PFF grades and stats afterward have no correlation, those are just his stats for the year so you could see the context of his numbers vs his PFF grades.