With Will Fuller’s addition to the Dolphins wide receiver room still cool, there will certainly be many consequences with his presence in 2021. One of the most pressing issues is which wide receiver currently on the Dolphins list will see its role and opportunity lost due to the presence of Fuller. A great vertical receiver with incredible speed, Fuller is a puzzle game that can attack defenses vertically and stress zones – allowing it to serve as a catalyst for the entire attack.
Of course, for Fuller’s presence to take full effect, the Dolphins will sometimes need to step over and force teams to respect their ability to carry and shoot – something that the attack did not do enough in 2020 with newcomer QB Tua Tagovailoa at the helm.
This may be, in part, because Miami did not have many targets capable of putting the same pressure on defense. His only real threat of burning speed, Jakeem Grant, struggled to catch football on the pitch in 2020 after having another chance to prove himself as a pass-down catcher and take the proverbial glass roof off his reputation as player.
But between the addition of Fuller and the addition of Robert Foster earlier in the week, Grant’s role in crime certainly looks like what is currently under the microscope.
Grant made a brutal mistake in a deep shot against Cincinnati last season and had several efforts wasted against the Broncos at the start of a mid-season defeat in Denver. Add a misunderstood adjustment to a deep kick against the Chiefs that resulted in an interception before the end of time (a move that helped quickly deflect Miami’s 10-7 advantage) and Grant’s deep work resume left many moves and opportunities in the field last season.
The chemistry will need to be developed. But Fuller is a much more proven player in that regard. And at Fuller’s cost in relation to the 2021 salary cap, Miami presumably will need to make a handful of moves to shuffle the deck and ensure that they can remain in line with the cap in time for the NFL’s 2021 Draft. Grant will have a cap of $ 4.69 million this season – but the Dolphins could save between $ 2.9 million and $ 4.1 million if they decided to part with him between now and the start of the training camp (pre or post cut) -1 of June pending).
Grant has been one of the Dolphins’ most successful special teams during his five years with the team. But its maximum cost and a combination of 6 drops and 4 fumbles in the last 24 games in 2019 and 2020 are a hard pill to swallow, especially when you take into account the 9.7% drop rate in your career (14 drops in 143 career goals). Miami may cover Grant’s return capabilities elsewhere – and Fuller will undoubtedly swallow Grant’s representatives as the only capable speed receiver on the list in 2021.