Jakeem Grant showed Sunday why he is part of this roster

Jakeem Grant has received his fair share of criticism this year but Sunday he showed why he is valuable.

On Sunday, Jakeem Grant’s punt return was a much-needed score for the Miami Dolphins and helped keep the Rams from a comeback victory.

Through the previous seven weeks, the Miami Dolphins receiver has not been overly impressive. Despite being one of the fastest players on the roster, Grant doesn’t seem to get his number called as often as fans would like.

So far this year he has totaled 14 receptions and no touchdowns. He has been targeted only 19 times and has a couple of drops. Grant was supposed to give the Dolphins offense a dynamic punch with his speed but instead, we are not seeing it offense and that has led some in the fanbase to question why Miami opted to give him an extension.

Well, on Sunday we found out why Jakeem Grant is so valuable to the Dolphins.

Grant punched an 88-yard punt return down the throats of the Rams special teams unit. The touchdown gave Miami a 21-7 lead that would increase to 28-7 before the half. Grant’s return ignited the flames from the smoldering ashes that came on the previous series when Andrew Van Ginkel took a fumble 78 yards for a touchdown.

This year Grant may not be seeing a lot of opportunities on offense, his 151 yards in the passing game is not all that impressive given the expectations we placed on his season but his return game is putting the Dolphins in positions to score and win.

Grant is averaging 22 yards per kick-off return and 14.2 in punt return yardage and while the punt return is propped by his 88-yard touchdown Sunday, Grant is, again, giving the Dolphins good field position. His return game is undervalued by many fans because they don’t often result in six points but he is giving the team what they need. It would be nice to see him more active in the passing game because he can be explosive every time he touches the ball.