It’s no secret that the Miami Dolphins offense seemingly runs through Tyreek Hill.
The five-time All-Pro receiver has amassed 26 touchdowns and nearly 4,500 yards receiving since his 2022 arrival in South Florida. But Hill reportedly fractured his wrist during joint practices against the Washington Commanders in 2024, and the team appears to have adopted an even more cautious approach as he deals with an oblique injury. `
While there’s no way to replace a future Pro Football Hall of Famer in Hill, his absence throughout most of the offseason program and training camp does have one benefit: quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been able to develop better chemistry with some of his other receivers.
“It does give us an opportunity to work on more things with [Jaylen] Waddle, work on more things with Malik [Washington],” Tagovailoa said Thursday after a joint practice against the Jacksonvile Jaguars, explaining that it ”allows me the opportunity to see which guys I can trust, which guys I can depend on” as well as “who’s in their playbook, who knows where to be in what spots, and then play within the timing of that play.”
Tagovailoa called the increased reps for some of the other receivers on the depth chart “a cool opportunity” that unfortunately comes with growing pains. This was apparent during the situational portion of Thursday’s practice when the franchise quarterback and the receivers — save for Dee Eskridge — missed each other on several occasions.
“I’ve never really gotten that opportunity until that very moment to talk about that play or talk about what I’m thinking in that scenario with what we’re trying to do situationally as well,” Tagovailoa said. “I think there’s a lot of factors that go into that, but that just takes reps with those guys and me as well. We’ve just got to continue to work on it, just know that a lot of those conversations will be had in our meetings so we can all get on the same page, talk to them, what they were seeing and then obviously I give my side.”
The immediate results of Hill’s absence have been better timing between Tagovailoa and Waddle. Although their friendship dates back to 2018 when Waddle first arrived on Alabama’s campus, the wideout missed out on the 1,000-yard mark in 2024 for the first time in his NFL career.
“Nothing is guaranteed,” Waddle said of what he learned during the 2024 season. More motivated than ever, the wideout later added that he and Tagovailoa want to work on the finer points of the offense in spite of their already surefire chemistry. “There’s always room to grow but we do got a lot of banked reps.”
Other beneficiaries of the increased opportunities included Eskridge and fellow receiver Malik Washington, both of whom have caught a long bombs from QB1 in training camp.
“The entire team has seen his development over the years,” Tagovailoa said of Eskridge. The two connected on a fourth-and-long during the final situational period of practice. “He’s really been showing out. I’m very proud of him. Very happy for him. We have this saying in there any body can do it once. We’re always looking to stay as consistent as possible.”
As far as Washington goes, Tagovailoa still continues to be impressed by the second-year receiver’s maturity.
“Understanding where he needs to be in the timing of the offense,” Tagovailoa said of what stands out about the former University of Virginia standout. The 2020 first-round pick found Washington on a cross in the back corner of the endzone during the team red zone drills. “I don’t think that’s talked about enough for someone like Malik. He’s very smart, very intuitive and just knows where to be.”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that less reps for Hill could lead to a bit of a drop in chemistry between the star wideout and Tagovailoa. The admission of the need to “repair” the relationship between Hill and Tagovailoa only further fanned the narrative of chemistry issues. And while that could certainly be true initially, there’s at least a couple thousand reasons why they’ll figure it out.
Even more intriguing will be the potential residuals of having an eight-time Pro Bowler in Hill be the receivers’ biggest chearleaders as Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel pointed out. Just go check the footage from Saturday afternoon’s victory over the Detroit Lions. Hill was one of the first to celebrate after every big play — especially if it involved a receiver.
“I think him being out has enable his teammates to see how invested he is in them,” McDaniel said Thursday, calling this version of Hill “above and beyond anything that I’ve seen from him.”
Whether Hill’s investment into his teammates will pay dividends won’t be known until the regular season gets underway, however, receivers need to take full advantage of the increased reps with Tagovailoa for the offense to improve.
“Overall, there’s a residual gain down the road,” McDaniel said. “But that’s assuming that we continue in progression when he’s not in there so that when he is, he’s jumping into a huddle of a leveled up offense.”