Former University of Hawai‘i standout and current Miami Dolphins receiver Davone Bess is on pace to have one of the most productive seasons ever by an undrafted rookie free agent in National Football League history. The 23-year-old has enjoyed a
Former University of Hawai‘i standout and current Miami Dolphins receiver Davone Bess is on pace to have one of the most productive seasons ever by an undrafted rookie free agent in National Football League history.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed a recent surge in plays, due in part to an injury to Dolphins’ receiver Greg Camarillo.
Since then, Bess has been moved up on the Dolphins’ depth chart at the receiver position and started each of the last three games in which he recorded 20 catches for 245 yards.
On the season, Bess has 39 catches for 433 yards and a touchdown, with 14 kickoff returns for 311 yards and 16 punt returns for 154 yards.
He now only needs one more reception to become the first rookie receiver to have 40 catches or more in a season since Chris Chambers caught 48 in 2001.
He also needs four more to pass Terrence Wilkins’ total of 42 catches to become the second-most productive undrafted free agent rookie receiver.
Fellow former Warrior and current Dolphins starting center Samson Satele told the team’s online magazine, Dolphin Digest, that he is not surprised at Bess’ emergence.
“I knew what the guy can do and I think he knows that he can do a lot more,” he said. “He’s just got to learn the game speed and learn this offense, and he’ll tell you he can do a lot more than he is doing now. I’m surprised at some of the things that he does, but not everything.”
Satele, himself, has enjoyed his stay with the Dolphins. Since being drafted in the second round last year, Dolphin Digest reported that Satele became the first rookie in franchise history to start at center on opening day and was the team’s first rookie to start at center since Jeff Uhlenhake started the final 15 games of the 1989 season.
He said he was surprised Bess was not drafted.
“I was pretty mad, but there’s nothing I can do,” he said. “I mean, we only had one guy last year that got drafted — Colt Brennan — out of the whole senior group that they had and I thought that they had the best senior group to come out of Hawai‘i, but anything goes inside that draft room.”
Bess and Brennan, along with fellow offensive powerhouses Jason Rivers and Ryan Grice-Mullins, were so good that the Western Athletic Conference created an award to honor all of them. They received the first-ever WAC Offensive Unit of the Year award for their leading the nation in averaging 42.2 points per game and breaking numerous NCAA, WAC and school records.
Today, the Dolphins host the San Francisco 49ers for their final regular-season appearance at Dolphin Stadium. The 49ers have two former Warriors on their team: nine-year veteran linebacker Jeff Ulbrich and defensive end Isaac Sopoaga.
The Dolphins are in a three-way share of the lead in the AFC East with the New England Patriots and the New York Jets.
