Miami Dolphins’ rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas had himself a debut for the ages this past Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. He reeled in 5 passes for 94 yards — tied for the most yards ever by a wide receiver making his Dolphins debut.
With that performance, Douglas now finds himself atop the leaderboard after Week One for a key wide receiver metric.
According to Next Gen Stats, Douglas averaged 5.3 yards of separation per route run on Sunday (minimum three targets). That mark is tops in the
National Football League thus far.
Despite plenty of so-called experts thinking that Douglas was “overdrafted” coming out of Texas Tech, Jon-Eric Sullivan — Miami’s new general manager — appears to have found a diamond in the rough when it comes to his first wide receiver selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. When fellow third-round receiver pick Chris Bell returns to full-strength following a late season ACL tear in 2025 while at Louisville, the Dolphins’ new-look wide receiver group — which also includes another rookie selection in Kevin Coleman Jr. — could go from a glaring weakness prior to the start of the season, to a team strength as the year rolls along.
