Miami Dolphins addressing same positions over and over, this time at tight end | Opinion
If you’ve watched how the Dolphins have constructed their roster in recent years you’ve probably done your share of head scratching. Some things have seemed, well, curious ...
...Like having four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster at the start of last season.
...Like having four tight ends on the 53-man roster and one on the practice squad during the season.
...Like having T.J. McDonald on the roster through training camp and, having never seen him play a regular-season game on the team, giving him a contract extension just before he serves an NFL mandated suspension.
...Like having Reshad Jones under contract for another year but giving him a four-year extension that carries through age 33.
...Like having safeties McDonald and Jones locked up with big contracts, and having signed Bobby McCain to a new contract as the league’s highest-paid nickel corner. And then still using the first pick in the draft on Minkah Fitzpatrick, who is either a safety or a nickel corner.
This last one is still being sorted out. The Dolphins either have three starting safeties in Fitzpatrick, Jones and McDonald when you need only two, or they have two nickel corners in Fitzpatrick and McCain when you only need one.
The team, meanwhile, lacks a starting boundary cornerback. It doesn’t have one now. It didn’t really have one last year that was set at the position. It went through three in 2017 and none of those guys -- Tony Lippett, Cordrea Tankersley and Byron Maxwell -- were the consistent answer, either.
All this puzzles sometimes.
Did I mention the re-signing of Andre Branch in 2017 just before the use of a first-round draft pick on Charles Harris? And then trading for Robert Quinn last year?
(Harris is going to be the only one of those left on the team once the league year begins next week. But even he has been a disappointment his first two NFL seasons).
So too much activity at certain spots, such as safety or nickel cornerback. Not enough activity at other spots, such as cornerback, to fill needs. And yet other spots, like defensive end, filled with activity that still fails to properly address the position.
Now, by the way, we’re back to tight ends.
The Dolphins drafted Mike Gesicki in the second round and Durham Smythe in the fourth round last year. That was after they extended MarQueis Gray’s contract before the end of 2017 and also added A.J. Derby off waivers.
Well, Gray blew out his Achilles last training camp and Derby did what he has often done during his career, which is he got hurt and finished the year on injured reserve. By then, however, the Dolphins had picked up Nick O’Leary on waivers from Buffalo.
And they liked O’Leary enough that they signed him to a 2019 contract that is scheduled to cost $1.1 million against the cap.
So after all that addition of tight ends the team has three guys:
Miami has a blocking tight end in Smythe.
An H-back type in O’Leary.
And, well, a supposed downfield threat and pass-catcher in Gesicki -- although I saw nothing in his first year that suggests consistency on the horizon.
That calls for trying to sign another tight end!
And probably a fairly expensive one at that.
The Dolphins on Thursday evening hosted a free agent visit from Dwayne Allen. The visit will continue into Friday morning.
Allen, 29, was cut by the New England Patriots after two seasons. He played for Indianapolis for five seasons before that.
And I like Dwayne Allen if we’re talking about him in a vacuum. He can block. He can catch, although the Patriots didn’t need him to do much of that. And he’s great in the locker room. The guy is absolutely a culture addition for any team.
No wonder the Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens wanted to talk to him before the Dolphins did. The Ravens, by the way, seem out of the picture now that they re-signed Nick Boyle.
So what would be the vision for Allen on the Dolphins?
The possibilities:
New Dolphins coaches, following their tape study of Smythe and Gesicki as rookies, decided one of those two isn’t good enough and the team desperately needs to upgrade.
Or new Dolphins coaches, following their tape study of Smythe and Gesicki as rookies, decided one of those two isn’t good enough and perhaps having Allen around to be an example and set the tone in the tight end room could salvage the youngsters.
Adding Allen to the team would be added to the list of curious Dolphins roster-building and management moves.
Why?
Because no team puts three tight ends on the field for 40-50 snaps a game. So paying Allen enough to outbid Detroit and Buffalo less than 12 months after spending significant draft capital on both Gesicki and Smythe is curious.
It feels like the Dolphins keep trying some moves over and over until they get it right. And they might be doing it again -- this time at tight end.
By the way, what happens if Allen doesn’t sign with Miami?
Will the Dolphins continue fishing for another proven tight end in free agency for the second time in three years? Or will they be looking for a tight end in the draft one year after they selected two in the draft?
Curious.
This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 1:26 AM.
