Miami Dolphins week one X factor: It could be Mike Gesicki

The Miami Dolphins enter their regular season opening “game week” with more than a few questions but Mike Gesicki is one that we can’t answer.

Mike Gesicki is a top tight end and when this season is over, he will likely be paid as one of the top four in the league. Earlier this week, the Buffalo Bills extended their tight end, Dawson Knox, making him a top 5 paid tight end.

Knox is good but Mike Gesicki is better.

Gesicki’s biggest off-season question is whether or not he will transition to an inline tight end or remain in the slot. This weekend we get an answer to that. Mike McDaniel focused a lot of time during camp getting Gesicki prepped to play next to the tackle. Work on his blocking and run specifically more tight end style routes.

My question is when the game is in action, the Dolphins are moving the ball, trying to win their first game, will McDaniel move Gesicki to the outside?

Gesicki will be Miami’s X-Factor on offense this week. His blocking or lack thereof could be beneficial or detrimental to establishing a solid rushing attack. I suspect that if Gesicki lines up inside, Bill Belichick will try to test his ability to block his fast linebackers.

Gesicki won’t just be used as a blocking tight end though. He will run routes of the tight line formation and that is where he can become the mismatch that McDaniel needs in the passing game.

We have to assume that Belichick will try and take away Tyreek Hill and use zone or press coverage on Jaylen Waddle as they attempt to take away Miami’s speed. We talked about this earlier in the week when discussing the Belichick game plan.

If New England takes out Hill and Waddle, they will need to at the very minimum use three possibly four defenders to cover them or at least account for them. Miami’s running game could create more problems if it can be successful. That puts Mike Gesicki in an interesting situation where he could peel off blocks and face no coverage or interior linebackers in coverage.

Gesicki could have a big game but it is what he does on the line of scrimmage that might be the biggest factor in this game.