Jaylen Waddle looking to rebound from ‘year that I didn’t want’ for Dolphins

A lot of folks’ gripes about the level of play from the Miami Dolphins’ wide receiver room last season were directed at veteran Tyreek Hill, and it’s easy to see why considering he averaged just 56.4 receiving yards per game one season after he led the league with 112.4 per contest.

However, fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle deserves his fair share of criticism as well, as the former No. 6 overall pick had a down year himself in his fourth NFL season.

Ahead of the 2025 campaign, Waddle said that last season was “definitely the year that I didn’t want as an individual.” He identified where he needs to improve.

“After watching the film, definitely a lot of hand eye (coordination) — I feel like I’m trying to move without the ball too much,” he said. “And just the simple things, just timing, getting smoother in and out of my routes. Pretty much that.”

Waddle gushed over Miami’s new wide receivers coach Robert Prince as well and indicated that Prince is helping him sharpen his game.

“‘RP,’ he’s just bringing a different dynamic to the room,” Waddle said. “He’s making us work on and off the field. The meeting room, you’ve got to be on your P’s and Q’s because he’ll ask you something from two weeks ago. So RP has been great for us, we love him a lot. We love all the challenges that he gives us daily and weekly. RP is doing a great job.”

The 26-year-old totaled just 744 receiving yards across 15 games played with the Dolphins last season after he reached quadruple digits in that stat in each of his opening three seasons in the NFL. Additionally, he finished with career-lows in receiving touchdowns (two) and first downs receiving (38) in the 2024 campaign.

Dolphins fans are surely hoping that Waddle will get back to producing at the level he was earlier on in his pro career, specifically his sophomore season.

He led the entire NFL in yards per reception with 18.1 back in the 2022 season and totaled a career-high 1,356 receiving yards as well. Waddle finished with the seventh-most receiving yards of any player in the league that season and more than the likes of tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

There’s one factor out of Waddle’s control that could play a major role in whether he can put together a bounce-back season in the 2025 campaign, and that’s the health of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who missed six games for the Dolphins last season.

If Tagovailoa manages to suit up in the lion’s share of games in the 2025 season, folks should be optimistic that Waddle will indeed bounce back from a 2024 campaign he would like to forget and play like an elite wide receiver once again.