Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle appears likely to become the newest holder of the NFL’s rookie receptions record.
After catching 10 passes for 92 yards in Monday night’s win over the New Orleans Saints, Waddle is now just five receptions behind Anquan Boldin’s record of 101 receptions from his 2003 rookie campaign with the Arizona Cardinals.
The performance also Monday night also moved Waddle past Michael Thomas of the Saints for second on the list behind Boldin. Thomas had 92 catches during his rookie season in 2016.
“As far as importance, I wouldn’t say it’s like something I got my mind focused on,” Waddle said after the game, via NFL.com. “I’m all for it as long as it comes with some wins. It would obviously be pretty cool, cause NFL is a special league so anything in this league to have a record in is always big.”
Waddle has had at least five catches in nine of the 14 games he’s played for the Dolphins this season. He missed last week’s game against the New York Jets while on the COVID-19 list. The Dolphins will face the Tennessee Titans next week, who rank 26th in the league in total pass defense.
With two games left in the 17-game season, Waddle is set to be the new record holder at the end of the season. He hasn’t had fewer than four catches in a game since mid-October. However, getting to the mark next week will enable him the chance to match Boldin in the same amount of time. Because of the missed week due to COVID, Waddle will likely end up playing the same 16 games than Boldin did in 2003. He just gets the extra week to play that game due to the longer schedule.
