Dolphins' dynamic duo has shot to break record that has stood for almost 30 years

The NFL offseason is dominated by optimism and projections for both teams and individual players alike. And a team atop many headlines is the Miami Dolphins. Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa recently said his offense has a chance to be "very, very scary, very dangerous" and mentioned that the "goal is to get somewhere we haven't been before as an offense". 

That could see the Dolphins offense end up somewhere that the entire league has never seen before – in the form of a record that's stood since 1995, the highest receiving yardage total in single season by a wide receiver duo in NFL history. That record of 3,174 receiving yards was set by Detroit Lions wide receivers Herman Moore and Brett Perriman. It has stood strong for 28 years. 

The Dolphins' duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle was actually on pace to break the record through nine games last season but ultimately fell short by just 108 yards.

The two speedsters wrapped up the 2022 campaign with 3,066 combined yards. Hill compiled 1,710 yards through the air, while Waddle generated 1,356. The caveat to any record set today is the league's 17-game schedule. An extra game naturally provides extra opportunities that weren't afforded to players in the past. However, despite falling short by those 108 yards, the pace the two pass catchers were on through nine games last season would've seen them finish with 3,619 yards had they been able to keep it up. 

That's 445 more yards. Basically making the extra game a non-factor.

So, will the record fall this season?

Hill set personal bests in catches (119, second in the league) and receiving yards (1,710, second in the league) during his first year in Miami last season and has his eye set on following that up with a monster 2023 campaign. And while Waddle is often overshadowed by his teammate, he had a career year himself during the past campaign, logging 1,356 receiving yards (good for seventh in the NFL). Waddle also led the league in both yards per target (11.6) and yards per reception (18.1). Miami's offense finished sixth overall.

All of that occurred during the first year of head coach Mike McDaniel's offense, a year that Hill said, "felt like a blur" looking back at it. Tagovailoa also missed four regular season games and one playoff game, due to injury. 

Both Waddle and Hill saw a drop in statistics across the board without Tagovailoa under center. Hill saw his yards per game drop by almost 10 and Waddle saw his drop by nearly 32, with neither finding the end zone in their quarterback's absence. Tagovailoa led the NFL in yards per completion and yards per attempt, as well as passer rating, in 2022. So, it's safe to say Miami likes to air it out and they see a lot of success doing it. 

While health is impossible to predict across a season in a sport as physical as football, if the trio of Tagovailoa, Waddle and Hill can stay healthy for the majority of the season, a record that's stood for almost 30 years looks to have a strong chance of finally being broken.