Malik Washington Shows His Potential Against the Bears

Malik Washington Shows His Potential Against the Bears

The talk around Miami’s wide receiver room has solely been focused on Tyreek Hill.

Even though Hill is arguably the most talented player on the team, his work ethic and leadership have come into question.

There are also some rumors that the team may be looking to trade him either before the season or at the trade deadline.

While this would be a knock to the team’s offense, there was one player on Sunday who showed they could make up for some of the production in Hill’s offense.

That would be Malik Washington.

Washington, standing at 5 feet, 8 inches tall, played much bigger in the team’s pre-season opener against the Bears.

He contributed 18 yards on four receptions, all of which came on the team’s opening drive with Tua Tagovailoa.

Two of those receptions went for first downs, and he also had one rush for six yards, showing the versatility of Washington.

I wrote back in January that Washington could be a breakout player for this offense after showing some explosion late last season following the team’s 2-6 start.

If today was any indication, Washington should be penciled in to be a top-three target on the offense.

Should the team move on Hill, those targets should go even higher.

This afternoon, Washington showed what he does best.

Beat defenders out of the slot.

In third and medium situations, which the Dolphins hope to face all season long, Washington’s short-area quickness will be crucial.

Even without Hill, Jaylen Waddle should still force teams to be in two high-safety shells with man coverage underneath.

If teams do this, Washington should be able to feast in the underneath areas of the defense as he faces nickelbacks and linebackers who will have to cover him both across the middle and on the outside.

You saw those mismatches today as Washington was able to quickly out-leverage defenders to the outside for easy conversions.

As long as he can continue to keep that up in the regular season, Washington should easily put up big numbers.

If Hill moves on, I expect Malik Washington to even be the second-most-targeted receiver on the team.