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Dave Hyde: Dolphins might not miss Mike Gesicki, but they need someone to replace him

dave hyde, south florida sun-sentinel
·4 min read

MIAMI GARDENS — This is for the number crunchers, the analytic nerds, the ones who look at the Miami Dolphin receiver who wasn’t replaced this offseason and look to see how the changed machinery works.

For so much of Tuesday’s joint practice, the Dolphins receivers made their success look unfairly unpreventable, as if there was nothing Atlanta Falcons cornerbacks could have done against them in one-on-one drills in the middle of the field.

Really, what was a poor defender to do, running solo, when few, full secondaries could stop this receiving speed? Put rocks in Tyreek Hill’s cleats? Tie Jaylen Waddle’s shoestrings together? And then Braxton Berrios went deep on Atlanta, too?

“We won some battles, we lost some battles,” Atlanta cornerback Tre Flowers said afterward.

This gets to Tuesday’s losing part for the Dolphins offense, the part in search of an uncertain answer with the season a month away. And it’s not the part about protecting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that everyone is talking about.

Argue all you want over the right side of the offensive line — or, better yet, don’t bother. It’ll decided itself whether this offseason gamble on the development guard Liam Eichenberg or tackle Austin Jackson pans out. Veteran tackle Isaiah Wynn moving some to guard seems a statement on Eichenberg that could ripple across the line’s depth.

Here’s another decision that was made this offseason: They didn’t replace Mike Gesicki. You can understand not signing him, considering Gesicki’s price tag and his receiving skills didn’t fit an offense wanting a tight end who can block first.

The question becomes who will replace his big target and specialist’s role. That’s what this summer is about. This is where the number crunching from the likes of TruMedia comes into play.

Gesicki was on the field for two-thirds of the Dolphins’ third-down passes. The Dolphins converted 45 percent of those third downs. They converted 35 percent of the third-down passes without him on the field. So, his 6-foot-6 frame led to tangible results.

Then there’s the red-zone strategy. Gesicki led the Dolphins in red-zone targets with 13 last year. It makes sense. He’s big. Hill and Waddle are small. Sometimes in contained space it’s as simple as that, right?

So, when the Dolphins offense broke into red-zone work Tuesday there was interest in an early look at what they’d work on. Tagovailoa dropped to pass from the Atlanta 15-yard line, looked and looked, and threw a hard pass — “a javelin,” as Flowers said — across the middle for receiver Freddie Swain that linebacker Troy Andersen intercepted. Maybe he’d go the other way for a touchdown.

Tagovailoa then threw incomplete to Cedrick Wilson Jr. in the back of the end zone, as he did later to 6-2 Erik Ezukanma, who is working in a tight-end role at times. Hill caught a pass for a small reception. There were some runs mixed in there, as well as a swing pass to running back Raheem Mostert that might have had a good gain (there was no tackling).

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This was a day’s work, not a game’s consequence, and part of the summer is finding answers. Maybe new receiver Robbie Chosen, at 6-3, becomes that big target coming up, but he’s hasn’t established a role on the offense so far.

On the final play of the red-zone work, reserve quarterback Mike White tried to throw across the middle and was intercepted by safety Micah Abernathy. That summed up this period of work as well as what the Dolphins need to work on.

It’s not like Atlanta is a defensive force. It ranked 23rd in scoring, 27th in red-zone defense and 31st in sacks last season.

“They are a small team that has clearly got a lot of speed,” Atlanta defensive coordinator Jerry Gray said. “We’ve got a bigger football team. A little bit of a contrast, but if we want to be aggressive, we have to be able to cover those guys.”

The Dolphins, by contrast, have to find some red-zone answers. Gesicki’s 6-6 frame is now in New England. Can someone stand up tall this summer?