Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

‘Flex weapon’ thriving

Dolphins have finally figured out how and when to use Gesicki

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MIAMIGARDE­NS— Maybe it is timewe stop focusing on what Mike Gesicki can’t do, and emphasize the things he’s good at. That’s right, it’s timewe strip the tight end position from his label and use the term “flex weapon” because that is a more fitting descriptio­n for this unique NFL player.

A year ago I would have used the term “limited,” to describe Gesicki, because that’s what he was as a tight end due to his shortcomin­gs as an in-line blocker.

But thatwas before the Dolphins found the team’s 2018 second-round pick a role that he could shine in.

These days Gesicki’s job is to serve as a pseudo slot receiver, a makeshift H-back put in motion on most plays he’s on the field while Durham Smythe handles the in-linework as Miami’s firstteam tight end.

That frees Gesicki up tomove all over the field, finding favorable mismatches that allowhim to use his combinatio­n of speed, athleticis­m, and length to attack the middle of the field, and the red zone.

Gesicki did just that on Sunday in Miami’s 31-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills, catching a career-high eight passes and turning them into 130 yards and one touchdown.

“Hewas getting open. When you get openwe get you the ball, whether it’s the tight ends, the backs or receivers,” coach Brian Flores said when asked about Gesicki maximizing his teamhigh 11 targets. “He did a good job throughout the game giving us some good plays whenwe needed them. We just needed a few more today.”

With the Bills missing two of their starting linebacker­s because of injuries, the Dolphinswe­re committed to attacking the middle of the field andGesicki­was one of the main beneficiar­ies of that game plan.

The fact Miamiwas able to use him in this fashion shows the growth he’s made the past two seasons.

I had major issues with Gesicki going back to when hewas drafted because the Dolphins selected a tight end they knew struggled as a blocker so early in the draft.

That selectionw­as hard to digest because a tight end I perceived to be a better fit— Dallas Goedert, who the Philadelph­ia Eagles selected seven picks later — was still sitting on the board.

And making matterswor­sewas the fact the Dolphins used a fourth-round pick to compensate for Gesicki’s shortcomin­gs to selectSmyt­he in the same draft. That’s means Miami, a team starving for talent, used two early draft picks on one position because of Gesicki’s limitation­s.

It didn’t make sense tome then, and Iwas convinced Iwas right after seeingGesi­cki get manhandled when asked to block in the first 25 NFL games he played in.

Then Miami apparently threw in the towel on trying to make Gesicki a respectabl­e blocker, and starting using him as a makeshift slot receiver in the second half of the 2019 season— and shift has paid off.

Gesicki began developing some chemistry with Ryan Fitzpatric­k, and the veteran quarterbac­k started to lean on Gesicki late in the 2019 season.

Based on what the pair achieved Sunday against the Bills, it seems they’re picking upwhere they left off in 2019.

“[After] the first game I thought I needed to get him some more targets,” Fitzpatric­k said. “Everyweek is different, every matchup. Is it man [coverage]? Is it zone [coverage]? He does a good job of finding the spots and isworking hard in practice to figure those things out.

“His confidence continues to rise, andwe’ll just continue to see

him get better.”

Gesicki is a hardworker, usually the last offensive player to leave the practice field each day. And his position coachGeorg­e Godsey pointed out his rise up the depth chart began when he started taking practice squad reps against the first-team defense along with his regular snaps with the offense.

“The coaches put guys on this team in position to be successful, and I’m just trying to playmy role,” said Gesicki, who caught 51 passes for 570 yards and scored five touchdowns last season.

All but 153 of those yards and15 of those receptions from Gesicki’s 2019 production came afterWeek 8, which is apparently when Miami’s new coaching staff figured out howto use him properly.

Nowit is on Miami’s new offensive coaches to continue turning up the volume on Gesicki’s play.

“Chan [Gailey] does a great job with the scheme, and Fitz putting the ball exactly where it needs to be,” Gesicki said, praising the Dolphins new offensive coordinato­r and the quarterbac­k who has mentored him going back to last season.

Gesicki’s merely giving credit to the man who is helping him become theweapon he has the potential to be.

“Anyone who has caught a football fromhim knowhe does a great job throwing the ball away fromthe defender and giving people a chance to be successful,” Gesicki said of Fitzpatric­k, who completed 31-of-47 passes, throwing for 328 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. “He deserves a ton of credit for everybody’s success on the field because he makes all his teammates better. That’s what makes him special.”

It’s also what has helped Gesicki thrive in his new role.

 ?? JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL ?? Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki goes up for a catch against the Bills in the second half of Sunday’s game at Hard Rock Stadium.
JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki goes up for a catch against the Bills in the second half of Sunday’s game at Hard Rock Stadium.
 ??  ?? Omar Kelly
Omar Kelly

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