One Miami Dolphins player eligible to return after the bye week stands above the rest in potential impact
The Miami Dolphins have several players who can return to action after the Week 6 bye — but one stands above the rest in potential impact.
The Miami Dolphins have several talents potentially in line to return after their Week 6 bye. Some are working their way back from the PUP list. Others are currently on injured reserve.
But the most important and potentially impactful one of the bunch? That would be the one who has simply been week-to-week since Week 2. Caleb Douglas is the impact player Miami needs to return who could move the needle the most.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Caleb Douglas is the biggest potential return from injury after the bye week
Make no mistake about it. Rookie defenders Kyle Louis (knee) and Trey Moore (ankle) would be be fascinating additions to the defensive depth chart. Mitigating how often the team leans on linebacker Willie Gay Jr. (the current SAM) could create more diversity out of base. And, in theory, both Moore and Louis could man the spot. But both are rookies with limited playing time and Miami’s found some other personnel groupings that are starting to click.
On offense? The wide receiver room is really struggling to create separation. Malik Washington has been the best route runner of the group but he’s had some lapses—including a deep route on the opening drive that he was willing to fall on the sword over. It was a missed connection with QB Malik Willis that nearly popped a 40+ yard touchdown.
Douglas entered training camp and quickly established himself in the pecking order as the guy at wide receiver. He can run routes to all levels, and as we saw against the Raiders in Week 1, he could get loose after the catch. Chris Bell is a more imposing physical presence but he’s not the twitchy route runner Douglas has flashed. And he’s got exponentially more length to win at the catch point than Washington and fellow rookie Kevin Coleman Jr., too.
I never, in a million years, would have guessed Douglas would be a player we are pining for to return by mid-October. Yet here we are. Football is funny like that.
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