Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is catching the ball more than any rookie ever has.
Waddle has 86 catches through 13 games, putting him on pace to break the NFL’s rookie record.
The current rookie record is owned by Anquan Boldin, who had 101 catches in 2003 as a rookie with the Cardinals. Waddle is on pace to finish this season with 112 catches over 17 games. (At his current pace, Waddle would break Boldin’s record in the Dolphins’ 16th game of the season, so he isn’t only poised to break the record because the season is longer.)
Waddle is catching mostly short passes and averaging less than 10 yards a catch this season, so he hasn’t had the highlight-reel big plays of Bengals rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who 109 more yards than Waddle on 31 fewer catches. But with the workload the Dolphins are throwing at Waddle, he’s making the most of it.
