Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle were teammates for two seasons at Alabama and have been teammates for two seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

“It’s great,” Waddle said of his reunion in the NFL with Tagovailoa after the quarterback left the Crimson Tide a year before he did. “Tua’s a great guy. We got years in with us playing together, so it’s always good being familiar with your quarterback, especially going from the college game to the pro game. … It’s fun. You don’t have to learn quarterback tendencies and what he likes because you’ve already played with him.”

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In an interview with Ari Alexander of KPRC-TV in Houston, Waddle was asked what separates Tagovailoa from the average quarterback.

“His ball placement,” Waddle said. “I think everybody sees it. Ball placement — knowing exactly where to place the ball where his receivers can not just catch it, but catch it and run with it, so that’s what makes Tua Tua.”

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That ability took on an added importance for the Dolphins in the 2022 season, when San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel became Miami’s head coach.

In his rookie season, Waddle had 104 receptions for 1,015 yards and six touchdowns – an average of 9.8 yards per catch. In his second season, Waddle had 75 receptions for 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns – an average of 18.1 yards per catch that was the best in the NFL in 2022.

Waddle and former West Alabama standout Tyreek Hill became the fourth pair of NFL teammates to combine for more than 3,000 receiving yards in a single season as Hill had 119 receptions for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns in his first year with Miami.

With McDaniel’s offensive system putting a priority on yards after catch, Tagovailoa’s ball-placement ability was an asset for Waddle and Hill.

“Mike came in and really harped on YAC,” Waddle said about his jump in yards-per-catch average, “so having a guy like Cheetah, who’s a YAC monster, you don’t got no choice but to learn from him and soak up all that game that he’s giving.”

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Hill set franchise single-season records for receptions and receiving yards in his first year with the Dolphins.

The previous season, Waddle’s 104 receptions had been the most for a rookie in NFL history. He broke the mark established by Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin with 101 receptions in 2003.

“It really didn’t sink in to me while I was playing,” Waddle said. “But now I look at it, just being in the NFL and seeing how hard and how competitive it is, it’s definitely a huge accomplishment to have an NFL record with all these great receivers that came through the league.”

The Dolphins’ rookies are scheduled to report to training camp on July 18, with the veterans coming in one week later. Miami’s three-game preseason schedule kicks off on Aug. 11 with a home game against the Atlanta Falcons.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.