Darren Waller was a dominant tight end for the Raiders, but not for the Giants. Which version are the Miami Dolphins getting? They'll soon find out.
Darren Waller — the present still sitting under the tree on Dec. 26 — is about to be unwrapped by the Miami Dolphins.
Coach Mike McDaniel said Waller will make his long-awaited debut in training camp “sooner rather than later,” ending suspense for teammates and fans wondering whether Waller, 32, can be a gift that keeps on giving.
Coaches have intentionally brought Waller along slowly given that he missed the 2024 season because he was retired. Or thought he was.
When the Dolphins traded Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Waller and the Dolphins decided they were a match. Up in New York, Giants fans snickered. They still are. When the Giants signed Waller, they thought they were getting an unstoppable force at tight end who could make 1,000-yard seasons look effortless. At least, that’s what Waller did for the Las Vegas Raiders.
In New York? Waller managed just 552 yards and one touchdown.
Which version of Waller are the Dolphins getting?
We may begin to get answers this week when the Jacksonville Jaguars visit for a joint practice and preseason game. McDaniel said coaches are assessing Waller for availability daily.
“I’m expecting to see him sooner than later,” McDaniel said. ‘In the back of my mind, it would be this week, but I'm not going to just put him out there this week just because I said it before.”
For now, all we can be sure of is teammates seem as eager as fans to see Waller.
“He’s going to be great for us,” receiver Tyreek Hill said as training camp began. Hill, liable to say anything at any time, even told Waller he looks better than he did in his Raiders days, “Because when he used to play, he used to be fat as (bleep). But now he’s like a physical unit.”
Why, then, the baby steps? Coaches say Waller, a workout fiend, reported in good physical shape, but there’s a difference between that and football shape.
“It’s a journey, man,” Waller said in July. It’s just a lot of it my body being like, ‘Oh, we’re doing this again. We’re doing these movements again.’ It just takes time. The plan that these guys have for me in training camp, it may look a lot different than a lot of guys because it’s a different situation. I’ve been in shape and doing a lot of crazy different workout things in my retirement but it hasn’t been football specific movements. So there needs to be a solid foundation that’s laid before just going out there because I’m going to want to go 120 percent.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins ready to unwrap new tight end Darren Waller
Category: Football
