Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar will write about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we review the performance of a Dolphins tight end playing his first game in over a year, and who may have still been sitting on the couch were it not for a fortuitous trade. Darren Waller is back — and at the perfect time.
With 13:28 left in the third quarter of the Miami Dolphins’ 27-21 Monday night win over the New York Jets, Tyreek Hill took a quick out route from Tua Tagovailoa, and was tackled by Jets safety Malachi Moore on a 10-yard gain. That play ended Hill’s 2025 season, and there’s no sure answer as to when he’ll be back after suffering a dislocated knee with multiple torn ligaments (including his ACL). We’ll not replay the injury here — if you’re a Dolphins fan (which you probably are if you’re reading this), you’ve either Zaprudered it 500 times already, or you’re avoiding those replays like the plague.
In any event, a Dolphins offense that was already dealing with multiple schematic, personnel, and execution issues was dealt a severe blow. And the reason it may not be a complete death knell could come down to a guy who played his first NFL game since Jan. 7, 2024.
That would be tight end Darren Waller, who caught 52 passes on 74 targets for 552 yards and a touchdown for the New York Giants in the 2023 season, announced his retirement from the NFL on June 9, 2024, missed that entire season, and unretired once the Giants traded his rights to the Dolphins on July 1, 2025. Waller had informed the Giants that he would only return to the league if it was with the Dolphins, and that was that.
Still, the fit wasn’t immediate. It took a minute for Waller to get into what the team deemed to be game shape, and the Jets game was his first.
“I think he looks firmly ready to contribute, which is why he’s going to play in the game,” head coach Mike McDaniel said of Waller last Saturday. “How comfortable does he feel? If you ask him in the first quarter, it’ll probably be different than the third. That game process always feels new every season. But I think one of the conversations he has [had] with teammates is I think the same [thing] happened to Bradley Chubb [who missed the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL].
“Before Game 1, Bradley Chubb’s last game was a week before Darren’s last game. [Waller] looks ready, he feels ready. There’s going to be those gameday jitters that everyone loves as a player, and I’m sure he’ll be very fired up to get the first rep out of the way and so on and so forth. Looks good and excited to have him up.”
It was a wise decision, especially in context of Hill’s injury. Waller’s statistics weren’t interstellar in his return to the NFL — three receptions on four targets for 27 yards — but there was the matter of his two touchdowns, which decided the game.
The first touchdown, a 4-yarder on fourth-and-goal with 9:20 left in the first half, reminded Waller of his first NFL scoring catch overall with the Baltimore Ravens on November 10, 2016.
“Yeah, that touchdown was oddly enough the same route that was like the first touchdown of my NFL career,” Waller said postgame. “Like across the back line, separating from the defender. But that one was really high. Shoutout to Tua for trusting that and putting it up there and giving a guy a chance. We haven’t had that much time to build chemistry, but for him to give me an opportunity like that, I’m really grateful. Yeah, just a fourth down, got-to-have-it situation, and just being where you got to be and go get the football.”
The second touchdown came with 11:33 left in the third quarter, and put Miami up 17-3. This time, Waller got open on a crosser with Jaylen Waddle, and it looked very easy.
Now, it’ll be up to Waller, Waddle, and the rest of Miami’s weapons to try and build on the positives in their first win of the season while understanding that their best offensive player will be MIA(mi) for quite some time.
“I feel like it is just the guys really just stepping up in whatever their role is,” Waller said postgame regarding what the Dolphins need to do in order to replace the irreplaceable. “I feel like there will be a lot of guys in the receiver room that will have more opportunities to make plays. I have faith in them, especially from what I’ve seen over camp and the first few weeks. Yeah, football is a game and a business where you got to move forward. I feel like we got guys that can move forward and allow us to continue to have balance in this thing, and continue to build on some balance. So, yeah, I’m excited to see guys really step up. There is no replacing him, but I feel like we got guys that can get the job done.”
Waller also knows a thing or two about comebacks, as he pointed out when asked about his emotions after the injury happened.
“In the NFL, there are so many things that can happen. You’re not really in control of much. It’s a high-impact, fast, violent game. To really see that and be like, okay, wow, this is just like a season where it looks like it’s down a little bit, but Reek is going to pop back up when it’s time. He’s going to heal and be right back. So I feel like seeing that in him helps a lot of guys on this team, no matter what their situation is that they may be going through.
“Us as a team, you hit walls, things happen, things may not have been going our way this first quarter that much, but you can always respond. You can always choose the attitude and the energy that you respond to a situation with. Reek means the world to this team. He’s an amazing dude. Full of joy, full of fun. He inspires me to want to get back out here and play, and I feel like a lot of other guys, too. We just love him.”
Hopefully, they’ll be able to love Waller just (or even nearly) as much as an impact player.
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