Moves reveal Dolphins’ priorities at tight end, safety
Chatter on how the Dolphins have handled tight end and safety early in free agency: The belief here is that the ●
Dolphins are not done at tight and will add a skilled receiver at some point.
Miami’s signing of six-year veteran Eric Saubert wasn’t flashy, but one talent evaluator said he moves well and can do several things competently. He’s a decent blocker and has done enough to earn 15 NFL starts. Denver used him on 27 and 35 percent of its offensive snaps the past two seasons.
Last year, then-Broncos coach
Nathanial Hackett praised Saubert’s “ability to block, and he runs really well. Watching him get down the field and catching the ball, he’s definitely somebody we’re excited to have. ... [And] he’s strong, he’s good at the point of attack in the run game, and then he’s done some good stuff in the pass game.
“Whenever you get a guy that’s a smart guy, a tough guy, and that’s going to buy into what we’re trying to do, you’re going to see great things happen.”
One concern is that he has seven drops in 52 career targets; he has caught 33 of those 52 targets.
Durham Smythe, who started 15 games last season, figures to remain the front-runner to start.
Remember, the Dolphins don’t target the tight end enough to justify giving big money to a pricey free agent such as Dalton Schultz (who signed with Houston), Mike Gesicki (who signed with New England) or Hayden Hurst (Panthers).
Smythe is a good blocker, and that’s more important in an offense that primarily features two star receivers and running backs in the passing game and added a skilled slot receiver in
Braxton Berrios.
Keep in mind that Smythe’s targets in the passing game dropped from 41 in 2021 to 20 last season, and his receptions from 34 to 15.
Considering the Dolphins’ starting tight end averaged just one catch per start (15 receptions in 15 games), it’s not surprising that Miami so far hasn’t wanted to spend much money at the position.
Also, the draft is deep in tight ends, with South Dakota State’s Tucker Kraft and Utah’s Dalton Kincaid among those projected for the middle of round two. It wouldn’t be surprising if Miami selects a tight end at 51 or 84.
Perhaps the draft can be used to find a skilled receiver to replace Gesicki, whose receptions dropped from 73 to 32 last season. Gesicki got $4.5 million from New England, with another $4.5 in incentives.
The Dolphins also want to continue to develop tight end and former college wide receiver
Tanner Conner, who has upside as a stretch tight end. Conner said in January that Dolphins tight ends coach Jon Embree told him that he’s ahead of where the team thought he would be as an undrafted rookie who changed positions.
The Dolphins thought
● enough of Brandon Jones that they were never inclined to offer a sizable contract to Jordan Poyer or any other free agent safety.
Instead, they got DeShon Elliott on a one-year, $1.8 million deal, not surprising considering the safety market is saturated.
Though Elliott was part of a Lions secondary that permitted 4,179 passing yards (third most in the NFL), his metrics weren’t bad at all.
PFF ranked him 44th of 88 safeties last season, including 43rd against the run. He yielded a 92.5 passer rating in his coverage area last season, compared to 118.5 for Eric Rowe, who wasn’t re-signed.
Elliott allowed 17 of 21 passes to be caught for 230 yards, a 13.5 average (too high). But he didn’t allow a touchdown and had one interception, which explains why his passer rating against was decent.
His passer rating against was 95.7 in 16 games for Baltimore (all starts) in 2020; he missed 11 games for Baltimore in 2021 with biceps and pectoral injuries.
Elliott and Jones were college teammates at Texas, and their battle for the starting job alongside Jevon Holland should be very competitive.
Jones ranks among the best blitzing safeties in football, a skill that seemingly isn’t as important in the transition from blitz-heavy Josh Boyer to more zone-heavy Vic Fangio. Jones had five sacks in 93 pass-rushing chances last season.
But keep in mind that Jones’ coverage skills improved last season in seven games before his season-ending torn ACL.
In 2021, Jones permitted a 114.2 passer rating in his coverage area. Last season, it was 89.3, with 21 completions in 29 targets but no TDs and just an 8.9 yard average per reception.
There probably isn’t much of a disparity between Jones and Elliott in coverage skills, and both figure to get playing time.
Safety Elijah Campbell’s skill set seems to fit this defense, and he could push for snaps on defense. And coach Mike McDaniel loves Verone McKinley’s “football acumen.” At the very least, it’s a young safety room with upside.
CHATTER
The Dolphins gave their new backup center, Dan Feeney ,a one-year, $3.25 million deal, opting to sign him instead of either signing a cheaper player at the minimum ($1 million) or re-sign Michael Deiter, who agreed to terms with Houston.
Feeney started 48 games for the Chargers at guard and center from 2018-20, and started seven games for the Jets the past two years. He might be given a chance to compete with Liam Eichenberg at left guard.
The Heat appreciates how
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Kyle Lowry has handled his return as a reserve, and since his return Miami is averaging by far the most points with Lowry on the floor (120 per 100 possessions) than any other Heat player. And he’s shooting 9 for 15 on threes since returning, compared with 90 for 270 (33 percent) prior to that.
Not only did UM’s Norchad
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Omier set UM single-game rebounding records in back-toback games last weekend (14 against Drake, 17 against Indiana), but the fact he’s doing this at 6-7 is remarkable. Omier averaged 10.1 rebounds —12th in the country — this season. No other Power 5 player as short as Omier averaged even 7.5 rebounds this season.
Outfielder Bryan De La
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Cruz, hitting just .200 this spring, stands at risk of being sent to the minors. He admits that last season: “I wasn’t giving full attention to what I was doing. … You have to focus on what you’re doing when you’re hitting and field when you field.”