MVN - Most Valuable Network

Greg Camarillo the next Wes Welker?

“Holding #83 of the return team.”

Before Sunday afternoon, that was the phrase Greg Camarillo was going to be remembered by. He was going to take the burden to his grave that during their week 10 game, he was solely responsible for keeping his team winless when his hands negated a 99 yard kick return touchdown by Ted Ginn Jr. that would have given them the lead. He was destined to become the newest member of the Bill Buckner Hall of Fame. It was pure fate that when the Dolphins crossed the goal line for their first victory of the season, the ball was in Camarillo’s infamous mitts. When the 6′1″ Camarillo jumped over a 9 foot wall, into the third row of fans in the south end zone, it became obvious: The burden had been lifted.

After the shock of the moment settled, you were probably left asking yourself the same question over and over again: Who the heck is this Camarillo guy and who does he think he is having himself the most productive day receiving since the departure of Chris Chambers? Don’t feel bad. Everyone who isn’t a die hard Stanford Cardinals fan was pondering over the same thing.

Camarillo may wind up being Cam Cameron’s best signing. He reminds me a lot of Wes Welker. And it’s not just because he’s white and wears the number 83. Like Welker, Camarillo went undrafted out of college and was picked up by the Chargers where he spent the year learning Cameron’s offense and playing exclusively on special teams. Both he and Welker were then waived by San Diego and picked up by the Dolphins the next offseason. As Welker did two years previous, Camarillo then got his chance with the offense when extenuating circumstances opened up some playing time for him. As the Dolphins’ third receiver, Welker never eclipsed the 100 yard mark on a single afternoon and it took him more than a year to score his first touchdown. After his first 60 minutes in the same role, Camarillo did both. 3 recptions, 109 yards, a crucial 21 yard first down on third and long and the game winning 64 yard touchdown catch and run in overtime. Quite the first impression, eh?

Welker is 6′0″, 185. Camarillo is 6′1″, 190. Camarillo has every bit of speed Welker has and then some (for evidence, see the replay in Sean’s game recap) and he makes escaping from the first wave of tacklers look easy. If given the chance to develop, he will be one of the highest YAC totals the Dolphins have ever seen.

Expect Camarillo to get a lot more looks in the final two games and expect to see him back next season, especially if Cameron is still running the show. Depending on where Marty Booker winds up, Camarillo could play himself in to the number two spot on the receiving corps.

At 25 years old, this kid’s sky is the limit.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Greg Camarillo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.