Dolphins Wednesday Mailbag: How Will the Defense Deal with Mike Gesicki?

Part 2 of the post-Vikings game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Keith Kelleher:

Hi Alain, with our problems covering TEs which needs to fixed ASAP, is Kyle Louis a potential solution if he returns and, if so, what is his timeline for return?

Hey Keith, Louis will be eligible to return from IR after the Week 5 game against the Bengals, but we have not gotten a progress report on his recovery from his knee injury, so I don’t know that he’ll be back for the Week 7 game against the Jets after the bye. I would suspect he’ll be given a shot to cover tight ends at some point, but I’d be concerned a bit about his lack of size being a problem there.

From RagtopDriver:

Why have the special teams been so awful and will we have to wait until next year to fix the problems?

Look at how the Dolphins have churned the bottom of the roster, which is where all of the special teams units get their players. Then add the inexperience factor with a lot of rookies involved. Then you can see where issues pop up. The group should get better as the season progresses, but it started from a difficult position.

From Zander Gray:

Is the game too fast for Malik Willis ? He seems flustered at times, not seeing open receivers and often off target (inconsistent). Should we still view him like a rookie where the game has not yet slowed down?

Hey Zander, it’s a fair question, but how often is he flustered because there’s pressure and his receivers aren’t getting open? I’m not buying this “game is too fast” narrative, but he’s certainly more inconsistent than ideal with his passes and what’s pretty clear is he often doesn’t set his feet probably and relies too much on his arm strength.

From Bubba:

Is it me or did anyone else get an uneasy impression from Malik Willis’ demeanor when the cameras were on him from the sidelines? Wouldn’t you be talking to your WRs and OC and trying to get organized and such, especially right before their last drive w/ 6+ minutes left.

Hey Bubba, yeah, I’m not on board that whole narrative. If there were specific issues that needed to be discussed before a drive, rest assured the offensive coach on the sideline would get with Willis to go over everything.

From Jayco:

On the flight home, what was that conversation like between Hafley and the special teams coach?

Hey Jayco, it might have gone something like this, “Hey, Chris (Tabor), make sure you remind Malik (Washington) not to try fielding a punt around the 5-yard line and let’s keep coaching our young players so our kick coverage teams stop leaking, even though I understand you’ve got a lot of fringe NFL players and young guys on that unit.”

From rwd300:

Hi Alain, thx for all the hard work. Why it seems that we have the same issues regardless of who's the head coach? Bad offensive line play, defending TE, has been an issue forever. Is it Grier been in charge for so long?

Well, everything this season boils down to the roster not being good enough and not having enough experience, so I guess you could pin that on Grier because of the roster overhaul the new regime deemed necessary.

From I’m Me:

Have you seen enough from Malik to say he is/isn’t the guy? I think it’s too early to say no, but it’s leaning that way.

You said it right there, it’s way too early for me. We’ve seen flashes here and there with some great off-schedule plays that we haven’t gotten from a Dolphins QB in maybe a decade, but the consistency just hasn’t been there. But the question is whether the consistency is lacking because Willis just isn’t the guy or because the supporting case currently just isn’t good enough and that consistency will show up once it improves.

From Mark Malbeck:

Hi Alain, I watched the game hoping to see some improvement. On defense I did but one area is still bad. Why can’t this team cover a tight end? The running game was better, but there seems to be a real issue with our passing game. Lack of talent or chemistry? Maybe next week.

Hey Mark, yeah, this doesn’t have anything to do with chemistry. The Dolphins just don’t have that one guy who can cover tight ends one-on-one and they’ve left big holes in their zones at times, and then you’ve had some busted coverages. It’s a combination of several factors, none of them good.

From JROD’S THE TRUTH:

At Monday’s presser Hafley did something I’ve never really seen him do. Perk asked him about a third-and-goal play where Willis had to choice to run for the end zone or make a pass attempt. Perk asked if he made the right choice on that particular play and he said something to the effect of everything happens so fast that it’s Willis’s choice to make. To me it was a deflection. It’s his job as coach to look at every play and make a determination of what the right thing to do is. I looked at play in real time and thought he had a lane and should have ran for the end zone. Even if he doesn’t make it, he would have been stopped very close to the end zone and the Dolphins would have had a choice to go for it on fourth-and-short. I thought Hafley for the first time was copping out. Are we to the point where the coach is excuse-making and deflecting? Do you think Willis should have ran for it ? Also currently Willis has one of the lowest completion percentages in the league; how concerning is that stat?

Hey Dana, first off, I’m on board with Hafley saying Willis has to make that decision because the last thing you want is a QB playing robotically and do you really want a coach publicly second-guessing a player’s decision after the fact? Do you eliminate the possibility that Hafley told Willis privately that if the situation presents itself again he should go for it? It’s very easy for fans and the media alike to look at a replay and decide what a player should have done; it’s not the same thing at full speed. Even if Hafley agreed with you that he should have run, I think we’ve seen he’s not willing to criticize his players publicly and I’m not going to fault him for that. Just like Malik Washington fielding a punt around the 6-yard line seemed like a clear mistake, but Hafley answered a question about the muff without saying that. And the completion percentage stat itself doesn’t bother me because a throw at the line of scrimmage just to get that number up doesn’t accomplish anything (as we saw for most of 2024 and in 2025). I would like to see more success in the passing game, period.

From JJ Phins Fan:

Will Storm Duck replace Jason Marshall in lineup or will Chris Johnson slide inside to the slot more? Seeing some All-22 tape on our receivers getting separation, it seems like Willis is struggling reading the field, with his decision-making, and knowing where to go with the ball in the pre-snap read. Do you believe this is something that can be taught and worth 2-3 years invested?

I wouldn’t assume anything about Duck immediately going into the starting lineup. You got all that about Willis from the All-22? If you’re accurate about your assessments there, no, it’s not worth investing 2-3 years. Or it could be that Willis needs to be more consistent at everything and he needs more help from the offense.

From skinninthegame:

I’m wondering what the answers the Dolphins may try to limit tight ends running roughshod over our defense. I like the growth I've seen so far, but this is going to continue to be an issue until we find a coherent response.

Correct, and the answer isn’t easy and requires improvement in several areas, whether in man or zone coverage.

From Toby Marmorino:

Hey Alain, after hearing Hafley's press conference last week about getting Greg Dulcich more involved, I was surprised to see that he didn't even get a target. He's probably our most accomplished receiving threat and one would think that he would be a safety blanket for Willis (kinda like Murray to Hockenson was). Hard to believe he can't be schemed up to get open, especially on a designed rollout where the tight end kind of runs a 5-yard out toward the sideline. Tua did in a couple of those a game for us last year and they always seem to work. And I was also disappointed in Willis not reading the field properly, because if you look from the All 22 he had receivers open, yet couldn't pull the trigger or was not looking their way. He may have a big arm and a lot of athleticism but the processing speed and him scanning the field is kind of slow, which leads him to holding the ball too long, not to mention throwing off of his back foot way too much, which leads to undermining his big arm. Thanks and keep up the good work.

Hey Toby, thanks and you make some valid points.

From Brandon:

We’ve seen across all major sports that athletes are willing to risk tens of millions of dollars for a quick buck gambling. Whether they do it themselves, or through family and friends, it’s a given that a small percentage of players stats and maybe even games, are being affected by gambling. It’s proven. Mathematically, that means referees are involved too. And given their salaries are peanuts compared to the players that have been caught, the odds are higher. My question is, when penalties are quite literally at an all-time high, you regularly see games with 20+ flags thrown, there are multiple game-changing questionable calls against one team like in the Phins game, what does the NFL actually do beyond the honor code to ensure referees aren’t profiting from the bogus calls they make? Are they doing some forensic accounting? Do refs have to give over the SS#’s of their family members and then they cross-reference those with their “league partners” FanDuel and DraftKings and Polymarket, etc.? I promised a couple weeks ago I was done with Phins games, and I’ve stuck to watching the 4 game multiviews now for my sanity. And I think I’ve decided, with the amount of minor BS calls that help teams cover the spread in meaningless situations in the final seconds, that referees are genuinely rigging outcomes.

Hey Brandon, wow, that’s a heavy one there and it’s unfortunate that it’s gotten to this point where we can’t even dismiss the idea that you’re presenting here. And I don’t know specifically what the NFL is doing to keep officials honest beyond investigating if ever there’s a tip that somebody might not be on the up and up.

From Robert Hanson:

The Bengals can’t run the ball & it looks like Ja’Marr & Tee are going to miss the game. With the Dolphins‘ inability to stop TEs, this game has a ton of targets to Gesicki written all over it. Any chance the Dolphins defense can see this coming and slow Gesicki down?

From Language Major:

Based off how well the Dolphins have guarded TEs this season, how dangerous will Mike Gesicki be on Sunday? He may have an opportunity to double his stats in one game (11 for 155 with 3 TDs through 4).

First off, I’m not sure I would count out Higgins and Chase just yet, though the possibility is real that both will be out. In either case, rest assured Jeff Hafley is well aware of the issues his defense has had defending tight ends and one would hope he’ll have something in place to contain Gesicki. The former Dolphins tight end still is more like an oversized wide receiver and he does present matchup problems because of his size, though he’s never been physical and maybe jamming him at the line of scrimmage is something that should be considered (even though we haven’t seen that yet from the Miami defense).

From Carlos Ramirez:

Your stance before the season was that we could evaluate Malik regardless of the talent around him (i.e. Drake Maye). We’re 25% through the season—have you seen any “Drake Maye” moments from Willis that make you want to move forward with him long term?

Hey Carlos, I’ll give you a couple just from the last game. The Chris Bell non-touchdown might have been even better than a Drake Maye moment. That was crazy good. How about the 17-yard completion to Malik Washington with a pill while he was rolling out to his left. There have been a handful of those moments since the start of the season.

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