Malik Washington doesn’t feel like he has made it.
The Miami Dolphins receiver caught more than two dozen passes as a rookie. He scored a touchdown during a pivotal, prime-time matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. And he will make the 2025 roster after a clear growth in his chemistry with Tua Tagovailoa.
So why can’t Washington just take a breath?
“I haven’t done anything to necessarily to make it a shoo-in or make it a given,” Washington, 24, said Saturday evening. “I’m a sixth-round pick and I always remember that. I always have that in the back of my head, but at the end of the day I’m an NFL player and everybody on an NFL roster has to earn each and every day to be on this 53-man roster. So for me, it’s just pouring into that each and every moment, each and every opportunity that I get.”
That much was apparent as Washington put on a show in the Dolphins’ 14-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Limited to just three series, the second-year receiver had a trio of catches for a team-high 43 yards and a score. His 25-yard touchdown catch-and-run brought the Hard Rock Stadium crowd to its feet as he juked a pair of Jaguar defenders en route to the end zone.
“That’s a move you dream up late night when you’re just thinking visualizing the play,” the second-year receiver said of his touchdown. “It just came to life.”
What has become abundantly clear is that Tagovailoa trusts Washington. The two connected on a fourth-and-6 against the Jags that led to the former University of Virginia standout’s touchdown.
“When it’s third down, fourth down, the whole world is watching, the whole stadium is watching, the whole team is watching,” Washington said, acknowledging that he wants to come “up big” for his team. “You’ve got to almost be perfect on that down because the defense is going to throw everything at you.”
For Tagovailoa, it’s in the subtle nuances of Washington’s game that he has seen the most growth.
“What gets overlooked with Malik is also the blocking aspect of his game,” the franchise quarterback said Saturday. “I think that’s where he’s most improved from last year to this year. Don’t get me wrong — last year was really good with the things that he had done in the run game, but I think this year he’s improved a lot more. But now that he’s getting more touches, it just allows him to be that much more versatile for us.”
Washington has seemingly benefited from increased opportunity. Star wideout Tyreek Hill missed the entire offseason program as he recovered from wrist surgery. Then, Hill suffered an oblique injury that kept him out for most of training camp. And with receiver Jaylen Waddle held out a few of practices, Washington seemingly has been the most available.
That, however, didn’t immediately increase his chemistry with Tagovailoa.
“Any chance that I get — if he invites me somewhere, I’m going to show up because I know that he values that and I also value that as well,” Washington said.
This was pivotal; Tagovailoa tends to avoid throws to guys who he cannot trust.
“I think I noticed that right away when I got here,” Washington explained. “I was getting open a couple of times and he just wasn’t even looking my way and then as we kind of went on, I was like, ‘OK, he needs to trust. He needs to have a relationship. He needs to know that if he puts that ball out there, you’re going to find a way to go get it.’”
With Washington, the Dolphins have seemingly found a solid third option at receiver behind Hill and Waddle. How Washington figures into the offense once one-time Pro Bowl tight end Darren Waller returns will be intriguing.
One thing, however, is for sure: coach Mike McDaniel loves him.
“As a rookie in the middle of the season last year, in a game that, I think we were 2-6 at the time, on national television, and he made the big corner-route completion,” McDaniel said, recalling Washington’s fourth-quarter catch that led to the Dolphins’ 23-15 win over the Rams in 2024. “I think that everybody saw that – on top of how he started the game with the touchdown – he was a gamer.”
McDaniel then described Washington in the context of the most succeessful coaches of all-time.
“His competitive greatness, as kind of defined by John Wooden as ‘being your best when your best is required,’” McDaniel said. “That’s Malik Washington to a T.”