Best Miami Dolphins tight ends since the year 2000
By Shawn Digity
The Miami Dolphins tight-end superstars, or anything even remotely close, have been few and far between in the last 20 years, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some really good athletes to take on the role.
Charles Clay
It seems strange to go down this avenue, but, at one point, Charles Clay was one of the most athletic up-and-comers at the tight end position. He was one of the most exciting weapons for the Miami Dolphins once upon a time.
Charles Clay had some spectacular plays that led to his media emergence in 2013. Then, it led to his being ranked in the top 100 players for the 2014 season, in which he placed 89th.
That year Charles Clay had several highlight-reel worthy plays, such as this one. It’s hard to believe that Clay has already spent four years with the Bills after he was poached away from the Dolphins with a lucrative free agency deal back in 2015 and is now with the Cardinals. Charles Clay was only in Miami for four years but made the most of his ’13 and ’14 seasons.
Charles Clay was a symbol of the peak Tannehill era, back when many of us Dolphins fans still had high hopes for the offensive unit. He had some great plays during his time in the Miami limelight and was at one point one of my favorite players.
Clay might not have been a huge, household name for the casual fan, but for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, he was a legitimate threat, and his sixth-round tag made him a bit of an underdog.
Randy McMichael
Randy McMichael was a 2002 fourth-rounder for the Miami Dolphins, but he was only with the team for five seasons and eventually found his way onto the Rams and Chargers into the early 2010s. As far as accolades, McMichael never stood out over guys like Jason Witten, Dallas Clark, and Vernon Davis, but he was a Pro Bowl alternate one year in 2004.
McMichael might’ve also been overshadowed by the wide receivers the time, Chris Chambers and Marty Booker, as well. But McMichael was still able to niche out a nice career before the tight end boom of the early and mid-2010s.
Anthony Fasano
Look, I’m not wild about it either. I can’t say that I was ever a huge fan of Fasano’s during his six total seasons with the Miami Dolphins, but his tenure with the team is somehow unprecedented at the position in the past 20 years.
Anthony Fasano was a serviceable tight end at both blocking and receiving. He wasn’t a superstar but rose to the occasion sometimes.
In his most recent season (2017) with the Dolphins, he was the beneficiary of the grandiose Cutler experiment and conjured up a whopping two touchdown passes.
The Sad Truth
It might come as surprise but the Miami Dolphins tight ends haven’t been world beaters, at least not this century. There were some studs in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, though.
That’s one reason why I’m still on the Mike Gesicki bandwagon and why I was super excited when the Miami Dolphins drafted him in the second round in last spring’s draft.
The athleticism is there; I just hope he blossoms this year. I don’t want to have another Michael Egnew situation again. Here’s hoping that Gesicki is in that new wave.