Rookie tight ends Gesicki and Smythe cramming to play catch up

DAVIE — There’s a dryerase board that sits inside the hotel room Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe share, and at night the Miami Dolphins’ rookie tight ends use it to quiz one another.

They take turns calling out one of the team’s offensive plays for the other to draw up on the board, explaining every player’s assignment, the adjustments, and protections.

Gesicki and Smythe need the nightly cram sessions to digest Miami’s playbook. Smythe, a fourth-round pick, said Miami’s playbook is twice the size of the one he had at Notre Dame, and Gesicki points out new installs come every week, and players are usually given 20 minutes to master the concepts before being called to run them on the field during organized team activities sessions.

“It’s been a lot thrown at you at once, honestly,” said Gesicki, the Dolphins’ second-round pick. “We’re in install 10 now, and it’s not like you’re getting it the night before. … There is a lot going on.

“We’re just trying to simulate the huddle and simulate knowing everything on the fly and not just your job, but knowing everybody’s job because I know for me, personally, I’ve got to know the Y, the F, the H, the X, the Z,” Gesicki said Monday explaining the cram sessions. “I’ve got to be able to go anywhere and everywhere. There’s a lot to know. There’s a lot to learn.”

Many around the league say tight end is one of the toughest positions for rookies to contribute early because college programs aren’t developing them properly and getting the players NFL ready. That means rookies are learning the fundamentals of the position, required to master pass protection, run blocking and route running.

“Volume,” Smythe said, explaining the biggest challenge. “Generally, the concepts are similar. How many plays are in, adjustments that can be made, pre-snap [stuff ] by the quarterbacks, this play can be altered to [another] play.”

The Dolphins realize the newcomers are being overwhelmed by the information coming at them, so Miami’s coaches are bringing the rookies along slowly. Coach Adam Gase wants the draftees to earn what they have by working their way up the depth chart, which explains why none of the rookies are working with the first-team on a regular basis.

The rookie tight ends say they have found themselves turning to the veteran tight ends — A.J Derby, MarQueis Gray, Gavin Escobar and Thomas Duarte — for assistance, and guidance.

Gray, who is entering his sixth NFL season, and Duarte, a 2016 seventh-round pick, have spent the past two years in Gase’s offense, so they are ahead of the learning curve.

Escobar, who is also entering his sixth season, has the most playing experience when it comes to all the tight ends. But it seems that the rookies are leaning on A.J. Derby, who appears to be the front-runner for the starting F spot, which is dedicated to the tight end that moves around in the formation.

Derby, who is beginning his third season in the NFL, joined the Dolphins in late November after being claimed off waivers, and carved out a playing role for himself in the final two games of the season because of his mastery of Miami’s offense.

“That’s really hard to do, to come in and learn an entire offense and be game ready,” tight end coach Shane Day said. “He was able to do that, so that was very impressive.”

But the rookie tight ends said every player at their position has been helpful, despite the understanding that six players are competing for three, maybe four spots on the 53-man regular-season roster, and that two of those jobs will likely go to the rookies because of their draft status.

Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said both Gesicki and Smythe are “really intelligent guys,” and the work they’ve put in digesting the playbook will eventually pay off.

“We’re just going to keep doing stuff with those guys, especially Mike. Mike is a little bit unique,” Loggains said, referring to Gesicki’s athleticism, which motivated the Dolphins to make him the second tight end drafted in 2018.

“We’ve got to find out exactly what he can and can’t do and what he can and can’t handle early. As the season goes and the offseason goes and training camp, his package will expand and his routes will expand.”