Miami Dolphins Training-Camp Primer: Wide Receivers

Next up in the series of positional previews are the wide receivers.

What to expect

Talk about a motley crew. Miami's ragtag bunch of receivers don't have much combined experience in this league, and what experiences they have had don't inspire tremendous confidence that they'll be able to consistently help out the quarterback.

The good news here is that this group is incredibly young, and that means they have a tremendous amount of room to improve. Ernest Wilford is the oldest of the bunch, and he is not yet 30-years old.

Half of the 10 receivers entering training camp are rookies. I'm not expecting great (or even above average) things on the surface from these guys, but I do expect this season to be one of big strides made in the developmental process.

This team still lacks a true No. 1 receiver, and while Ted Ginn will most likely play that role this year, I'm not sure he's cut out to be the top guy. The team doesn't have a guy of that caliber on the roster, so that's something that will have to be addressed after this season.

Until then, this hungry group of youngsters will have to make due.  Here's a closer look at the individual receivers currently on the roster and what can be expected of them this coming season.  

Ted Ginn 

For his rookie season, Ginn certainly didn't quiet all the naysayers who criticized his high draft position, but nothing short of being in contention for Rookie of the Year honors would have done that. Those lofty expectations were flat-out unreasonable.

The performance he did turn in was rather pedestrian, but he showed enough promise to back up the notion that he can indeed be a starter in this league—probably not a true No. 1, but I don't doubt his ability to be a quality starter.

With either Ernest Wilford or Derek Hagan starting opposite him, Ginn will be matched with a big possession-type receiver. That's a good complement for Ginn's blazing speed and deep-threat prowess.

Ginn showed that he's tough enough to catch a ball while running through the middle of the field, but his true value to this offense is as the deep bomb target. Besides, I don't know how long he'd last, given his slight build, if his prime role involved him taking constant beatings.

For his sophomore season, I think Ginn will catch between 50-60 passes for 750-800 yards.  

As far as his return duties, I was pleased with what Ginn showed, but he has several areas that he needs to improve on. Most importantly, he needs to stop calling for so many fair catches. He called for 15 out of only 39 punts. That's too much.

He's a bona fide weapon as a return man, but he's only a weapon if he's actually returning the ball.

Obviously, some of his fair catches were smart (I'm not advocating that he stop calling for them altogether), but too many were simply made when no one was even close to him.

Part of the reason was probably rookie jitters, so hopefully he will show that he is past that this year. He also needs to work on securing the ball when fielding kicks and punts, as he had several bad muffs.

Overall, I'm not concerned with Ginn being overworked as both a starting receiver and a returner this season, but in the future, I would not mind seeing him cede punt-return duties to another player.  

Ernest Wilford 

Wilford is Miami's biggest receiver, standing 6'4" tall, and I think he'll probably begin the season as the starter. I'm not sure he'll hang on to that job for the entire season though. You see, Wilford has always played his best in a reserve role.

His lone season (2006) as a starter in Jacksonville paled in comparison with his other seasons when he was the third receiver. He is 29-years old, so maybe it's too much to expect that he'll now prove capable of starting.

Rather, I think he makes a very good third receiver. He presents a gigantic target in the red zone.

His main value to this team will come in his ability to move the chains. Over his career, he has turned an amazing 77 percent of his receptions into first downs. That kind of ability to keep drives alive will be key for Miami's young quarterbacks to get in a rhythm. 

Derek Hagan 

If anyone is going to unseat Wilford for the starting job, I think it will be Hagan. Before he was let go, receivers coach Terry Robiskie criticized Hagan for being too immature and unfocused.

With all the drops that Hagan has had since coming into the league two years ago, I was with Robiskie. Hagan had never had a real problem with drops in college, and then over two seasons in limited action with Miami, he's dropped eight passes.

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