Miami Dolphins Grier tried to replace Gesicki but so far has failed
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins knew this off-season was coming and that losing Mike Gesicki to free agency might be a real possibility. They tried and failed to replace him.
It is pretty clear that 2022 was not a good year for Mike Gesicki. He wasn’t used to the level that Dolphins fans had grown accustomed to and he was put in a position to block more than catch passes. Pure and simple, he wasn’t the TE Mike McDaniel needed.
Making the whole thing worse was the fact that Chris Grier opted to franchise-tag Gesicki. It was great for Gesicki but the $10 million given the way the team used him, could have been used somewhere else.
Grier knew this day was coming. Two years ago he traded up in the draft to take a tight end, Hunter Long. A solid prospect out of Boston College, Long was supposed to be the guy to replace Gesicki but in reality, he hasn’t been able to make the jump to the NFL.
Injuries have plagued his two years so far and he has missed game after game making a bigger appearance on the inactive list rather than the active roster.
In his two seasons, Long has one reception on three targets. He has two starts in the 16 games he was active. If Chris Grier targeted Long to eventually replace Gesicki, he missed. If he targeted Long to be a number two alongside Gesicki, he missed.
Pure and simple? So far, Chris Grier missed on Hunter Long and now, the team will pay for it.
The Dolphins will enter the 2023 off-season with a huge need at the position and frankly, there is no reason to believe that Hunter Long is the guy that will anchor the unit. There is still a lot of growth potential with Long and maybe he turns it around if he can stay healthy. TE is one of the toughest positions to learn in the NFL and he has a lot more to learn.