NFL Training Camp: 10 most intriguing battles in 2023

#3, Miami Dolphins – Number three receiver

Candidates: Braxton Berrios, Cedrick Wilson Jr., Robbie Chosen & Erik Ezukanma

NFL Training Camp: 10 most intriguing battles in 2023

You can argue a couple of teams here, but I think as a duo, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle right now is the most deadly combination of wide receivers across the NFL.

Either one can take a slant or crossing route to the house on any given play, has the burners to run by a flat-footed post safety and they’re both actually a lot more effective at coming down with balls through contact than being 5’10”, just over 180 pounds would suggest. That’s how they combined for an NFL-high 49% target share for any WR duo last season.

Miami isn't actually a team that will split you out in 11 personnel and make their third receiver a significant component in their dropback game. Looking at the play that made Mike McDaniel famous last season (that RPO concept where they completely shift the formational strength with motion and create a triangle for the QB to attack space as those defenders sort of have to freeze), they actually condense the look they’re in and have that third receiver on the side the action isn’t going towards, where they use him as a blocker or they insert fullback Alec Ingold and use his skills to kick out the backside D-end or slip into the flats.

That’s why if you take off that 75-yard TD you may remember from Trent Sherfield (on their first play from scrimmage against the 49ers), he had just 342 receiving yards the rest of the way despite playing nearly 58% of offensive snaps.

So this isn’t necessarily a high-volume target role. Rather, somebody who can take care of his blocking assignments closer to the point of attack and be a reliable pass-catcher when they go to more traditional play-action and attack the windows they create with all that window-dressing they throw at opponents. At the same time, without Sherfield and some of the names they’ve brought in, they may want to expand on that role and stay ahead of the competition.

It only took a day for Miami to up pick Braxton Berrios once their division-rival Jets released him in the middle of March. It wasn’t shocking necessarily, once New York signed free agent Mecole Hardman and Aaron Rodgers brought along a couple of buddies, along with the usage of Berrios declining this past season. But over the last three years, he did turn 120 touches into 1,130 yards and nine touchdowns, along with being named first-team All-Pro as a return specialist in 2021.

He doesn’t fit the bill of maybe a bigger body who can be a plus blocker, but if they do want to operate in more wide-open sets to clear the field for Tua, Berrios can win on option routes and take advantage of the space those two speedsters create, while we’ve seen him get involved on end-arounds, running orbit motion and stuff like that.

Cedrick Wilson appeared to be the big free agency addition last year (coming off a career season with the Cowboys when he cracked 600 receiving yards), but he surprisingly played only 22.5% of snaps. So his production was very limited just based on how little he was on the field, but even then it was his first season of finishing just under one yard per route run.

With a cap hit of eight million this year, I would hope they try to get more out of him, and to me he certainly is the best player of the bunch. He may not be quite the burner those two top guys in the food chain are, but I’d think his field-spacing skills could be very useful for this type of offense.

Especially as somebody who makes his money on crossers and seam routes, along with great adjustments to the ball down the field, thinking about that wheel route off motion, which is so prevalent for them.

Robbie Anderson, Robbie Chosen or Chosen Anderson, is coming off a couple of tumultuous seasons, not just in terms of trying to settle on the right name for himself. He put up nearly 1,100 yards on a bad Panthers offense in 2020, but his production dropped to about half of that the following year despite a similar workload.

Last season he was kicked out of a game by interim coach Steve Wilks following sideline arguments with his position coach. He only caught seven passes over his ten games in Arizona after that and now he surprisingly approached the Dolphins, because he wanted to move back near his home.

It’ll be interesting if they find real value in what is a primary deep threat at this point because over the last two years, only five of 29 targets of 20+ yards his way were deemed catchable, while Tua led the NFL in adjusted deep ball completion rate.

Erik Ezukanma is somebody I actually liked quite a bit coming out of Texas Tech last year as a 6’3”, 220-pound pure outside receiver in college, who quickly gets up to full speed, can be a legit ball-winner down the field, is strong after the catch and you saw him impose his will as a blocker a few times.

He just ran a very limited route tree in college and even after standing out in preseason, he was only active for one game as a fourth-round rookie because he was apparently still trying to grasp the playbook and officially was on the depth chart behind Tyreek as the Z receiver – who didn’t miss any time.

I’m looking forward to seeing how much progress he can make this offseason, because the talent is certainly there.

Just to quickly mention two other names - River Cracraft has been with Mike McDaniel the last three years, as somebody the HC brought along with him from San Francisco. He has less than 150 receiving yards over that stretch, as somebody who did most work on teams. He's more of your classic number five or six receiver, who understands his assignments when brought on.

They drafted Elijah Higgins out of Stanford this year in the sixth-round, who will be tagged as a tight end, but could see a certain role as a big-bodied possession guy over the middle of the field as well, because his blocking could earn him some opportunities.

Overall, I personally would prefer Cedrick Wilson and I believe he actually plays the highest rate of snaps because he can play the Z or F (which is the slot position in more traditional 11P sets), win at all 3 levels and be a reliable option for them.

However, if they can open up opportunities 1-on-1 down the field for Chosen Anderson, he may finish third among this group in yards, while Berrios could end up with the most total touches (although his biggest impact may be felt in the return game).

Ezukanma is the wild card here, because he brings size to the room that nobody else really does. If he can figure things out and you put him on the backside of some RPOs to run a glance route, with that size to shield the ball and gain yards through contact, that could be a fun element added to the menu