Miami Dolphins training camp will see tough TE competition
By Brian Miller
One of the biggest questions heading into the 2019 Miami Dolphins training camp is how will the team utilize their tight ends.
The Miami Dolphins have been trying to figure out how to use the tight end position to better their offense. Frankly, the team has never really figured that out. Now, that job belongs to Chad O’Shea and Brian Flores.
If there is one thing going for the position and O’Shea, it is that he comes from an offensive system that uses the TE position to perfection. Dolphins fans will settle for half of that considering what they have had the last decade-plus.
This year the camp competition at the position is going to be good, better than it has been in many years if you want to call what they have had previously competition. Miami will enter training camp, as of this writing, with six TEs on the roster. None, however, will be under the microscope more than Mike Gesicki.
Gesicki is supposed to be the Dolphins solution to the position long-term but a very mediocre rookie season has many believing that he will simply be another bust in a long line of past busts. Gesicki is a pass catching TE with all the athleticism to make plays but was his rookie season dead in the water, or rather beached, by Adam Gase’s poor play calling and use of Gesicki primarily as a blocker or was it Gesicki himself?
He won’t enter camp this year with a semi-battle at the position. He will need to win playing time because the Dolphins will rely on Dwayne Allen who is a superb blocking TE who can also catch the ball. Chances are the Dolphins will try to use two TE sets often to get both on the field. Gesicki is a lot better catching passes and running routes than Allen but there is no comparison between the two when it comes to blocking.
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Miami also has Clive Walford, a four-year veteran, who will compete with second-year player Durham Smythe. It is unclear what Brian Flores will do at the position or how many TEs he plans to carry on the final 53 man roster. We will make our predictions on that one later.
Also heading to Dolphins camp are Nick O’Leary who signed a short extension last year and Chris Myarick. Myarick is a long-shot to make the roster but O’Leary is interesting. He can catch the ball well enough and made plays last year but his contract is not guaranteed and the Dolphins have talent at the position.
While there is talent here camp should separate them and it will be an interesting watch for fans as camp progresses.