Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
TE Gray a ‘crucial’ component
Veteran solidifying his value in blocking
DAVIE — MarQueis Gray has been around the NFL block a couple times already so he knows how unstable a player’s footing can be when it comes to position battles, and roster spots.
Considering he’s playing for his fifth team in five years, it’s evident that Gray has been through the meat grinder of roster churning, which explains why he’s not taking his standing as the Miami Dolphins’ starting tight end for the past two weeks of training camp too seriously.
“Nobody’s job is safe,” Gray said, referring to the six tight ends competing for two starting spots, and three or four spots on Miami’s 53-man regular-season roster. “Everyone knows it’s a tight end competition going on right now and being out there every day helps a lot.”
That’s why Gray is pushing through a right leg injury he suffered in the second week of camp, continuing to practice through the pain to ensure nobody closes ground on him as the Dolphins’ starting Y-tight end, which primarily serves as an in-line blocker.
A.J. Derby held the starting F-tight end spot the first week of camp, but a foot injury that sidelined him for a week allowed rookie tight end Mike Gesicki, Miami’s second-round pick this year, to gain ground on him by impressing the coaches and his teammates with his route running and ability as a red-zone weapon.
Gesicki has plenty of work to do when it comes to blocking, but it appears that battle with Derby and Thomas Duarte is ongoing.
As for the Y spot, Gray has been stiff arming his competition — veteran free agent Gavin Escobar and rookie Durham Smythe, Miami’s fourth-round pick in 2018 — and appears to be well on his way to becoming the season-opening starter if he’s healthy.
Gray has filled in as a starter for 14 games during his career, seven of which were with the Dolphins in 2016, which happens to be his most productive NFL season. That season Gray caught 14 passes for 174 yards, but more importantly, he was an instrumental blocker during Jay Ajayi’s big games, serving as a catalyst for Miami’s effective running game that season.
But those starts were a byproduct of injuries to other players, not Gray’s performance in practice. This time around, Gray appears to be showing his skills are deserving of recognition.
According to coach Adam Gase, the biggest jump Gray has made in his game from the previous two seasons is the mental aspect.
“He’s right where he wants to be because it’s more of he’s reacting and not thinking,” Gase said.
“You’re working with different guys all of the time — tackles, another tight end, a receiver might come down that you have to do something with, pass protection, the routes. You have to be sharp. You have to be able to pick things up. I think the longer you’re in one spot, it helps you.”
What Dolphins tight end coach Shane Day likes most about Gray is his versatility. Throughout his career in Miami, Gray has serves as the in-line tight end (the Y), he’s worked as the flexedout player, and he’s played fullback, blocking in the backfield.
Miami’s coaches acknowledge that his background as a college quarterback at Minnesota has helped him grasp the playbook faster than most players, and his ability to fill all those roles makes him a complement to every tight end he could potentially get paired with.
“His versatility lets us kind of move the other guys around, and it’s very valuable,” Day said. “I mean I can’t tell you how valuable it is. It’s crucial.”
The Dolphins plan to lean on Gray so much this season Miami’s coaches are scaling back his special teams work, which is the unofficial signal that he’s arrived as a starter.