Wes Welker, wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins,Miami Dolphins, explains what makes him so good. In addition, the Texans have a new culture, the Lions have a great rookie class, the refs are still a story, and much more.
Every team has at least two losses after 13 weeks, with 31 of 32 having at least three. Buckle up because this should result in a wide-open stretch run. Let’s begin with my Ten Takeaways for the First Weekend in December…
Tyreek Hill is a better player than you realize. And you probably already think he’s great. The thing is, what we’re seeing now is far beyond ordinary awesome—and may be entering territory unseen at Hill’s position before.
The numbers are what they are. The 29-year-old, eighth-year pro has 93 catches for 1,481 yards and 12 touchdowns in the Dolphins’ 9-3 start. That equates to 132 catches, 2,098 yards, and 17 touchdowns over the course of a 17-game season. Even by Hill’s lofty standards, those would rank sixth, first, and sixth all-time for a single season.
But what amazes me the most is how he keeps adding up these totals. Despite defenses doing everything they can to limit the threat Hill poses each week, he continues to get past corners, get behind coverage, and make play after play. Following play after play. And it happened again on Sunday, with a pair of long, striking touchdowns—one a 78-yarder caught in stride and turned into a footrace, the other a 60-yarder fielded like a pop fly because Hill was far enough clear of coverage to get back to an underthrow.
So afterward, I reached out to Wes Welker, an authority as Hill’s position coach and a guy who was once a pretty dominant receiver in his own right, to ask, well, how this seems to keep happening, no matter what the defense tries to do. Because, of course, it’s not like the Commanders were looking to let Hill go bonker, as Miami pulled away for a 45–15 win.
Welker’s answer was interesting. As he sees it, the home runs keep coming in large part because of Hill’s ability to hit to all fields.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he has such a full route tree,” Welker said, as he boarded the team plane Sunday night. “His ability to break down and his ability with his speed, he’s the fastest guy out there, and he’s as fast as he needs to be on any given play. He gets open. He just goes and finds it. The Willy Mays Hayes catch he made today was incredible. I was just kind of shaking my head at times.
“It’s not coaching—it’s just being that good. It’s impressive to see. I can’t really explain it. I know we’ve tried to put the defense in conflict and different things like that. But the reason why there’s so much conflict is mainly because of him.”
Welker went on to say that, while Mike McDaniel’s offense has a library of routes and concepts that allow Hill to threaten a defensive back at every level, Hill’s ability to execute all of it (which he’s worked on tirelessly) is unique for someone of his speed and explosiveness, and it’s part of what makes his speed nearly impossible to neutralize.
Then, you add his knowhow, with the experience he has, and it gets even more difficult.
“He is super smart,” Welker continues. “Whether it’s a walkthrough rep, as long as he sees it, walks through it, he’s got it. There are a lot of good players that you have to continue to remind, Hey remember this. Remember that. With him, he hears it one time, and it’s there. He understands coverages. He understands how to attack leverages and understands what a presnap look and a postsnap look mean, all those things that are vital for a top receiver to understand. Along with the skill set to go along with it, it’s hard to come by what he has.”
The Commanders can attest to that, with the two long scores illustrating Welker’s points.
The first came 5:32 into the game, with Hill beating Jartavius Martin on a double-move out of the slot, then running away from veteran safety Kam Curl.
“The safety was cheated over toward the running back,” Welker says. “We liked our matchup with the running back and the linebacker. I think they kind of knew that. They cheated the safety over there. He had far outside leverage. He had a wide-and-go from the slot. He just inside releases a guy and then gets back to his landmark. Tua [Tagovailoa] puts it up there, and you’re not catching him once he gets behind you.”
The second touchdown, which Welker dubbed the “Willie Mays Hayes catch” (a reference to a Major League catch), came in the second quarter, from the Miami 40. Tagovailoa’s throw was short and too far inside, requiring Hill to make a wild adjustment while the ball was in the air.
“Next thing you know, he does his baseball turn and catches a touchdown—crazy,” Welker goes on to say. “It’s just that you don’t take your eyes off the ball once it’s in the air a lot of the time.” When you’re running full speed and the ball suddenly appears on the outside, you often sit there and want to flip your hips, but you lose speed when you do. It takes a lot of mental fortitude for him to turn his head around and go look for the ball over his outside shoulder.
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