Taking Stock of the Dolphins Tight End Room
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Although the Miami Dolphins offense has produced impressive numbers this season, it largely has done so without much help from the tight end room.
The Dolphins have just 40 receptions from the tight end position with all of them coming from Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe. Last year, Smythe had 34 on his own and the duo combined for 107 catches total.
One of the reasons for the downtick in production is neither Gesicki or Smythe fits well enough in head coach Mike McDaniel’s scheme, which requires a tight end to be both a blocker and receiver.
Dolphins associate head coach and tight ends coach Jon Embree coached George Kittle with the 49ers, and it’s clear Miami doesn’t have a Kittle-type player yet.
“That’s a trick question; it’s yes and no,” Embree said when asked if he felt like he has a TE room to maximize the offense. “I’m always looking to get competition going in my room. When I had Kittle, I was trying to get people in there to compete with him as well. The No. 1 job as a coach, one of our top things to be an effective coach is you can never be satisfied. So I’m always looking for people to put in my rooms, no matter who’s in there.”
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MIKE GESICKI'S LAST STAND?
Given Miami’s lack of a threat of a proven dual-threat tight end, change likely is coming this offseason. The most obvious change will be Gesicki, who seems destined to sign elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent in March.
Once a mainstay in Miami’s offense, Gesicki’s lack of blocking prowess has kept him off the field this season. That led to a marked drop in his targets, receptions, and receiving yards.
“It’s been up and down,” Embree said about Gesicki. “It really has in our room in general. It’s been up and down between injuries, Mike learning how to contribute without having the ball in his hand has been a process. I think it’s something that as we’ve continued to move forward that he’s gotten better at and has kind of embraced it as much as he can, that aspect of playing this position. But what we do in that room is really unique because you’ve got to pass-block, run-block and you go out for passes. When you’re asked to do those different things, sometimes those skills maybe aren’t as developed as they needed to be. Maybe they’re skills that are completely new, or maybe it’s just something that you can’t do.”
With Gesicki likely gone, that leaves Miami with Smythe, Hunter Long and Tanner Conner. Smythe is under contract through next season and is at least a competent enough blocker to stay on the field in McDaniel’s scheme. However, Smythe brings an incredibly underwhelming receiving profile to the table, which leaves an opening for someone like Long.
CAN LONG TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
Long was a third-round pick out of Boston College in 2021 and had a pretty good pass-catching resume coming out of school.
But he has just one catch in his two-year career, and it came last season. Despite that and his battle with injuries (ankle injury and concussion this season), Embree likes the growth he’s seen from Long.
“Well, it’s been quite a journey with Hunter Long,” Embree said. “We’ve had some interesting times. The thing I’ve learned about him is football is important to him. So that’s good to know with him because there were times I wondered about that. So football is important to him. He can be a pass catcher as well as a run blocker, and obviously — as you know in our offense — that’s important if you want to be a major contributor and all that. Just really with him, it’s about staying healthy."
Long will have to go on quite the journey to go from a relative non-factor to the team’s go-to tight end.
Don’t forget about Conner either. The UDFA from Idaho State has received positive marks from McDaniel and Embree throughout the season.
Conner’s pre-draft testing numbers were wildly impressive — he ranked in the 90th percentile in both the 40-yard dash and the vertical jump — which points to some legitimate upside. Conner has played 25 snaps on offense in 13 games this season, but only six in the eight games since he dropped a pass against the Minnesota Vikings — his second drop in two games.
“Just continue to be a student of the game, learn about some of the things from a run-blocking standpoint, scheme, understanding coverages,” Embree said about Conner. “That’ll be something that I’ll try to work with all the guys in the offseason during OTAs, because a lot of the stuff that we need to do, we can’t do because of the way the rules are with the (NFL)PA and everything.”
Although Smythe, Long and Conner each have their own hurdles to clear, with Gesicki’s likely exit they’ll have to step up next season. This is a fact Embree is acutely aware of.
“They’ll have to be,” Embree said. “Unless you know anyone coming through the door. You’ve got to do it with what you’ve got. Whatever we do, that’s McDaniel, that’s (General Manager) Chris Grier, what we do in that room, as far as adding or subtracting and all that. My mind-set is whoever you put in there, I’m just going to try to coach them and help them try to be the best version of themselves.”
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