Will Fuller helps Miami refocus their draft approach on day one
By Nick Belotto
The Miami Dolphins signed Will Fuller to a 1 year deal yesterday. After a career year with the Houston Texans, the talented, yet oft injured, Fuller should immediately upgrade Miami’s receiving corp, if he can stay healthy and on the field.
Fuller has always been a great talent with great potential at the receiver position, but his biggest issue over the course of his career has been his inconsistent time on the field. He has never been able to stay healthy and last season was suspended for PED use that ended his year prematurely.
With these various issues, it is unlikely that Fuller represents a long term solution to the Dolphins receiver issues. He’s still young enough at 26 years old to still have a lot of good years left in him, but Miami needs a more legitimate long term answer for this offensive unit.
The best part, however, about the impact of this move on Miami’s draft plans is that it provides the Dolphins with more flexibility when it comes to choosing skill position players.
After bringing in Will Fuller, Florida tight end Kyle Pitts becomes an immediate target for the Miami Dolphins in round 1.
Miami desperately needed a receiver and many mocks, including my own, had consistently mocked either Ja’Mar Chase or DeVonta Smith to the Dolphins at some point in the top ten of the draft. The Will Fuller signing may change this a bit for the Dolphins. Instead of trying to lock up one of those top prospects at receiver, I could see them making a move to trade down and take the top tight end on the board instead.
For me, this signing makes it slightly more likely that Miami moves to take Kyle Pitts a bit later in the top ten of the first round.
Pitts would be a great addition to this team. Pairing him with DeVante Parker, Will Fuller and Mike Gesicki would create a very dangerous passing attack and give Tua Tagovailoa a lot of trustworthy weapons to throw to over the course of the year. Bringing in Will Fuller gives Miami the opportunity to take the top tight end on the board and push drafting a receiver to later in the draft where they can capitalize on a very deep pass catcher class.
Will Fuller might not be the long term solution for the Dolphins, but his signing helps them refocus their draft mindset a bit and provides another explosive weapon for this offense desperate for playmakers.