Miami Dolphins Getting Healthier In Time For The Stretch Run & Jaylen Waddle Has Answered The Call

Miami Dolphins Getting Healthier In Time For The Stretch Run & Jaylen Waddle Has Answered The Call

The Miami Dolphins, it seems, are getting healthy just in time for the stretch run of 2025. You are Locked On Dolphins, your daily Miami Dolphins podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. All right, Miami. Welcome to another episode of Locked On Dolphins. It is your team every day. We don’t just say it, we live it here on the Locked Onet. the number one sports podcast network. Want to give a special welcome and shout out to our everydayers because it is your team every day. We don’t just say it, we live it. We’re host Kyle Krabs, lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, host of locked on dolphins, co-host of locked on NFL scouting, author of Touchdown, Miami and Substack NFL staff, writer for a Toz Sports. Today’s episode of Locked on Dolphins is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Thank everybody for their patience as we get the show up today. Here’s one thing I can tell you about me. Sick as a dog. So, was thankful for the press conferences of Mike McDaniel and to a tongue of Aloa and we got some news headlines for player availability and guys coming back from injury. We got it’s a good good day for a news dump, right? And I just got done recording the uh crossover Thursday that’s going to run tomorrow with David Harrison from Lockdown Commanders. It’s a great conversation. Uh, so there there’s plenty of of commander specific preview coming up starting tomorrow, but I want to get the in-house stuff together first. Uh, we’re going to start with the Dolphins getting healthier in Spain. Uh, this is foreign territory, the Dolphins, right? Uh, but we’re midway through the season and it sounds like there may be some momentum on Miami turning the tide and and getting some players back. And it starts with Chop Robinson who missed the game against Buffalo. Uh he was out at practice today in Spain uh with no red non-cont jersey. So he was a full participant in the the practice report. That all aligns for Chop Robinson to make his return after a oneame absence and give your your team a little bit of extra juice rushing the passer. Okay, that’s a good start. I don’t know whether or not this next name will be back for Washington or not, but Austin Jackson back at practice as well. His 21day practice window was activated by the Dolphins on Wednesday. Uh that’s not a small deal, right? I think Larry Borham has played admirably as a swing tackle when you look at him through the lens of being a backup offensive lineman, right? I told you your starting tackle all year is Larry Borum and it’s really what we’ve had. You’d want a better player. Right. Uh Larry’s settled in well from a pass pro standpoint. Uh probably the the run game area. I’m surprised he hasn’t created more consistent displacement in the run game. Um but that was kind of the pivot from Kendall Lamb, right? Was we want somebody that can can create a little bit more movement and displacement. But Austin Jackson having his 21-day practice window activated means in the next three weeks they’re going to make a determination whether or not to activate Austin Jackson and put him back on the 53man roster or they’re going to let that window expire without activating him, in which case his year will be done. Now, knowing how Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins operate, it’s probably safe to assume that Austin’s not going to play this Sunday against Washington. And then after that is the buy, right? So, you have a pretty big ramp up period here if you practice this week and then you have the bye-week the week after. And and maybe they will activate Austin Jackson and play him on Sunday against the Commanders. But what I know is that usually, and this includes Jason Marshall, who just came off IR what, last week or made his his return to the lineup last week after being activated the week prior. Um, they usually take the extra ramp up period. So, I’m not expecting to see Austin Jackson out on the grass when Miami plays Washington on Sunday, but I am expecting him eventually to be activated. And I think there’s a very good chance we see him against the Saints with the the Dolphins first team in game back after the buy. So if I had to pick one, I selfishly would have wanted to see James Daniels because I think James Daniels moves the needle more relative to the backup player. And that that’s a testament to the player I think Larry Borum has been signing here as a utility player and being pressed into being the starting right tackle uh for effectively the entire season. Right. Austin didn’t make it out of the week one game against the Colts. I think that playing time will be helpful. Um, Larry’s a guy if if they maintain their scheme, whether that’s coaching staff or not, uh, Lar would not be a guy I’d be upset about bringing back. And I know everybody’s it’s it’s the popular thing that Larry Borum’s the devil, right? Like like Mama from Water Boy says, but I I don’t see that level of liability. There’s been some frustrating issues, you know, when he when he gets up in a two-point stance at times uh for for their pass work. Uh he’s a little too vertical and his helmet doesn’t break the play into the center and gets called for illegal formation. I think that’s happened twice this year. Um the execution in the run game, you could tell it’s a new scheme for him, but you would have thought this was the worst offensive lineman in football when he was in Chicago, and he has not been that by any means. I think he’s been a serviceable, utility, depth offensive lineman who unfortunately has just had to play a lot of football because Austin Jackson got hurt. But if you get Austin Jackson and Chop Robinson back, say hypothetically you got him back this week and injuries happen, right? Like you you think about the rest of the injury report, Tyreek Hill’s not coming back. Ker Co is not coming back, right? But if I were to look at the roster that the Dolphins have for players that are on IR and eligible to return, it’s Jason Sanders, Kater Coo, Andrew Meyer, James Daniels, Austin Jackson, Darren Waller. hypothetically you get two or three of those guys back and and I think you probably you’d be willing to take it right now. I don’t think I think Jason Sanders would move the needle because of the long kicking game. Riley Patterson has not hit a field goal 50 yards or longer all season. Jason hit 12 of them last year, but we don’t know what Jason’s status is. Andrew Meyer, I don’t think really moves the needle. Maybe you could make an argument he’s a better option than than Cole Strange, but we’ve never seen Andrew Meer not play center. Uh Austin Jackson is activated to return. Darren Waller certainly has the potential to move the needle. Um I’d rather see Greg Doulich selfishly from like an evaluation on like who is Greg Doulich for this offense and and how high is the ceiling, right? So that’s kind of where we stand. We we get Austin back on the practice field. We get Chop Robinson back. No red non-cont jersey. He’s out of concussion protocol. That’s excellent news for the Dolphins getting healthy uh going into week 11. Now, Mike McDaniel spoke to a tongue of spoke. We’re going to talk on some of their quotables on the other side of the break. So, make sure you guys stick with us. Today’s episode of Locked on Dolphins is sponsored by Better Help. As the days get shorter and the nights come longer, uh it can be a little heavier time of year, especially when life is already packed with work, family, and everything else. This season, it’s important to reach out and check in with friends, family, or even yourself. 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Moving on, Mike McDaniel spoke and uh Mike, as I’m admiring the length of this transcript, certainly found his his voice in this presser. Uh Aaron Brewer, uh Mike said, is not going to practice today being Wednesday. He’s working through a game issue that from a captain standpoint, he’s not going to be executing all the plays today, but you can just tell where his mind is at. He’s working his way back. I feel very optimistic. It’s a real thing he’s dealing with, but knowing him and his mindset, I’ll be very optimistic for him. No problems there. Okay, so a little bang, little bump. I believe it’s on the uh injury report is a foot injury for Aaron Brewer. think he was in a boot earlier. He’s good. Uh Juju Brent, uh sound sounds like that was cramps. Um Mike McDaniel said there’s a lot of Knicks, but there’s no worry of what you’re worried about about Brent’s missing time after a very successful debut as a starting quarterback for the Dolphins. And I hope not the last time that we see um Juju Prince as a starter. What was interesting to me was asked about Jaylen Wadd and this ties into a little bit of of segment three on today’s show. But I found this both what Mike and two has said about Wadd particularly interesting because of who Jaylen Wadd is perceived to be because of who he’s been the last four years while coexisting in an ecosystem with Tyreek Hill. It’s it’s it’s a tough spot to be in for a player, right? Like you could know full well I can pour my everything into my offseason, be the best version of myself that I can be. Tyreek Hill still going to get 170 targets because that’s what it’s been, right? So, we’ve now seen a sample size of Jaylen Wadd without Tyreek Hill. And Jaylen Wadd magically looks like an exponentially more impactful player and more explosive receiver. And teams are playing the Dolphins differently than what they did when 10 and 17 were on the field together. And some of that, you wonder how much it was a detriment that teams play us a certain way. Okay. And we didn’t really fully lean into the thing that we would have had to do to take advantage of the overplay that teams were playing us as when we had 10 and 17 on the field, aka super soft, two high shells, run the ball. We didn’t really do it, at least not with the consistency that you felt you needed to to to facilitate and convince teams to get out of it. Um, but Mike was asked about Jayla Wadd and here’s what he had to say. I think there’s something to be said about his high percentage of productive per target. When you’re the number one receiver and the team is depending on you to be that, generally your targets come in critical situations, whether it’s situational football or moments in the game. In those situations, the team rises or falls based on your execution of what people are depending on you to execute. Wadd has always had the talent to do almost anything on the football field. A lot of receivers have talent. He has extraordinary talent. Playing the position of receiver in the National Football League has a lot more to do with just talent. It’s a high level execution and understanding of timing. Understanding the areas of the field. Understanding that the responsibilities of players around you so you can appropriately run your route. Highle detail that the pass rush in half a second if you’re off. So your game, your quarterback could get sacked and you cannot even have a target. When you’re the leading receiver, you’re a true number one. There’s a lot of weight and expectation and execution. And that’s what I’ve been seeing him deliver on. I reflect on You go back to some of the miked up stuff from 23 and the hard knock stuff with Tua and the shot to Hill against Washington. And then you you think about on tape last year all the times you had two guys standing in the same spot. Certainly seemed like we we didn’t have guys uh we somebody was running the wrong route. And then you think about Tyreek Hill this summer talking about it was the first time ever he was doing his film study and taking notes. Let that sink in for a minute. And then you contrast that to Jaylen Waddle who is in the right spot, who is very consistent with his targets and his catch rate. And he is no longer the pop gun checkown underneath shallow drag receiver who’s getting the ball six yards downfield. He’s back up around 15 yards per catch this year. He’s had more explosive plays in the passing game than what Tyreek had his last 20 games here, right? Or you remember we had the whole the whole Saabb story on Twitter about, oh, poor Tyreek Hill, free Tyreek Hill hasn’t had a 30- yard receiving reception in blah blah blah, one full calendar year, yada yada yada. Well, Tyreek Hill goes down and magically Jaylen Wyn’s getting 30 plus yard receptions and 40 plus yard touchdowns every other week. It’s just interesting to me, but mostly interesting through the lens of of Jaylen Wadd maturing and seizing the opportunity at hand to be the primary receiver. And that’s what Tua had to say. Uh he was asked about Jaylen Wadd and his production as the number one since Tyreek got hurt. I think the leadership role that Wadd has taken on has also been a step forward in his game with the little things like breaking out of the huddle. If it doesn’t look the way that he wants off of what he told the receivers, he gets everyone back in the huddle. Okay, we’re going to go do this, right? I think it’s the leadership aspect has taken a big step forward this year. And it’s because he hasn’t been blockaded and blocked from being that player with the other receiver in the room that carries a ton of gravitational pull, carries a ton of clout, carries a ton of attention, uh, and has accolades that is probably a Hall of Fame player someday. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Tyreek Hill is going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame at some point. I mean, how many if he doesn’t play another down, Tyreek Hill’s got 819 receptions for 11,363 yards and 83 touchdowns. He’s a fivetime first team allpro, an eight-time Pro Bowler, was named to the Hall of Fames All 2010s team. Won a Super Bowl in Kansas City. Hey, come on now. That’s that’s a that’s maybe not a first ballot hall of famer because wide receivers they get weird with and this this is not meant to be a dump on Tyreek Hill session but it is meant to be a um who you think or who you thought you had in Jayla Model versus who he’s showing you he may be otherwise when given the right opportunity and that is unfortunately one of the common threads of the last couple years where, you know, we we make personnel decisions as an allocation of talent. And I I was saying this is going back to 2024, right? Like you got an allocation, you got a talented roster, but what kind of team do you have? And a lot of the issues that the Dolphins had when Tyreek Hill and Jaylen W on the field at the same time magically go away when you don’t have one of those two players and your young player who’s never given you a problem with anything ever, never said anything bad to the media, very much keeps to himself off the field, has had no negative headlines, let alone some of the stuff that Tyreek Hills had in his ledger. uh suddenly gets unfettered access to being the man in the wide receiver room and in the passing game for Miami and he’s what third in the NFL in yards per route run this year. That’s you know yards per route run. This came courtesy of Jacob Gibbs. Yards per route run leaders without Tyreek Hill on the field. Jaylen Wadd has the third highest yards per route run. It’s almost three yards per route run. It’s Jackson Smith and Jigba. It’s Puka Nakua and it’s Jaylen Wadd. And Wadd at 2.96 yards per route run. Drake London’s at two and a half. Aman Ron St. Brown’s at 2.49. CD Lambs at 2.44. Like we are talking elite stratosphere here. And to Mike McDaniel’s point, Wadd’s catch rate on his targets is better than just about everybody in the top 20 in the NFL and receiving leaders. I didn’t mean to do Wadd takes over segment in segment two, but I got myself started. So, I’m really eager to see how he continues to to build. Um because obviously there’s there’s going to be a lot of association with Jaylen Waddle as this team moves forward because you knew it was offered a one and a three for his services from the Buffalo Bills and the Dolphins allegedly or apparently told him no we’re not trading you Jaylen Wadd Buffalo. Thank God for that. Few odds and ends to finish here on the other side of it. Make sure you guys stick with us. We’re going to keep rolling here. When the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with Supply House. Order today and see parts on your doorstep tomorrow. 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Even if you miss the start of the game or if you want to ride a hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets in a same game parlay for a shot at bigger payouts. Keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late game push. Right now, new customers at FanDuel get $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com, sign up, and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Let’s get my display name back up here. Those of you watching on YouTube need to know where you can find me on X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it these days. It will always be Twitter for me, but I digress. Um, so Miami getting ready for a Washington team that really um is is in a pretty bad way. Not to tease and give away the uh the crossover Thursday with with David Harrison from Locked on Commanders, but that football team is missing like top two corners, top safety, top two pass rushers, top run defending defensive end, starting quarterback, Terry McLuren, you go down the list and it is it is a daunting who’s who. Um, and on one hand, like we said earlier, I don’t like that kind of draw for Miami because I want to see them play against teams at full strength to to properly assess. I want to see Juju Brent get opportunities to cover Terry McLaren, right, as an example. where I want to see um Chop Robinson and we’ll see Chop Robinson play, but I want to see him try to chase down uh Jaden Daniels in the pocket as compared to um Marcus Mariota who’s no slouch of a player. He’s a good player still. now, not maybe necessarily number two overall pick in the draft, which is what he was out of Oregon by the Titans, but one thing that I’m really interested in for this game is a a name that Washington is going to have, and that’s Debo Samuel. And I want to see how Miami tackles Debo Samuel because the Dolphins, if you remember, I did the whole spiel and got all kinds of fired up um couple weeks back about the tackling of the Dolphins and how poorly they were tackling as a football team. It’s been better. Has it been great? It depends on what game. Dolphins had two missed tackles against Atlanta. They had seven missed tackles against Baltimore with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. I think you you you take your chances in that regard. They had 10 missed tackles against Buffalo. So, as good as a performance as it was, they had opportunities to be even better guys on the back end. Trader Fitzpatrick, Jack Jones, each credited with two missed tackles in that game for a total of 10. But you also played a ton of snaps, right? 60 68 snaps defensively. So you had more more tackle opportunities. You contrast that to Baltimore, you only had 56 opportunities defensively and snaps defensively. You had 50 snaps against Atlanta, right? So inevitably with that much more snaps, you’re probably law of averages say you miss some some extra tackles along the way. Um but that’s the kind of player in a dbo who if you don’t tackle him well, it can ruin your game. it can re he can create a bunch of extra yardage and he can extend drives for them. And that to me is a big litmus test in this game. Uh because the tackling has been better. The Dolphins um no longer overwhelmingly ranked as the worst tackling team in football according to the Pro Football Focus grades. And I take them with a grain of salt. Uh the grades themselves, but I I do think there’s a correlation with a lot of the numbers that they do, a lot of the advanced statistics that they do. Uh there’s six teams in the NFL that tackle worse than Miami per the Pro Football Focus grades. Uh that includes the Jets, the Bengals, the Bills, the Saints. Oh, Saints, Bengals, Jets are three teams the Dolphins will play this season the rest of the way. Cardinals, Texans. It was pretty surprising to the Texans because of how good that defense is, but they play fast. Um, so that for me is a big litmus test. But with the injuries that Washington has, I’m also not mad about a team that’s banged up because I think it would be super damning for this team to come out here and get too big for their britches and think that they’re going to get a cakewalk win. I think they were probably guilty of that on on more than one occasion early in the first half of the season. And they did not win any of those games. Spoiler alert. So, yeah, Washington’s banged up. Yeah, I’d prefer to evaluate the Dolphins against a full strength Washington team. But if you’re not going to give us that, okay, Miami, game on. How much of this bad medicine that you guys have had to take this year? Are you willing to take on the nose and embrace as a reality your situation and still come to play against a team that’s banged up? We explore that and a lot more tomorrow on Crossover Thursday. That’s going to do it for us here on Locked on Dolphins. It is your team every day. Appreciate you guys for checking out the show and thank you for helping to make the Locked On Sports Network the number one sports podcast network in all the land. I hope you will come back and see us again tomorrow. That’s it for me. I am out of here. Go fins.

Welcome to another episode of Locked On Dolphins! Host Kyle Crabbs breaks down all the latest Miami Dolphins news as the team starts to get healthy for their critical stretch run in 2025. Dive in for updates on key player injuries and returns, including big names like Chop Robinson and Austin Jackson. Kyle Crabbs discusses the emerging leadership and production of Jaylen Waddle as the Dolphins’ primary receiver, with insights from both Mike McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa. Plus, get a preview of the upcoming matchup against a banged-up Washington Commanders squad, analysis on the Dolphins’ tackling improvements, and more Dolphins odds & ends.

Whether you’re an Everydayer or just tuning in, this is your go-to spot for all things Dolphins—your team every day!

00:00:00 – Dolphins Health Update & Intro
00:01:15 – Chop Robinson & Austin Jackson Injury News
00:03:31 – Expectations for Austin Jackson’s Return
00:05:14 – Evaluating Larry Borom at Right Tackle
00:06:09 – Latest on Dolphins IR List & Potential Returns
00:08:59 – Mike McDaniel’s Injury Updates: Brewer & Prince
00:10:11 – Jaylen Waddle’s Role Without Tyreek Hill
00:11:51 – McDaniel & Tua on Waddle’s Development
00:14:39 – Waddle’s Emergence as a True WR1
00:16:18 – Wide Receiver Room, Waddle vs. Tyreek Hill
00:18:43 – Waddle’s Stats & Dolphins Trade Rumors
00:19:02 – Odds & Ends: Sponsors & Quick Hits
00:20:46 – Miami vs. Washington: Preview & Injury Rundown
00:22:12 – Key Matchups: Miami Tackling vs. Deebo Samuel
00:24:49 – Litmus Test for Dolphins, Playing Up vs. Injured Teams
00:25:39 – Closing Thoughts & What’s Next

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Miami Dolphins Getting Healthier In Time For The Stretch Run & Jaylen Waddle Has Answered The Call
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