The Miami Dolphins have heard all offseason from every direction that their receiving room is among the league's worst units. Not just receiving units, but all positional units. With Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out the door as part of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan's teardown of the roster, it left the position in shambles before the 2026 NFL Draft.
Caleb Douglas was Sullivan's first attempt at rebuilding the receiving core, selecting the Texas Tech product 75th overall. The pick was met with a ton of speculation, as many draft experts named the pick as one of the biggest reaches on Day 2. Sullivan himself seemed to think he was betting on the upside Douglas has thanks to his athletic profile.
His first two weeks of training camp tell a different story, however.
While it's far too early to make any firm judgements on what his role will be as a rookie, Douglas is making a case for real playing time as early as Week 1 thanks to multiple strong practices in a row.
Caleb Douglas may be ready for a bigger role than even the Miami Dolphins themselves were expecting
I will be honest: I was among the people who were highly skeptical of the Douglas pick that early in the draft. I viewed him as a true developmental deep threat who didn't run as well in pads as his 4.39 forty at the combine would suggest, not to mention his struggles in contested catch situations.
Maybe all of that will still be true once real football begins being played, but Douglas looks far more impactful in camp than I ever would have expected.
His best practice yet came on Friday, when he hauled in multiple downfield passes from Malik Willis both in one-on-ones and in the 11-on-11 team period, according to Dolphins reporter Travis Wingfield. His best of the day came on a 40-yard bomb from Willis in between the corner and safety, as you can see below.
MW2️⃣ 👉 CD7️⃣ pic.twitter.com/PaNzaQuuj3
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 7, 2026
If Douglas keeps this up and shows he can be this teams vertical threat as early as this season, it would help the rest of the young and unproven pass catchers vying for playing time. It will be difficult for underneath targets like Malik Washington and fellow rookie Kevin Coleman Jr. to find space to work if there isn't a threat of a downfield pass, and free agent pickup Tutu Atwell hasn't shown much in camp so far to be the answer to that problem.
It's unfair to put too many expectations on a Day 2 rookie, especially one who was universally panned as a potential reach. But with the current state of the Dolphins' receiver room, why not see if he can make an impact in a year where there is so little pressure to win?
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