The time is now for Preston Williams & Lynn Bowden Jr
Miami Dolphins training camp started and rookies like Braylon Sanders & Erik Ezukanma have been shining, time is now for Preston Williams & Lynn Bowden Jr.
Over this past off-season, the Miami Dolphins have loaded up an arsenal of weapons at the WR position. Besides well-known names like Tyreek Hill and Cedric Wilson, the Dolphins also added a lot of depth with veterans like Trent Sherfield & undrafted rookies like Braylon Sanders.
The 4th-round pick Erik Ezukanma has also been a highlight at camp, yet we’ve heard very little from Preston Williams & Lynn Bowden Jr. on the field. Two players I thought would come back with a vengeance in 2022.
Yet it has been the complete opposite so far, but what’s going wrong?
Preston Williams is a 6’4 athletic freak of nature who already had flashes of brilliance in a Miami Dolphins uniform, but injuries always got in the way of his shine. Lynn Bowden Jr. is a swiss army knife that showed potential in 2020, but was held back by injury early in camp last year.
Miami Dolphins coaches are trying to get Lynn Bowden Jr. more involved:
Dolphins receiver coach Wes Welker said today is the day he is getting Lynn Bowden move involved. Putting him in Waddle’s role does just that.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) August 3, 2022
After Wes Welker made this statement no reporter mentioned Lynn Bowden Jr for the rest of the practice throughout their live tweets, and that is worrisome. As far as I can analyze I won’t be in camp in person until Saturday, so all we know so far is Bowden isn’t gelling as smoothly as some would expect in the new offense.
But that doesn’t mean Bowden can’t add value to other areas, his compact build, elusiveness, and speed could make for great use in the return game if the WR room is too packed.
After all, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, & Cedric Wilson pretty much solidified the first 3 WR spots before camp even started. Making it a dog fight for the rest of the guys competing for the job.
And by the looks of it guys like Erik Ezukanma, Braylon Sanders, Trent Sherfield, and River Cracraft are making more noise as of now. But I’m not counting Bowden out just yet.
Preston Williams is a more complicated story:
When Preston Williams was a rookie in 2019 I saw unlimited potential, he didn’t earn the nickname “the unicorn” for nothing. This guy was something made out of a laboratory on paper, but unfortunately, his freakish abilities continued to get hampered each year by injury.
I thought this was the comeback season for Williams, but the beginning of camp has been a bit turbulent between him and the team.
Preston Williams stated in a post-practice interview how he’s pretty much in the best shape of his life, down to his rookie weight and ready to go but he’s not getting the opportunity:
Dolphins receiver Preston Williams claims he isn’t being given the opportunity to show what he can do in camp. And isn’t backing off. pic.twitter.com/6CP89vtRdG
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) August 2, 2022
Now I say Preston Williams’ situation is more complicated because he has taken a bit of a defensive stance on his situation with the team, and has been sending out cryptic tweets to address his situation.
It’s sad to see that Williams’ frustrations are close to breaking point, and I hope the coaches have some practices soon where they make him a point of emphasis the same way they did with Bowden.
But it’s not that easy because Erik Ezukanma has been lighting it up all of camp so far, and their role and build of the big-body receiver are far too similar to keep two on the same team.
It would hurt to see Preston Williams getting traded because I think there is a lot of untapped potential with him, his path to be great just always got butchered by injury.
Follow me on Twitter @3rdnJuan.
