Malik Washington Could Be Dolphins' 2024 Draft Steal

The Miami Dolphins selected the wide receiver with pick No. 184

Michael France | May 27, 2024

Mar 2, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Virginia wide receiver Malik Washington (wo33) during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins' 2024 draft class was headlined by big names like Chop Robinson and Patrick Paul and potential gems like Mohamed Kamara and Jaylen Wright , but the Dolphins' first of two sixth-round draft choices might be getting recognition before too long.

Wide receiver Malik Washington was the 184th pick in the NFL draft -- and a player that head coach Mike McDaniel had coveted throughout the process. Washington has potential to be a yards-after-catch receiving threat worthy of earning snaps in Miami's talented wide receiver room of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Odell Beckham Jr.

In selecting Washington as his Dolphins sleeper pick of the 2024 NFL draft, Doug Farrar of USA Today llauded Washington's 4.47 40-yard dash and his speed on the field — "especially" when Washington had the ball in his hands.

"Washington led all receivers in the 2024 draft class with 710 yards after the catch, and now, McDaniel gets to envision Washington doing his thing with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle burning opposing defenses with vertical routes," Farrar wrote. "Opposing defenses won’t be quite as excited about all that."

WASHINGTON LOOKS AHEAD TO ROOKIE SEASON WITH DOLPHINS

After the draft, Washington said the Dolphins offense would be "beneficial" to him, citing everything from motions to route trees.

Washington was candid about looking forward to using his first season as a pro to learn from his new wide receiver colleagues.

"Just be a sponge, I got three guys ahead of me ... they know they are doing, they've done it before and they've had a lot of success at doing it," Washington said. "Being a sponge, taking in all of the information I can and trying to take it into my game as well.

"I think when you get to this level, everybody is fast, everybody can move and stuff like that. It will take who can be the best pro, who can learn the information as quickly as possible and utilize it on the field. I think that will be to my advantage -- I'll try my best to do that ... I think the biggest two things I'd have to do is be consistent and stack days, stack meetings, stack practices ... So just every single day, give it everything I've got. Being myself and hopefully that will be good enough to lead me down the road to be on the [53-man roster)."