The Miami Dolphins have added wide receiver Saeed Blacknall off of waivers from the Oakland Raiders. The move is the latest reminder that the NFL is just as much about “who you know” as it is “what you can do”. How?
The link that brought Blacknall to Miami is undoubtedly the presence of Reggie McKenzie on Miami’s front office roll call. McKenzie served as the general manager for the Oakland Raiders until December 10, 2018 — meaning he was in charge of the Raiders’ roster when they added Blacknall as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State after the 2018 NFL Draft.
Blacknall, a product of Penn State, was an underachiever in college — his production did not match his fascinating physical tools. At 6-foot-2, Blacknall blazed a 4.39s 40-yard dash prior to the 2018 NFL Draft. He’s a terrific athlete. But he was also stuck behind the likes of Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay) and DaeSean Hamilton (Denver) on the depth chart, meaning targets were tough to come by.
Perhaps the Dolphins’ vision for Blacknall involves him competing to take the reps they’d hoped wide receiver Ricardo Louis would be involved with before Louis injured his knee in May and was lost for the season.
The first order at hand? Learn the playbook. Blacknall has less than a week before training camp starts — so there’s no time to waste.
