Where Should the Miami Dolphins Improve? Part One: Tight End

Mike McDaniel hasn’t emphasized adding to the position group. Should he?

Now that the dust has settled on a 2023 season that started with so much promise, fans can start to ask how this Miami Dolphins squad can get over the proverbial hump in 2024. Most fans have ideas on how the Dolphins can be better next season and we aim to investigate some of the more popular ones. We will start with one where popular opinion seems to stray particularly far from Mike McDaniel’s offseason priorities thus far in his Dolphins tenure: Tight End.

Why This Position Matters

The first thing thing we should talk about is what the tight end position requires. It looks a little bit different for every team & scheme in the NFL, but for McDaniel’s scheme the most important prerequisite is the ability to block at a (mostly) competent level. It’s why they let Mike Gesicki walk and why Durham Smythe got a new deal. There are successful tight ends in the NFL that can’t block to save their life, but with their emphasis on perimeter running, that won’t cut it in Miami.

If you can block and find voids in zones, you can carve out a nice little role in this offense (like Durham Smythe has). It’s not an easy skillset to master, but you can find those sorts of guys on just about every NFL roster. The upper tier of NFL tight ends have something else though; they’re dynamic athletes. They can get open against man coverage and when the ball is in their hands, they’re dangerous.

If you watched any of the NFL Playoffs this year, then you saw these types of players. The final four teams remaining (Ravens, Chiefs, Lions, and 49ers) had arguably the four best tight ends in the NFL. Mark Andrews, Travis Kelce, Sam LaPorta, and George Kittle are all difference makers on their offenses. Some are better blockers than others, but each one of them creates mismatches against defenses and consistently dominates against linebackers and safeties.

Where Are They Now?

Before we can talk about where to go, we need to look at where we are. The Dolphins let their best receiving tight end walk in free agency last offseason and had four different players take snaps at tight end this season. Let’s look at their number of offensive snaps and stats (if any) they recorded:

Durham Smythe: 839 snaps / 41 targets / 35 catches / 366 yards / 0 TD

Julian Hill: 360 snaps / 8 targets / 6 catches / 48 yards / 0 TD

Tanner Conner: 20 snaps / NO STATS RECORDED

Tyler Kroft: 43 snaps / NO STATS RECORDED

Pretty underwhelming, huh? Nobody used their tight ends less as receivers than the Miami Dolphins. They impacted games positively in other ways, but as receivers they were a total non-factor. There is some good reason for that (they have arguably the best WR tandem in the NFL), but it’s clear as day they are missing an aspect of this offense.

When teams were physical at the line of scrimmage and managed to take away Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, this offense sputtered. The lack of physicality in their passing game has been an area of concern since Mike McDaniel showed up and the best way to address that is through the tight end position. While it’s clear that McDaniel knows significantly more about the game of football than any of us, it is perplexing that they’ve not invested more into the position.

Before we look at the draft and free agency, the most obvious breakout candidate would be someone already on the roster. Durham Smythe is an established veteran player. He’s a great second receiving option at the position, but it’s fairly obvious we’ve seen his peak as an NFL player. He’s a nice complimentary piece, but lacks the dynamism required to be a true difference maker. At 31 years of age, Tyler Kroft fits into a similar mold as Smythe (we’ve seen what he can be). That just leaves Julian Hill and Tanner Conner; can either of them be special players in this offense?

Conner is a wide receiver convert and while he is undersized for the position, he probably has the most potential (and most impressive athletic testing) to be a factor as a pass catcher. His 4.5 40 yd dash, 39 inch vert, and 10’07” broad jump all point to him being an especially explosive athlete for the position. Julian Hill, who had the second most tight end reps this season-as a rookie, is closer to prototypical NFL tight end size. His athletic testing was respectable, but it would be a big jump for him to become a focal point of this offense. Long story short, there is some potential on this roster, but it seems unlikely there is a George Kittle hiding somewhere in that locker room.

Options This Offseason

There are some exciting players coming available this offseason, but with Miami’s current cap situation and lack of draft picks, it could be difficult for them to make any significant upgrade at the position. Let’s take a look at who is coming available…

Free Agency

There are no marquee free agents at this position that will demand top of the market money. The only one who may come close is tight end Dalton Schultz. Schultz is a capable in line blocker who can be a major factor as a pass catcher. He would be a clear and obvious upgrade at tight end, but it’s hard to know what the market will do. If its stagnant like it was last offseason, there is a possibility that Miami could land him at a discount… but it would surprising to see them spend big this offseason, which likely rules him out.

That means the more prudent move would be one of the second tier free agents. Hunter Henry, Noah Fant, Gerald Everett, Adam Trautman, or Austin Hooper. Fant and Everett are dynamic players and could be difference makers in the passing game, while Hooper and Henry are both balanced tight ends that are just a better version of what you already have. Trautman is mostly known as a plus-blocker, but wouldn’t be a big impact in the passing game. The best strategy here is to wait and see how it shakes out. There’s no clear cut favorite player to add, so see who is struggling to get a deal and potentially sign one of these players to an inexpensive, short term contract. If it works out, great! If it doesn’t, no big deal. The other possible (kind of funny) move, would be to bring back Mike Gesicki.

NFL Draft

We all know the big name here… the former Georgia Bulldog, Brock Bowers. Bowers is one of the better tight end prospects we’ve seen enter the draft in the last few years and is the clear cut favorite at his position. The fact that he plays a position that is typically undervalued by NFL teams, is the only reason that he could be available at 21. If he is, I would say run that pick in to the podium and don’t over think it. With that said, Chris Grier tends to only select high value positions in the first round (tackle, edge, quarterback etc…). For a lot of reasons, this one is likely a pipe dream.

Again, this leaves the second tier of tight ends available. Cade Stover, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Jaheim Bell, Theo Johnson, and Ben Sinnott are all possibilities. Sanders is the only player that would be in consideration in the second round, while the others would be late day two or day three selections. There are of course plenty more intriguing guys, but we won’t have a real idea of who the NFL covets until we get past the combine and pro days.

Final Thoughts

It was reported last year that Miami had their eyes on some tight end prospects that were off the board when they got up to the podium. Rather than just make a selection to fill a need, they opted to go after other prospects that intrigued them. I can respect that strategy, but it did leave a void in this roster and offense. Tight end is their weakest position (by a good margin) and improving there could go a long way to opening up the offense.

There is the possibility that Julian Hill or Tanner Conner could take a step forward to fill that void. If not, there are some options in free agency that would be clear upgrades… some more exciting than others. Finally, there are a number of intriguing players in the draft that could contribute day one on this offense. If it were me making the decision, here is what I would do…

Add a second tier free agent. Henry, Fant, or Hooper would immediately raise the floor when it came to receiving from the tight end position. Noah Fant would easily be the most interesting to see in McDaniel’s offense and could see a resurgence similar to Evan Ingram with the Jaguars a couple years ago. If Bowers is somehow available, I think you have to really consider him at 21. If not, trade up into the second half of day two and grab a Cade Stover if he’s available. You don’t need a major splash move at tight end to make this offense successful, but it has to be better than last year.