Why Dolphins’ Tahj Washington is considered better than typical 7th-rounder. What to know

As an NFL prospect, Tahj Washington landed in the back of this draft class, the 34th of 35 wide receivers selected this past weekend.

But purely as a college wide receiver, he stood very much toward the front of the class.

His average yards per catch last season (18.0) led the Pacific-12, and he finished the year with 59 catches for 1,062 yards and eight touchdowns.

Per Pro Football Focus, he was in the top 9 percent of FBS receivers in yards after catch per reception, in the top 3 percent in fewest drops and in the top 4 percent in amount of separation per route run.

He was among the best in the nation on throws that traveled at least 20 air yards, catching 13 of 15 such throws for 596 yards and six touchdowns. Those 13 deep catches tied for 15th most among FBS receivers.

His 596 deep yards on such throws were sixth in the country — a credit to both Washington and new Chicago Bears No. 1 overall pick and former USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who threw those passes.

In the eyes of NFL.com evaluator Lance Zierlein, what stands out about Washington is “his competitiveness and consistency.”

Washington caught 43 passes for 743 yards (17.3 per catch) and six touchdowns for Memphis in 2020, then caught 54, 50 and 59 passes in three years at Southern California.

His three-year numbers at USC: 2,449 receiving yards, 15.0 yards per catch and 15 touchdowns.

Zierlein said Washington can play only in the slot — though he played mostly on the boundary for USC in 2021 — and has “ordinary burst” but “above-average route acumen. He [has]... an impressive win rate on contested catches. He’s fearless into the middle of the field and is a willing run blocker out of three-wide receiver sets.”

His strengths, Zierlein said, are his “tremendous toughness working into danger; makes contested catches underneath that others his size can’t” and his ability to change “speeds and keeps route intentions a secret.”

Among the reasons he fell to the seventh round: Zierlein lists his weaknesses as “very short arms and small hands with limited catch radius [and] average quickness to get in and out of his breaks.”

His 8.6 yards after catch last season tied for 18th in the country. He caught 59 of 74 targets and dropped only one pass. He forced 18 missed tackles, tied for 30th most among FBS receivers.

Washington, who measured 5-10 and 174 pounds at the NFL Combine, was on the field for 371 passing plays last season and lined up in the slot on 341 of them. In 2022, it was 313 of 329 in the slot. His 984 slot receiving yards last season were seventh in the country.

He said playing football in a Texas field, growing up, taught him how to be elusive.

“I was the youngest of a lot of cousins, so if you get hit, we’re rough,” he said. “I was always the youngest and had to run away from a lot of folks. It just made me more physical and elusive....

“I was never afraid to get out there. Shoot, it made me more rough. When I was smaller, I had to show everybody just because you’re big doesn’t mean nothing.”

He has never returned a punt in college but returned 22 kickoffs — 12 at Memphis, 10 at USC — and averaged 19.9 on those returns.

“A talented return man,” Zierlein said, “and has some real dog in him on coverage teams.”

At the very least, the special teams acumen should help his chances of sustaining an NFL career.

“Special teams has always been a part of my game,” he said. “Coaches have had to beg me over the years to take maybe one off and things like that. Gunner on punt, corner on punt return, kickoff returner, off returner, a lot of history in special teams. I love to compete. Anytime I get the opportunity to be on the field, I want to be out there.”

Playing with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle excites him.

“I’ve got to see it in person,” he said of those two. “I’m used to being in a loaded receiver room. It will be fun to learn from those guys.

“I’m very excited to have this opportunity to play in Miami. I was graded to go anywhere between the fourth and seventh. The seventh round is where I so happened to land, and I’m just grateful for the opportunity to play at the next level.”

Tahj Washington will compete with former Virginia receiver Malik Washington (one of the Dolphins’ sixth-round picks), Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft for snaps in the slot.

Here’s my Tuesday piece on new Dolphins receiver Malik Washington, who is not related to Tahj Washington.