Don't think Dolphins aren't taking a risk with new receiver Chase Claypool | Habib
MIAMI GARDENS — Adam Shaheen. DeAndre Washington. Benardrick McKinney.
If you want to know what the Dolphins are risking in sending the Chicago Bears a sixth-round draft pick for receiver Chase Claypool, those three players are a barometer. They’re three men recently involved in Dolphins trades for sixth-round picks.
So the risk is minimal, you might say. Might.
The fact is, the risk for the Dolphins is more than that. Whether the Dolphins are willing to admit it or not, it just is.
The Dolphins have added players with a sketchy past before. Many have had brushes with the law, brushes the Dolphins weighed against their upside before deciding to take a flier. In the end, sometimes they walked away after realizing the Mark Walton they were getting wasn’t a new Mark Walton after all. Fine. Find one NFL team that hasn’t gone down that road.
There are legal transgressions and then there are football transgressions. Which is where the odyssey of Chase Claypool deserves a hard look, including why both the Steelers and Bears had no qualms about showing him the door despite his obvious talent.
Maybe this trade turns out to be a winner for general manager Chris Grier. Maybe Claypool lines up alongside Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and accepts a role that will never be more than WR3. Maybe he doesn’t whine. Maybe he gives his all, even if doing so means hustling downfield to throw that one last block for Hill or Waddle that turns a 30-yard gain into a 60-yard touchdown.
If so, great. But let’s not kid ourselves. The concerns are real when you’re bringing in a player whose questionable effort in the opener forced him to apologize to teammates. That’s a cardinal sin in a league where players aren’t supposed to even have on and off switches, let alone use them.
Chase Claypool went from great promise to Team No. 3
When is the last time a receiver broke into this league, put together back-to-back 800-yard seasons right out of the gate, then was shipped out by the team that spent a second-round pick on him? When was the last time that receiver said — less than a month ago, in fact — how motivated he was to “overachieve” in “the biggest year of my life,” only to be told by his team that he not only would be inactive but was not welcome at games or in the facility? That triggered a circuslike atmosphere for the Bears in which coach Matt Eberflus said no such directive had been issued — just before the club contradicted him.
Now let’s consider the situation in Miami.
“We definitely weren’t looking for receiver help,” coach Mike McDaniel said Friday. Later, he added, “We have a team that really respects each other and really has a love for each other.” If there’s any evidence to the contrary, I haven’t seen it during this 3-1 start.
Interestingly, McDaniel also said, “Really, across the board, I wouldn’t say one player is satisfied with their role. Everybody wants more of the pie.”
Was that a preemptive strike if or when Claypool decides he doesn’t appreciate being the third option? In Chicago, Claypool complained he was being misused. Maybe he was right — he had only 18 receptions for 191 yards and one touchdown in 10 games with the Bears.
The Steelers, as well-run an organization as there is, had issues with Claypool’s willingness to be coached and his toughness. This was right after he posted 1,733 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first two seasons. For reference, we’re talking Tyreek Hill’s neighborhood (1,776 yards and 13 TDs in his first two seasons).
Durham Smythe: I liked being Chase Claypool's teammate
One reassuring note comes from Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe, who overlapped with Claypool at Notre Dame.
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“He was obviously very talented physically,” Smythe said. “That was evident from the minute he got there as a freshman. Obviously, he's had a lot of success in the league. Things have gone kind of, it seems, like a little odd lately. I don't know all the specifics, obviously not being around those teams and not having communicated with him lately. But I always liked him. I liked being in a locker room with him. And I think you know we have a pretty good atmosphere in this locker room. So he's a smart guy. I think it'll be just fine.”
Claypool will be a free agent after this season. You could say a player in a contract year would be minding his p's and q's. Now, potentially down to his last strike?
“He’s very understanding of his opportunity and what the stakes are for him,” McDaniel said. “I’m pretty sure he’s aware of the narratives out there. And you can do one of two things with those things. You can say ‘woe is me’ that that’s out there, ‘is it what it is.’ And then if you’re not that, don’t be that.
“Expectations are crystal clear.”
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McDaniel said it’s not something he and Grier have to be overly worried about.
“Because the locker room kind of, you know, indirectly handles that,” McDaniel said. “OK, so you have 11 guys on the field. If 10 of them are straining, you know what players hate, is watching film of the one guy that’s not. And so the collective standard — no one’s above that.”
True. If Claypool loafs, he’ll quickly become a pariah in that locker room. If he helps the Dolphins win and gives honest effort at all times, he’ll be embraced.
“An open mind,” McDaniel said he’s keeping. “Clean slate. Let’s go.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Don't think Miami Dolphins aren't taking a risk with receiver Chase Claypool
