WR Duel: Albert Wilson VS Dede Westbrook

Going into week three of the 2020 NFL season the Miami Dolphins will be taking a short road trip to visit the Jacksonville Jaguars to kick off the week in a Thursday night primetime game. 

Westbrook Outshines Wilson in Career Thus Far

Wide receiver Albert Wilson has played for Miami in just two out of his six total seasons in career, while Dede Westbrook has played his entire four-year career with Jacksonville. Westbrook has proven to be more of an asset to the Jaguars than Wilson has been for the Dolphins and his first team, the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Wilson Has Struggled With Yards, TDs

He began his career with the Chiefs playing in four seasons before arriving in Miami as an unrestricted free agent. Wilson has hovered around the same statistics during his six years in the league, never breaking past 600 receiving yards or grabbing more than four touchdowns. Surprisingly in Wilson’s first season with Miami in 2018, while playing only seven games, he caught the most touchdowns in his career (four). 

In the following 2019 season, Wilson played in 13 games and 41-percent of the offensive snaps. He also caught 69-percent of his targets for 351 yards. His just one receiving TD capped off a down season after his shortened, but more productive 2018. 

Westbrook Has Shown Consistency in Career

Westbrook, on the other hand, has shown moderate improvement during his three years in the league. During his 2019 campaign, Westbrook caught 65-percent of his passes while following up with 660 receiving yards and three TDs. 

Westbrook stagnated after his second season in the league after 2019 saw the Jaguars struggled as a whole on both sides of the football.  He declined in his receiving yards, TDs and snaps played. He somehow managed to get the exact same amount of targets and receptions as the 2018 season, so the decline was obvious.

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Fumbles A Factor in Career Outlook?

Wilson will also be looking to improve on a less than satisfactory 2019 season. Both have consistently improved their catch rates each season while also being reliable runners who have a knack for ball protection. Wilson, throughout his six seasons, has never fumbled the ball, while Westbrook has had at least one fumble in each season, along with dropping the ball three times in 2018.

Dolphins, Jaguars At Different Spots in Rebuilds

Both the Dolphins and Jaguars will be looking to improve on last season while being in different positions in their respective franchises. 

Jacksonville is allowing quarterback Gardner Minshew to lead the way in an attempt to have him complete a full season. While Miami will likely be letting QB Ryan Fitzpatrick man the helm for the better part of the season before they let newly drafted QB Tua Tagovailoa run the offense.

Slot Standouts

Both Wilson and Westbrook will continue to have plenty of opportunities to keep a solid role at the slot position. With very few new faces coming into the receiver positions for both teams, Wilson and Westbrook have the knowledge of the offense to allow them to improve within the depth charts. Both should be used extensively in their positions and allow both teams to take a break from the long-ball and overall reliance with DeVante Parker and D.J. Chark. 

Wilson and Westbrook will likely be leading the charge at the slot receiver position for the time being, but with Miami having much stronger options at receiver, it would not be surprising to see Wilson struggle to outperform Westbrook during this game. Jacksonville’s real only other option in the receiving game is Chark, while Wilson may have to split time with Parker, Preston Williams, Allen Hurns and Isaiah Ford.

– Garrison Pulley is a Sports Contributor for Full Press Coverage Miami Dolphins. Like and follow on Follow @gcooperpulley Follow @FPC_Dolphins and Facebook.