Sharing the load
Can Parker and Gesicki improve on their career years and help carry Dolphins’ passing game?
It could all rest on the shoulders of DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki again.
Parker and Gesicki were the Miami Dolphins’ leading receivers a season ago thanks to their playmaking ability, chemistry with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and availability games.
As a result, both turned in seasons marked by career-high numbers while helping Miami win five of its last nine games last year.
Parker, a former first-round pick, showed his potential with 72 catches for 1,202 yards and nine touchdowns, while Gesicki added 51 catches for 570 yards and five touchdowns for the Dolphins last season.
So can they do it again? Sure, they could foster the same on-field rapport with Fitzpatrick again this season — before rookie Tua Tagovailoa takes the reins at by playing in all 16 quarterback. But it’s certainly not the Dolphins’ hope to depend solely on those two receiving targets heading into the 2020 season.
Coach Brian Flores hired offensive coordinator Chan Gailey to transform the offense and potentially lighten the load for Parker and Gesicki by taking advantage of other players’ skill sets.
And the Dolphins surely have a new influx of players to help do so.
Instead of Fitzpatrick leading the team in rushing again, new running backs Matt Breida and Jordan Howard could compete for that standard alongside Kalen Ballage, Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin.
A successful emphasis on the
run game, which was nonexistent last season, would provide wonders in helping the Dolphins run a balanced offense.
Along with Parker and Gesicki, several other Dolphins receivers will have important roles to play.
Preston Williams, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear last season, led the Dolphins in receiving before he sustained his injury. He was a dynamic pass catcher who beat opponents one-on-one and has the potential to be one of the Dolphins’ three leading receivers this season.
Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant and new running back/receiver Malcolm Perry, Miami’s seventh-round pick in April’s NFL draft, are shifty speedsters who can line up outside or in the slot with impressive speed to gallop away from defenders once they get the football in their hands or take the top off the defense.
Gailey will likely have plays designed specifically to utilize players’ strengths, and create wrinkles on offense that could catch defenses by surprise.
Veteran Allen Hurns returns as a reliable pass catcher, while Isaiah Ford brings a steady, youthful eagerness to the slot-receiver position as both players have had their work ethics praised by Dolphins coaches.
One potential X-factor for the Dolphins is receiver Gary Jennings, who was lost to a shoulder injury after being acquired last season. Jennings is healthy again and says he can easily run a 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. He ran a 4.42 at the combine before being a fourth-round pick by Seattle in 2019.
Jennings caught 168 receptions for 2,294 yards and 17 touchdowns in four seasons at West Virginia, where he used his speed to run up the seams and his strength to win one-on-one matchups.
He could be a breakout receiver for the Dolphins offense, allowing Parker and Gesicki to carry lighter loads in 2020. reminders of what we might be expecting from the Islanders. But just kind of refreshing everybody and get it at a higher tempo every day.”
That day-to-day improvement has never been more consequential. While in a normal preseason camp the team would have weeks, if not months, to slowly ramp up, this pre-playoff extended camp such luxury.
The Panthers will get all of one exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 29 to find their game rhythm.
Three days later, they’ll be playing the biggest game the franchise has played in four years.
In that context, the extended training camp takes on an outsized importance. There are matters of fitness, technical skill, opponent preparation, internal strategy — all wrapped up into a
affords
no two-week span.
“Right off the hop, I think guys came in ready,” defenseman Brady Keeper said Tuesday. “Everybody was flying. But I think the passes, and people making those passes to their sticks, people [were] just competing harder.
“I think everybody’s ready for the games to start. And it’s pretty cool to be a part of [it], to be here and seeing all that.
Added Quenneville: “Getting up to speed technically is kind of an acquired taste, and I think getting an exposure to playing hockey and playing the way we want to play. The simplest part of that as well, just get it so it’s automatic, no hesitation, going to the right places.
“And that predictability, which we always want to have in our game, it can help us, and make us play quicker as well. We get that added [and] we’ll be very pleased.”
Tuesday, the team staged another intrasquad scrimmage, mixing in some of its younger “tier two” prospects with established veterans.
Florida will most likely practice Wednesday before taking Thursday off. Teams are scheduled to head to Toronto on Sunday. Less than a week after that, the Panthers will be on the ice playing the Islanders in a five-game qualifying-round series, starting Aug. 1 at 4 p.m.
“I think everyone’s feeling the excitement knowing how close we are,” forward Frank Vatrano said on Monday. “We can’t wait to get to Toronto and play those games.”