Elite wide receiver play has long part of the Miami Dolphins‘ DNA.
Since the team’s founding in 1966, hardly a year has gone by without a Dolphins wideout putting up big stats — which is particularly impressive, considering the team’s big historical gaps in elite quarterback play.
But who are the best of the best? Here is our list of the top 10 all-time Miami Dolphins wide receivers, based on production, league impact, and longevity.
Ranking the Greatest WRs in Miami Dolphins History
10) DeVante Parker
This pick will be controversial — both due to who was included and who was excluded.
We gave DeVante Parker the nod over Jarvis Landry for this simple reason: Parker had a better Dolphins career than Landry.
Parker was the far more dynamic player, averaging 14 yards per catch and 8.1 yards per target in aqua and orange, compared to Landry’s 10.1 and 7.1. What’s more, Parker ranks sixth on both the franchise’s all-time receiving yards (4,727) and receiving touchdowns (24) lists.
If not for injuries, Parker might have gone down as one of the Dolphins’ four most-accomplished receivers ever.
9) Howard Twilley
This name might send you to Wikipedia, but trust us: Howard Twilley had game.
An original Dolphin, Twilley suited up for Miami from 1966 through 1976. And while he mostly played second fiddle to his Hall of Fame teammate (more on him in a bit), Twilley’s 14.5 yards-per-catch average still ranks 10th among Dolphins receivers with 100+ career catches. One out of every 9.2 passes he caught went for a touchdown.
Twilley’s signature moment? A 28-yard touchdown catch from Bob Griese in Super Bowl VII gave the Dolphins a lead they never relinquished.
8) Jaylen Waddle
Check back in a few years, and Jaylen Waddle will probably be much higher on this list.
In his young career, Waddle has already put together the fourth-most productive season by a Miami wideout (1,389 yards in 2022). He’s the only Dolphins receiver with three straight 1,000-yard seasons to begin his career, and he’s done much of that as the team’s No. 2 option.
MORE: Jaylen Waddle’s Contract Extension: Inside the WR’s Big Payday
If Waddle signs a long-term extension with Miami, he’ll likely retire owning every major franchise career-receiving record.
7) O.J. McDuffie
A first-round pick in 1993, O.J. McDuffie blossomed as Dan Marino’s favorite target late in the Hall of Fame quarterback’s career.
McDuffie ranked first in the NFL in catches in 1998 (90), the first of just two Dolphins players to accomplish that feat (Landry in 2017 was the other).
McDuffie, who led Miami in catches for three straight seasons in the late 1990s, is fifth on the team’s career receiving-yards list (5,074), and only five Dolphins have caught more touchdown passes than McDuffie’s 29.
6) Chris Chambers
Early this century, the Dolphins’ passing game was essentially just Jay Fielder throwing to Chris Chambers. Chambers not only led Miami in receiving yards from 2001 through 2005, he accounted for 30.2% of its passing offense and 40.6% of receiving touchdowns over that stretch.
If he played in the Marino era, Chambers — who ranks fourth among Dolphins receivers in career yards (5,688) and touchdowns (43) — probably would have made multiple All-Pro teams.
5) Nat Moore
Nat Moore has been a ubiquitous presence around Miami since the team selected him in the third round of the 1974 NFL Draft. But long before he was a Dolphins broadcaster and head of the franchise’s alumni association, Moore was a go-to target first for Griese and then Marino.
Moore, an inductee into the team’s Honor Roll, ranks third on the franchise’s all-time receiving-yards list (7,546) and second in career touchdowns (74). He did his best work in the late 1970s, leading the NFL in receptions in 1977 and totaling 22 receiving touchdowns from 1977-1978.
4) Tyreek Hill
In just two years, Tyreek Hill has rewritten the Dolphins’ record book — and helped turn Miami into one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.
In 2023 alone, Hill broke or tied the franchise record in catches (119), receiving yards (1,799, seventh-most in NFL history), and 100-yard games (eight).
He’s just one of nine Dolphins players to earn back-to-back first-team All-Pro honors and was a unanimous selection in 2023. He also became the first Dolphins player since McDuffie in 1997-98 to win back-to-back team MVPs.
If he stays healthy and productive in 2024, Hill could vault into the Dolphins’ top five in career receiving yards — despite playing just three seasons with the team.
3) Mark Duper, 2) Mark Clayton
The Marks Brothers — Mark Duper and Mark Clayton — are among the greatest receiving duos in NFL history, and any discussion about one Mark should include both.
Honestly, picking one over the other seems silly because it’s hard to imagine one having success without the other.
Duper is older by two years and was the first to arrive in South Florida as a second-round draft pick by Miami in 1982. Clayton arrived a year later, taken by Miami seven rounds after Marino in the 1983 NFL Draft.
Those three — Dan the Man and the two Marks — helped revolutionize American football. Combined, the Marks Brothers made eight Pro Bowls and broke every significant franchise receiving record.
Clayton is first in career receptions (550) and receiving touchdowns (81), while Duper ranks first in franchise history in receiving yards (8,869).
1) Paul Warfield
Paul Warfield isn’t just the best wide receiver to put on a Dolphins uniform, he’s one of the best to put on any uniform.
Warfield and Cris Carter are the only Dolphins WRs inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But unlike Carter, Warfield played in Miami during his prime.
KEEP READING: Best Miami Dolphins Quarterbacks of All Time
In his five seasons with the Dolphins, Warfield appeared in three Super Bowls (winning two) and five Pro Bowls. He was a first- or second-team All-Pro in four of those five years and led the NFL in receiving touchdowns (11) in 1971.
Warfield, a member of both the NFL 1970s All-Decade and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time teams, averaged an astounding 21.5 yards per catch during his time in Miami — which is far and away the most among Dolphins players with 40 or more career catches.