The ability to separate is one of the most important traits for a wide receiver, especially at the NFL level. Winning jump balls and running guys over in college? That’s nice, but it doesn’t always translate to the next level from an efficiency standpoint. Defenses are going to be bigger and stronger. Anyone with size can win with strength, so guys that are smaller, like Dolphins 5-foot-9 rookie receiver Jaylen Waddle, can win with separation, and he does this very well.
Whether an offense needs him to gain the separation at the snap, after the snap or in-route; Waddle has the skillset to get it done at every area. At the snap, bubble screens gives a ball carrier the chance to make a play in open space. This is the first aspect of Waddle’s game that makes him special — his elusiveness.
After the snap, Waddle has such quick feet that even when he’s lined up against press coverage and leveraged inside, he can get outside.
Waddle uses a hesitation release to pause the defender when he is square, then attacking his outside hip with speed, forcing the defender to open his hips and lose any leverage to the outside that he was attempting to cut off.
If Waddle doesn’t get you off balance from his release, he does after the snap in his stem when working upfield. He is a professional when it comes to reading hips.
From the slot he makes two cuts, the first one is to sell the post so the safety creeps over and second is to separate from his defender who is running with him upfield.
Being able to maintain his speed when working upfield is not easy. Waddle uses his eyes, hips and speed to move defenders in open space.
Expect separation from Waddle in these three ways, at the snap, after the snap and in-route; not as much at the catch. The Dolphins will line him up in the backfield giving him flats & screens, on the outside where he can beat press coverage, or just one on one up the seam from the slot. Waddle can beat any defender from any location on the field. That is what makes him special. We already saw Waddle and Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa making these plays in training camp; now it’s about seeing them do that on the field.