The Dolphins could've drafted Ja'Marr Chase.
The 2021 NFL Draft should have been incredible for the Miami Dolphins. It wasn't. It has been just so-so.
The Dolphins had two first-round picks and a second-round selection. They were picking third overall and had a choice between Ja'Marr Chase, Kyle Pitts, Penei Sewell, and, yes, Jaylen Waddle. They opted to trade with San Francisco. Goodbye, Chase, Pitts, and Sewell. Miami, however, couldn't stay at 12, so they moved back up and took Waddle.
Waddle exploded out of the gates and still is setting reception records, but is he really a number one wide receiver? His salary indicates that he is.
Waddle is not a game-changing receiver like Chase. He isn't a shutdown future Hall of Fame left tackle like Sewell, and you could make an argument that he isn't much better than his Alabama teammate, Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who was taken with pick 10 as part of the Dolphins trading up and down early in the round.
