Where does Tua Tagovailoa rank among Miami Dolphins quarterbacks?

Last week, I decided to take a look at where Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ranks in the major all-time franchise passing stats. With that post in mind, I decided today would be a great day to take a look at the Dolphins’ all-time receiving stats to see where wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle rank for the team.

Hill has only been with the team for two years but is already working his way into the Dolphins’ all-time receiving leaders. Waddle, entering his fourth year in the league, is positioning himself to be among the elite receivers by the time his career comes to an end.

Where do they stand before the 2024 season begins? It is time to take a look:

Receiving Yards

Hill was trying to become the first receiver to reach 2,000 yards last year, finishing the season with a league-high 1,799 yards. Waddle finished the year with 1,014 yards, making him three-for-three in reaching the 1,000-yard milestone in his career.

Heading into the season, Hill is already 12th in Dolphins history with 3,509 yards while Waddle is 14th with 3,385 yards. Adding just 1,000 yards for the 2024 season would see Hill jump to ninth in team history, just behind Duriel Harris’ 4,534 yards, while Waddle would be 10th, surpassing Bran Hartline’s 4,243 yards and Jarvis Landry’s 4,038 yards.

Yards per reception

The standard for career yards per reception is 200 career receptions, which the chart above reflects. Two Dolphins players do not reach that qualifying mark but should be mentioned. Hall of Fame Paul Warfield only caught 156 passes for the Dolphins from 1970 through 1974, with a crazy 21.5 yards per reception average. Wide receiver Irving Fryar caught 199 passes, coming in one reception short of qualifying with his 16.0 yards per reception average.

The Dolphins are built to be an explosive offense, able to score from anywhere on the field. Hill and Waddle have incredible speed that allows them to go deep or turn a short pass into a long gain at any time. They have a lot of work to do, however, if they want to come close to Mark Duper’s 17.4 yards per catch average. Wow.

Receiving Touchdowns

We had to increase the list to the top 20 in receiving touchdowns to find both Hill and Waddle on this list. Of course, they have had two and three seasons to tally their 20 and 18 touchdowns, with plenty of time to jump up this list. If Hill matches his average of 10 touchdowns a season since arriving in Miami, he will leap from a tie for 15th to seventh all-time for the team.

Waddle’s reaching his six touchdowns a season average again in 2024 would tie him for 10th (or 11th if Hill moves up as well).

Mark Clayton’s 81 receiving touchdowns was over 10 years, giving him a 8.1 touchdowns per season average. With a slight uptick in production and a lengthy Miami career, Waddle could eventually threaten that mark.

Where do you rank Hill among Dolphins all-time receiving leaders? Waddle?