Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
After trading out of No. 3 and then trading back up to No. 6, the Miami Dolphins added receiving help in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft Thursday, selecting WR Jaylen Waddle out of Alabama.
(Check out the FTN Jaylen Waddle scouting report here.)
Waddle was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019 and made the All-SEC team in 2019 (first team) and 2020 (second). He was limited to six games because of injury as a junior in 2020 put still have 591 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.
(Follow along with every pick in the FTN Draft Tracker.)
Waddle heads to Miami to give Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins one of the best slot prospects to enter the NFL in a long time. The Alabama WR joins his former Alabama QB in Miami on a team that already has a WR1 on the outside in DeVante Parker. Waddle’s college stats do not jump off the page as he was forced to share targets with other elite WR prospects like Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and DeVonta Smith, but he is an elite prospect that dominated in college at 19 years old as a freshman. Waddle is phenomenal after the catch (he averaged 10.1 yards after the catch in college) and down the field, catching 21 of 26 targets 20-plus yards downfield. Waddle is going to be a mismatch nightmare and will have no problem getting open at the NFL level. Waddle has high-end WR3 upside in PPR leagues if everything falls into place (including good QB play), but flex territory seems more likely for his rookie campaign. — Tyler Loechner
