Darren Waller

Carolina Panthers·#88

Pos TEHt 6'6"Wt 238 lbExp 11 yrCollege Georgia Tech

Updated September 21, 2026

TE rankings →

Model Score

89.0 MODEL

2020

87.2

2021

89.0

2022

91.7

2023

90.7

2025

89.0

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

Season Stats · 1 games

Rec

Rec Yds

Rec TD

Targets

28.0

Yds/Gm

4.8

Fantasy PPG

Advanced Metrics EPA & Next Gen Stats

0.619

EPA / target

0.0 yd

Avg separation

0.0 yd

Avg cushion

0.0

YAC over exp

0.0%

Catch %

Draft & College

Round 6, pick 204 · Baltimore Ravens · 2015

Georgia Tech (ACC)

Taken

#204

where he actually went

Consensus board

190th

average of the public big boards that spring

Our college model

#2212

among TE in our college data

He went about where consensus had him.

In college · 2014 · 12 games · partial record

24 rec, 425 yds, 3 TD, 17.7 yds/rec

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

Coming out

4.46s

40 yd

12 reps

Bench

37"

Vertical

125"

Broad

7.07s

3-cone

4.25s

Shuttle

STM Take

The 2025 return at #18 (tier 5) is a real bounce after a full year away from football. The Wk 15 25.6 PPR and Wk 5 18.8 spike games show the TE1 ceiling weeks remain available when the offense schemes him a target share. At 33 with the documented health history (cancer recovery in 2014, multiple suspensions, the retirement decision), the 2026 question is whether the return year was a one-off swansong.

Waller came out of Georgia Tech as Baltimore's 6th-round pick (204th overall) in 2015. Multiple drug suspensions ended his Ravens tenure (he was suspended for the entire 2017 season). Las Vegas signed him in 2018 and he transformed into one of the league's premier TEs: tier 3 #12 in 2021 plus a Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2020 with 90+ catches in both seasons. The Giants traded for him in 2023 (tier 5 #20) before he retired in June 2024 citing health concerns. Miami signed him out of retirement for the 2025 season to fill the Tyreek Hill-injury gap.

Strengths

Two Pro Bowls (2019, 2020) plus the 2021 tier 3 (#12) finish with Las Vegas establishes a top-tier TE career baseline. Wks 5 and 15 2025 produced 18.8 and 25.6 PPR.
6'6"/255 frame with sub-4.6 forty plus the return after a year off shows the body still holds up when the football comes back. Career receiving yards total 4,000+ across 8 active seasons.

Concerns

Career durability has been the consistent question (multiple suspensions, the 2014 cancer diagnosis, the 2024 retirement). At 33 the floor games (Wk 17 1, Wk 14 2.7) are real.
Tua Tagovailoa's career durability plus the Tyreek Hill situation make the Dolphins offense itself the variable; Waller's ceiling depends entirely on the QB staying healthy.

What to watch: Whether Waller returns for 2026 or whether the 2025 comeback was the closing chapter, because both outcomes have organizational signals about which way Miami is rebuilding.