Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tight ends not a strength
Position has been a problem for Dolphins; talent needs to develop
Editor's note: With the start of Miami Dolphins’ training camp two days away, the South Florida Sun Sentinel looks at some of the team's top storylines on the eve of the 2018 season.
A tight end is necessary to produce a potent NFL offense because that position often serves as a safety value for quarterbacks when opponents apply pressure.
Tight ends create favorable mismatches, they help convert third downs on short passes, and they improve the offense’s chances of scoring touchdowns when the team reaches the red zone.
The Dolphins offense has struggled in many of these areas in recent years, and there’s an easy explanation why. It’s because Miami hasn’t had a decent starting tight end on the roster since Charles Clay signed with the Buffalo Bills as a free agent in 2015.
Since Clay’s departure there’s been a short list of disappointing former basketball players impersonating NFL tight ends. Jordan Cameron lasted a season and a half before the physicality of football, and his history of concussions, made him retire from the NFL.
Julius Thomas replaced Cameron in 2017, and his lack of speed, and horrendous
blocking turned him into a liability, and likely forced him into retirement if he doesn’t find a new home this season.
This offseason Miami decided to hedge their bets at tight end by adding Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe through the draft, signing a veteran with four seasons of in-game experience in Gavin Escobar, and continuing the development of three veterans in A.J. Derby, MarQueis Gray and Thomas Duarte, who has spent the past two seasons on Miami’s practice squad.
The Dolphins are attempting to turn Derby and Gray, two former college quarterbacks, into starting tight ends, and the team’s vision is to make Gesicki and Smythe complete tight ends in time.
The hope is that through opportunity and player development the Dolphins find reliable and consistent contributors at that position, which is supposed to serve as a staple in coach Adam Gase’s offense because the two tight end set is the base package.
Or at least it’s supposed to be, but that’s hard to achieve without one, if not two, respectable tight ends to put on the field.
Derby and Gray have a leg up on the competition because of their experience level, and familiarity with Gase’s offense.
Gray has proven that he’s an effective blocker, a valuable utility piece the past two seasons. And there’s been a respectable list of teams that have viewed Derby as promising developmental project before giving up on him.
Gesicki has a ton of athleticism, which could translate into playmaking talent in time, but it’s possible that the Dolphins might have to wait on him to adjust to the speed of the NFL game.
Clay, a sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft, wasn’t an immediate contributor. And it took him years to become an impactful target for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, so maybe in time the Dolphins will reap a favorable return from one of the team’s six tight end options. Training camp practice
schedule: Thursday (8:30 a.m.); Friday (8:30 a.m.); Saturday (8:30 a.m.); Sunday (8:30 a.m.); Monday (8:30 a.m.); Wednesday, Aug. 1 (8:30 a.m.); Thursday, Aug. 2 (8:30 a.m.); Friday, Aug. 3 (8:30 a.m.); Saturday, Aug. 4 (11 a.m. scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium); Monday, Aug. 6 (8:30 a.m.); Tuesday, Aug. 7 (8 a.m.); Sunday, Aug. 12 (8:30 a.m.); Monday, Aug. 13 (8:30 a.m.); Tuesday, Aug. 14 (8:30 a.m.)