Predicting the Miami Dolphins 2020 tight end roster
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins may make some changes to their tight end unit ahead of 2020.
For the Miami Dolphins, the tight end position really starts and ends with Mike Gesicki but how many they carry into the season needs answering.
The Dolphins will enter the 2020 training camp season with five tight ends on the roster but they could honestly start the season with only two. That may sound unlikely but it wouldn’t be the first time.
Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe, Michael Roberts, Chris Myarick, and Bryce Sterk are the five who will enter the camp. We know that Gesicki is a lock to make the roster but can we be so certain about Smythe?
The Miami Dolphins on Saturday traded a 2021 sixth-round draft pick for tight-end Adam Shaheen. Taken in the 2017 draft by the Chicago Bears, Shaheen has starting experience but still has a lot of room to grow and develop. With 13 starts in 27 games, Shaheen has posted 26 receptions for 249 yards and four touchdowns.
Logic tells me that Smythe is as close a lock as he can be but he will need to have a good camp and take a step forward in his development. He should make the team barring a really bad camp or injury and given the modest investment in Shaheen, he should have a good shot as well.
The battle for the 3rd tight-end spot is really between, Shaheen, Roberts and Myarick. All three have experience playing but Roberts and Shaheen have more years in the league. That really doesn’t mean much. Entering camp prior to Saturday, Myarick may have had the outside chance of making the roster as the third, now he might have to hope the Dolphins carry four.
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My roster predictions at the top are easy with Smythe and Gesicki but I do think Miami carries three and they should. Too many unknowns, like injury and even the pandemic, could put the team in a bind. I’m just not sure who will take the 3rd spot.
I can rule out rookie Bryce Sterk unless for whatever reason he shows up like another Nik Needham or Preston Williams and shocks everyone. No, this race is between the other three.
Predictions: Gesicki, Smythe, and Shaheen.
I give the nod to Myarick for a final fourth TE because he and Roberts are pretty equal but I think Myarick has more potential and upside and has shown enough in his one NFL season. More likely I don’t think the Dolphins carry four TEs but instead will put Myarick on the practice squad instead.
With the tight-ends and the quarterbacks finished, we add six more to our 53 man roster bringing our total so far to 35.