The Miami Dolphins held the ball on offense for less than 21 minutes in Week 4's loss to the Vikings in Minnesota. That didn't leave many opportunities for quarterback Malik Willis to air it out, nor did tight end Greg Dulcich get to make much of an impact.
But Week 5 offers the oft-criticized Willis, Dulcich, and Miami's to-date anemic passing attack the ultimate shot at redemption. Dulcich had five receptions for 55 yards on seven targets in Week 3 against the Chiefs, and could be in for an even bigger outing versus Cincinnati.
Especially given the Bengals' suspect linebacker play and shorthanded secondary, Dulcich could absolutely pop off on Sunday.
Bengals are notoriously bad at covering tight ends, which bodes well for Miami Dolphins TE Greg Dulcich
No team has allowed more receiving yards to tight ends through four games than the Bengals, who've yielded 409, as my Stripe Hype colleague Glenn Adams recently noted. Talk about a favorable matchup for Greg Dulcich, eh?
This has been a problem for Cincinnati dating back to last season, and probably prior to then as well. As FanSided's resident expert on the team, I try to block out those memories.
Miami should be game-planning to feature Dulcich prominently. Key words being should be.
Bengals cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill are going to probably have Malik Washington in a pretzel whether he lines up in the slot or on the boundary. Thus, the Dolphins need someone else to step up on Willis' behalf. With Caleb Douglas looking like he'll miss another game and Chris Bell being more of a boom-or-bust type guy, Dulcich is the obvious next-best option.
Will the Dolphins actually play Greg Dulcich enough to make an impact?
Greg Dulcich is an excellent athlete and a dynamic pass-catcher when given the shot to play that role. Although the Dolphins should be doing what they can to establish the run with Ollie Gordon II, Jaylen Wright, and even using Willis' legs, it'd behoove them to make Dulcich a top priority.
In Week 4, however, rookie tight end Will Kacmarek out-snapped Dulcich 24-20. Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik also runs a staggering amount of 21 personnel, when, to me, 12 personnel would be the much more sensible approach.
According to SumerSports, the Dolphins run 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end) at the NFL's third-highest rate, and 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) at the second-lowest rate.
Giving Dulcich and Kacmarek more time on the field together would make Miami's run-pass splits less predictable. Kacmarek is almost exclusively a blocking specialist, and Dulcich is underrated in that department while bringing much more receiving upside.
A dual-back set of Gordon and Wright, with Malik Washington left to fend for himself on the perimeter against an elite cover corner like DJ Turner, would be game-planning malpractice by Slowik and the Dolphins' offensive staff. They can so easily avoid that, um...avoidable personnel crunch by just deploying Dulcich and Kacmarek in more 12 personnel sets.
Dulcich can really make the Bengals pay...if Miami lets him cook. We'll see how Slowik and Co. decide to play it.
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