How Jonnu Smith Became a Big Factor on Offense

The Miami Dolphins have been looking for a legitimate third receiving option since the team traded for Tyreek Hill in March of 2022. During the past two seasons, the Dolphins’ offense was overly reliant on Hill and fellow speedster Jaylen Waddle.

This season, the Dolphins have found their viable third option in tight end Jonnu Smith. The Dolphins signed Smith from the Atlanta Falcons this past offseason, and he’s having — by far — the best year of his career in 2024.

The game against the New York Jets on Sunday wasn’t Smith’s best performance of the season by the numbers, but all three of his catches came in overtime, including the winning touchdown.

The game-winner 🏈

📺: #NYJvsMIA on @NFLonCBS & @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/p3XezuWxIO
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 8, 2024

“Those moments right there are precious because we know the work that was put in, and we know the adversity that we faced during the season, and we know when our backs were against the wall, and we fought, we came out fighting, and it didn’t go the way that it went today,” Smith said about his touchdown after Sunday’s game. “So to feel that, to feel that and embrace my teammates, embrace my brothers, that we’ve been grinding for so long with for so many months now; it’s a feeling I can’t even describe.”

Whatever Smith is feeling, it’s working. He’s already set career highs in multiple key stats this season with four games remaining.

Smith has 61 catches, 11 more than his previous high, and 692 yards, 110 more than his previous high set last season. Also, his 4.7 receptions per game dwarfs his previous career-high of 2.9.

We dove into the film to see how Smith affects Miami’s offense and why he’s been so open this season.

Why Smith Is Having Career Season

Since Mike McDaniel took over the Dolphins’ offense, it’s been all about speed. The offense is built on the principle that defenses must respect Hill and Waddle’s speed down the field.

Because of that, most defenses play a lot of deep zones against the Dolphins to make sure Hill and Waddle can’t get behind them for big plays. To combat that, the Dolphins started hammering the middle of the field with skinny posts and dig routes.

Tua Tagovailoa’s accuracy and timing in the middle of the field make those routes even more effective. However, teams started flooding the middle of the field, which is where Smith comes in.

Defenses were abandoning the short middle of the field, and in previous seasons, nobody on Miami’s offense was a reliable enough threat to make those short passes into productive plays.

That changed with Smith, who's being utilized in ways no other tight end who worked with McDaniel before ever has, not even George Kittle in San Francisco.

“I think the biggest thing, regardless of position, we thought could really benefit from the extra space that the other three eligibles get based upon over-attention on ‘10’ (Tyreek Hill) and ‘17’ (Jaylen Waddle) and that expansion of the field that the defense is defending, how to best take advantage of that space,” head coach Mike McDaniel said Monday. “And I think we’ve done some elements of it, realistically. I don’t think I’ve – some of the short and intermediate routes that we’ve really called a lot to. I had never called it or been a part of an offense that has run it that much.”

Smith has done an excellent job of running into open space in the middle and making the most of his opportunities.

According to Pro Football Focus, 32 of Smith’s 61 catches have come in the middle of the field on routes of 10 or fewer yards. He’s become Tagovailoa’s security blanket when teams keep Hill and Waddle from generating explosives deep downfield or in the intermediate middle.

Catching passes right over the middle like that isn’t overly impressive, but what Smith does once he has the ball is. He’s second on the team in total YAC (393) and YAC per reception (6.4) among players with at least 15 targets.

Although the Dolphins eventually found Smith’s ideal role, it wasn’t something that happened immediately.

“Much of training camp was just trying different things and then leaning into things that you could see he could use as a competitive advantage,” McDaniel said.

“For us, there are elements as the starting point to a lot of the stuff that we do in the offense that goes all the way back to 2005, but much like the ever-evolving way to attack defenses and the different defensive presentations that get thrown at us, there’s a lot of different things that we kind of try with him that I hadn’t tried in the past with a tight end.”

That experimentation likely leaked into the beginning of this season. Smith had just eight catches during the first four weeks, and six came in Week 2 vs. the Bills. After that, Smith became a fixture in the offense.

After Week 5 against the Patriots, Smith recorded at least six targets in all but two games (Week 11 vs. the Rams and this past week against the Jets).

Using Smith Going Forward

The game against the Jets was a good indicator of how Smith’s role in the offense could change this season. Unlike many teams, the Jets took away Smith’s over-the-middle routes with a linebacker.

New York decided to play with its cornerbacks off Hill and Waddle, too. That left the area outside the numbers vulnerable, which is where Tua hit Hill and Waddle for a lot of easy yards. With the Jets dedicating some of their defense to Smith, Hill and Waddle combined for 19 catches and 214 yards.

That left Smith without a catch heading into overtime, but he never lost faith in the offense’s plan.

“I’m kind of in my gear throughout the game, nudging, but [Tua]’s got a job to do, and he does a damn good job,” Smith said. “So, I just continue to trust in him. Whenever my opps (opportunities) come, just capitalize off of them. We each individually got to have that mindset. It may not be your day. Every week it’s the NFL, guys are good, and we’ve got so many talented guys on this team, so opps are precious. When it comes your time to make an opp, make it count. Make it count.”

Smith’s first two opportunities came in the form of back-to-back tight end screens in overtime, an easy play to take advantage of how far back the Jets’ cornerbacks were playing throughout the game.

Using Smith on screens and other designed touches (jet passes, reverses) when teams aren’t giving him free space in the middle makes sense, given his YAC prowess.

“I know it’s called for a spark to get us going,” Smith said. “Everybody has got different roles in this league. I’m just embracing mine. I knew I had to make a play. It was overtime. We’ve all got to make plays, don’t get me wrong, but my number was called.

“Especially on those screen plays, only one guy is getting that ball. It’s not like two guys – he has a progression to go through, waiting for guys to get open. It’s you and go to work. Just getting those types of plays going, getting the momentum going when your number is called, got to answer.”

It took the Dolphins the entire game to figure out how to use Smith against the Jets, but assuming teams try to replicate New York’s game plan, it shouldn’t take that long next time.