The Miami Dolphins officially placed wide receiver Tyreek Hill on the IR on Wednesday after his season-ending knee injury on Monday Night Football. Due to the severity of the injury, Hill faces a long road to recovery and may not even make it back in time for Week 1 next year. With his workload up for grabs in the Dolphins’ offense, will Malik Washington break out as a viable fantasy option the rest of the season?
Let’s take a look at the Dolphins wide receiver options now that Hill is out and see how the targets and production are likely to shake out.
Jaylen Waddle a WR1?
The biggest boost in Miami’s offense probably goes to Waddle, who will be the clear No. 1 option in the passing attack now that Hill isn’t in the mix.
Hill had at least six targets in each of his four games this season, drawing a team-high total of 29 targets before his departure in Week 4. Running back De’Von Achane is second on the team with 25 targets followed by Waddle at 23 targets.
Waddle has gotten either five or six targets in each game this season, converting 17 of his 23 targets into catches for a total of 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns. If his picks up even half of Hill’s targets, he could end up nearing 10 targets per game, making him a strong WR2 with WR1 upside even in the Dolphins’ current conservative passing game.
Waddle is already a goal-line and red zone threat, and more work all over the field gives him an even higher ceiling for games where the Dolphins have to go pass-heavy.
The struggles of Tua Tagovailoa and his hesitancy to take deep shots still cap Waddle’s ceiling, but he is a great every week starter in standard formats without Hill.
Malik Washington’s high ceiling
Malik Washington is owned in only owned in under 20% of season-long leagues on Yahoo! even after the waiver wires processed this week, but the second-year receiver from Virginia could be poised for a breakout.
Washington’s biggest play of the season came in Week 2 against the Patriots:
Even with Hill healthy, Washington was already starting to get more opportunities and specific plays designed to get the ball into his hands since he’s such a dynamic playmaker. He ranks only behind Hill, Achane, and Waddle for targets this season with 15 targets through four games. Washington hauled in eight of those passes for a total of 47 yards. He also has multiple carries each of the last three weeks, totaling 60 yards on eight carries this season.
Washington has playmaking ability, and getting the ball in his hands more gives him an extremely high ceiling. Tua is not taking many deep shots (and when he does, they are often inaccurate), but his short passes near the line could give Washington room to work and opportunities to break big plays.
With more work coming his way, Washington can be a great addition if you need a receiver pickup to replace Malik Nabers or Tyreek Hill or even just to add depth during the upcoming bye weeks.
One thing not in Washington’s favor is the schedule, he has tough matchups against the Panthers, Chargers, Browns and Falcons in the next four weeks. In his favor, he and the Dolphins have a late bye week in Week 12, so he can be a help in the next few weeks if you’re stretched thin.
Other options emerging?
Even with Waddle and Washington getting most of the additional work, there will likely be more targets available for other pass-catchers as well. Darren Waller had two touchdowns in his Dolphins debut and could stay very involved going forward if he’s healthy. Remember, last year Tua made Jonnu Smith a very viable tight end play, so Waller could at least be a TE2 to help you through bye weeks.
Further down the depth chart at wide receiver, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was brought in this offseason, and he could get more targets and production as well. Westbrook-Ikhine played 47% of snaps in Week 4 and will likely be the third receiver in most sets. Dee Eskridge could also get a few more snaps, but most of his skillset is as a big-play deep threat, which doesn’t seem to jive with the current offensive philosophy.
The Bottom Line
At this point, Waddle is a solid WR2 with the potential to be a WR1 if Tua can improve his accuracy and focuses on getting him more targets.
Washington is a great pickup and stash due to his upside, and there’s a real chance that he can be one of the top receiver pickups of the season if he gets more work and is able to unleash his big-play abilities.
Westbrook-Ikhine and Waller are depth pickups if needed but more in the “watch and see” category for standard leages at this point.
For one-week contests, like this week’s NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] on DraftKings, the Dolphins come at a discount since salaries came out before the Hill injury. Waddle is only $5,400, Washington is a bargain at $3,900, and Waller is only $3,500. Even though the Panthers’ secondary has been strong against receivers, they have been generous to tight ends, so Waller is a good value play. Washington will be boom-or-bust, but all he needs is one big play to deliver elite value from under $4,000, and without Hill, he should have enough chances to produce.
