Any football gambling fan can tell you that Miami totally cleaned house with their receiving group and tight ends. Regardless of what Miami does with the rest of free-agency and the draft with the wide receiver position, one player on the roster that is going to get a fair chance to step up and show he deserves to get more playing time is Rishard Matthews. On a quick side note, I am being told that Miami has plans to meet with Greg Jennings, who to me would be a better personality fit for this team than Crabtree, and Philbin has a history with Jennings from their days together in Green Bay.
There is no mystery that Matthews and Philbin have had some personal issues with each other over the past three years, and there was a rumor after Miami waived Hartline and Gibson, that Matthew’s agent was asking the Dolphins to release or trade his client. That was obviously a weird rumor considering that with two of the Dolphins top 4 receivers being released from the team, football gambling fans would naturally assume that Matthews would have a golden opportunity in front of him as a Miami Dolphin. The reports proved to be false, and it seems that Matthew’s understands and realizes that he will get a fair opportunity to play a lot of snaps this season, because I am being told that he has already been working with Ryan Tannehill this off-season. (a real sign of initiative and solid work ethic.)
Even though Matthews only played 218 snaps last season he made the most of his limited opportunities by catching 12 passes for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns. More importantly the year before in 2013 after Gibson went down with a knee injury, Matthews stepped in and made 41 catches for 448 yards and 2 touchdowns, and showed he could be a reliable receiver. Matthews has plenty of talent and upside, he just needs more playing time to be able to produce better numbers.
As much as we need one more receiver either through the draft or free-agency, football gambling fans must not forget about Matthews, because he has shined before when his number was called, and there is no reason to think that he can’t do it again. I am going to go out on a limb and say he could be one of the biggest break out players for the Dolphins next season. He has 3 years experience and is already putting in the extra work this off-season, and then combine that with more of an opportunity in regards to playing time, and that is a solid recipe for a player poised to have a break out career season. What does the rest of Miami Dolphins news fans think about Matthews chances for success next season?