Dolphins Trio Becomes First to Do Something Incredible in Franchise History
The Miami Dolphins trio of offensive skill players made franchise history on Sunday. The Dolphins, who have possessed the No. 1-ranked offense in the NFL for most of the 2023 season, produced two 1,000-yard receivers, and a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time in franchise history in Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. Tyreek Hill, who sat out the 30-0 win over the New York Jets on Sunday because of the ankle he sprained the previous week, was already at 1,542 receiving yards before the game, and tailback Raheem Mostert and and Jaylen Waddle each eclipsed the 1,000-yard threshold in the game.
Mostert, who came into the game the NFL’s third-leading rusher and extends his a franchise record by scoring 21st touchdown in the second quarter, needed 34 rushing yards to produce and got there with a 14-yards carry up the guy of Dallas’ defense that gained 14. “He’s been very important to this offense. This goes all the way back to last year,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said about Mostert, who was 76 yards away from becoming a 1,000-yard rusher last season. “He’s been a tremendous part of the success that we’ve had offensively and the success that we have happens because the guys up front, happens because of the guys outside, and those guys are doing really well at executing, and it’s really fun seeing those guys have fun.” WADDLE ON PACE TO MAKE HISTORY Waddle came into Sunday’s game needing 36 yards to produce his third 1,000-yard receiving season, and got there in the first half. When Waddle passes the 1,000-yard threshold he become the first receiver in Dolphins history to produce 1,000-yard receiving seasons in three straight years.
“Jaylen had probably the best offseason, if not the best, right there with the top three offseasons of any player on our team, and he came into the season with a lot of momentum, then had just some random injuries that he was dealing with,” coach Mike McDaniel said, explaining Waddle’s journey this season. “One of the coolest parts about this season has been watching him progress through those injuries, and then for the last three weeks.” The closest the Dolphins ever came to having two 1,000-yard receivers was 1991 when Mark Clayton (1,053) and Mark Duper (1,085) eclipsed the 1,000-yard threshold, and tailback Mark Higgs finished the season with 905 rushing yards.
