The Miami Dolphins have an obvious need to add playmakers on offense. The offense lacked explosive plays last year on offense, and it handicapped them with what they could do on offense. In Thursday’s NFL Draft, they own the 6th pick and are in prime position to grab a play-making wide receiver. The top playmakers are tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Both of those players may be gone by the time the Dolphins pick. The next two receivers expected to go after are Alabama’s Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, both explosive players that make big plays.

The problem with both players is they are both considered undersized players. Smith, in particular, has been under the microscope the most because he is 6’1″ and 166lbs, which is considered small weight-wise in the NFL. Waddle isn’t very tall at 5’10”, at best, and 183 lbs. Both players were very productive in college, but people wonder if their lack of size will translate to success in the NFL. When you are picking in the top 10, teams are expected to get a player that will change the course of their franchise. However, the NFL draft is far from an exact science. Players get drafted higher than expected because of their size and speed, but players also fall because of their size, durability, or off-the-field concerns. Some teams get it right, and some get it wrong.

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The goal of the off-season was to add more playmakers to help develop 2nd-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa is very familiar with Smith and Waddle because he played with both players and has good chemistry with them. However, that should not be the reason to draft either one because they worked well with Tagovailoa. You draft the highest-rated player on your draft board and feel it is the best prospect that will be the future of your franchise for years to come.

Smith gets compared to Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison because Harrison wasn’t a big receiver. He played his whole career in the 170lb range and had a great career, but let’s stop the comparison because Harrison was a great receiver, and he was very productive in his 4 years at Syracuse. I watched him all 4 years at Syracuse having season tickets with my dad, and I think he was the best receiver in Syracuse history. The fact that he wasn’t very big was a reason he slid in the first round. He was the 4th receiver taken in the 1996 draft at pick 19 behind Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, and Eddie Kennison. Do you think those teams would like to do that over again? Those guys were journeyman receivers and didn’t live up to their first-round status like Harrison. Sure Harrison had Peyton Manning as his quarterback, but that shouldn’t diminish his career playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Waddle isn’t a tall receiver or big in stature. He is compared to Ted Ginn Jr because he was a speedy receiver who wasn’t very big and could take the top of the defense off. Ironically the Dolphins drafted him in the first round of the 2007 draft with the 10th overall selection when then General Manager Randy Mueller selected him to the shock of everyone. Most people felt Muller would take quarterback Brady Quinn, but Muller felt the team needed a dynamic playmaker. As it turned, Muller was right on the prospect because Ginn had a better career than Quinn. However, following a 1-15 season, Muller was fired. The Dolphins hired Bill Parcells, and within a few years, Ginn was traded because his philosophy was bigger is better. Ginn had a good career as a kick returner and a receiver, but he never lived up to the number 10 pick status. Maybe things would have been different for Ginn with the Dolphins if there wasn’t a regime change because most of the time, when there’s a regime change, players drafted by the previous regime have no ties to the current regime, and they want to bring in their own players.

One of general manager Chris Grier’s mentors was Parcells, and he had a philosophy of bigger is better. The question is, does Grier feel the same way, especially at the wide receiver position? Bigger is better was Parcells philosophy, especially in his glory days with the New York Giants in the 1980s and then helped build the New England Patriots in the 1990s and the New York Jets. He had success with it, but that philosophy is outdated, frankly. It’s a passing league now, not a ground and pound league like it was back then. Parcells didn’t have the same success with the Dallas Cowboys and the Dolphins in the 2000s with that blueprint because the game changed and became a passing league. Also, the rules have changed where there isn’t the type of contact as there was back then.

Plus, some receivers are top-notch that aren’t the biggest. Tyreek Hill is 5’10” 185lbs, and Stefon Diggs is 6’0″ 194lbs. Both are explosive playmakers, and their explosiveness makes up for their size. You can also move receivers around in motion to avoid some contact.

If the Dolphins decide to take Smith or Waddle, both don’t have to be the number one receiver. The Dolphins have Will Fuller, DeVante Parker, and Preston Williams on the roster, so there wouldn’t be a lot of pressure to play right away, so they develop. Plus, both guys can return kicks as well. When the Dolphins drafted OJ McDuffie, he started as a kick returner and worked his way into the lineup to have a good career.

In the end, it comes down to the way the Dolphins lineup their draft board. If the Dolphins do have a chance to pick either go by the film from college and draft grade and not just the size.