Conner, Kion Smith, Tindall, Ezukanma try to make case after years in Miami
If you have ever owned a business, perhaps you have had a young employee who has made some mistakes, or been late to work, or hasn’t done the job exactly how it needs to be done.
But you see potential in the employee, enough talent and work ethic to keep investing more time in that person. But you’re still waiting for the payoff.
That’s the predicament for a handful of Dolphins who have been around for years but haven’t yet done anything significant in a regular-season game.
The Dolphins are determined to see the process through with tight end Tanner Conner and linebacker Channing Tindall and receiver Erik Ezukanma, who all are entering their fourth year with the team. They want to keep investing time in offensive lineman Kion Smith, who has played just 70 offensive snaps in four years.
At some point, there must be a payoff. And they know it.
Conner, who has had a good training camp, is so eager to validate the Dolphins’ faith that coach Mike McDaniel has told him to be easier on himself.
“Early in my career, I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he said. “The biggest coaching point Mike has given me the past couple of years is to stop caring as much as I do. That has to go with me being over critical of myself and being self-destructive. I’m trying to go out there and have fun, with a positive mind-set, be confident. Mistakes are going to happen. They happen with everybody, even the best guys.”
After earning All Big Sky honors as a wide receiver in his final two seasons at Idaho State, Conner joined the Dolphins after the 2022 draft and immediately transitioned to tight end. Along the way, there have been tantalizing moments during summer practices — including receptions on deep throws and contested catches over the middle. The blocking has improved.
But there have been setbacks, including a knee injury that ended his 2024 season in mid-November.
He has been signed or reverted to the practice squad on four occasions, while also spending significant time on the 53-man roster.
But after three seasons, his body of work is modest: three catches for 16 yards (all last season) in 24 games, including one start, with 70 total snaps on offense and 297 on special teams.
“I feel like my whole career I’ve been the understudy of Mike Gesicki, Jonnu Smith, Darren Waller, the guy who takes the reps when they’re not there. I’m not naive to the fact we have a Pro Bowler in the building [Waller] and he’s been great. He helped me [Tuesday] on a few routes.”
The message from tight ends coach Jon Embree?
“In the run game, try to be more efficient. I’m the smallest tight end we have,” said Conner, who is 6-3 and 237 pounds. “When I go against the same guys they go against, it’s a little harder.”
He must have good pad level, operate deftly on his feet and play with aggression “because that’s the only way I can really make a block at my size. I do a lot of heavy lifting in the offseason. I get as strong as humanly possible.”
Tindall, meanwhile, is approaching bust territory as a former third-round pick, selected 102nd overall, in 2022.
He didn’t play a single defensive snap last season and has logged just 21 defensive snaps and 588 special teams snaps in three seasons. He has 16 career tackles (none for loss), and the Dolphins have never been able to seize on the pass rush skills he displayed at Georgia, where he had 12 sacks in 50 games, including 5.5 in his final college season.
Every year, the Dolphins have signed veteran backups instead of projecting Tindall for a rotation role. This season, the room is loaded again, with Jordyn Brooks, Tyrel Dodson and new additions Willie Gay Jr. and K.J. Britt. That likely leaves Tindall as no more than the No. 5 inside linebacker, if that.
Does he feel like he’s battling simply to make the team? “I don’t try to focus on those things,” he said Tuesday.
Multiple Dolphins coaches have said they haven’t considered using him as an outside linebacker/edge defender because he’s not big enough at 6-2 and 235 pounds.
Has it been difficult for Tindall watching the Dolphins sign veteran backup inside linebackers every year? “I look at every year as a lesson,” he responded.
His biggest area of growth this offseason? “Mentally,” he said. “Knowing what I need to do and breaking on the ball faster.”
Smith, 26, has been here even longer than Tindall and Conner; he joined the Dolphins’ practice squad in September 2021 after spending five months with the Atlanta Falcons, who signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Fayetteville State.
He missed all of last season with a torn ACL sustained in preseason. His four seasons in Miami have included multiple stints on the practice squad and just 70 offensive snaps (all in 2023) and 45 on special teams.
Though he’s a natural tackle, Smith said the Dolphins are using him both at guard (where he played some in preseason last year) and tackle. “I played a little [guard] in college - it’s pretty natural,” he said.
Though his ability to play multiple positions should help his chances of sticking, he cracked “I think playing good football will help me the best.”
Smith said offensive line coach Butch Barry has encouraged him to “run off the ball, be physical and [play with] elite technique.” At 6-5 and 300 pounds, he says his skill set fits this offense because he can play with speed and physicality. General manager Chris Grier has told him, essentially, that he likes his work ethic, Smith said.
Among Dolphins who have been on the team for at least three seasons, the clock also is ticking on receiver Erik Ezukanma, who has just one catch for three yards and five rushes for 22 yards over three seasons. He missed much of the 2023 season with a neck injury; last season, he wasn’t promoted from the practice squad to the active roster until Dec. 28.
Drafted in the fourth round in 2022, Ezukanma logged just 10, 29 and 18 offensive snaps the past three seasons and just two on special teams. He has a couple drops but also at least 10 receptions in training camp.
“I feel like it was a very humbling experience I might have needed,” Ezukanma said late last season after spending most of the season on the practice squad. “...Being a pro is more than being a good football player.”
This could be his final NFL chance, at least here. If he makes the team, he will earn $1.1 million in the final season of his rookie contract; none of that money is guaranteed. Tindall ($1.4 million), Conner ($1.1 million) and Smith ($1 million) also must make the team to earn any of that money.
This seems to be the year they either contribute, or the Dolphins cut bait. But like cats, they seem to have nine lives.
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM.
