The Miami Dolphins rookies are set to return to the team facility this week, while veterans report a week later before the start of training camp.
This is the point of the offseason where fans and media assess rosters and players and compare them to one another. Positional rankings have been flying from nearly every outlet, including Touchdown Wire.
This week, Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield was tasked with putting together the list of the top 12 tight ends in the NFL along with some honorable mentions.
Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki was listed at No. 9 in the ranking. He’s been an impact player during his first four years with Miami, making a ton of plays in the middle of the field. His touchdown production has been lower than he or the team would like (just 13 career touchdowns), and his blocking hasn’t been up to the level one would expect from an NFL tight end.
That will likely come into play this year, the first under new coach Mike McDaniel. McDaniel will implement an offense that uses the position in-line a fair amount. Last season, Gesicki only lined up in-line on 7.4% of his offensive snaps.
He could still be successful essentially as a receiver, but he’d likely have to have the elite skills of Kyle Pitts, Travis Kelce or Darren Waller to climb this list for 2023.
Here’s what Schofield wrote about Gesicki:
Like other members of this list, Mike Gesicki could be consider more of a “move tight end,” a “big slot receiver,” or perhaps the new en vogue term coined by Nate Tice of The Athletic: A power slot.
Gesicki saw the bulk of his snaps last year — 453 of those according to Pro Football Focus — in the slot. He saw another 252 snaps in a wide alignment, leaving just 99 of his snaps in a traditional in-line role.
Still, the production, as well as the problems he causes for defenses based on his alignment and usage, makes him a dangerous weapon for the Miami Dolphins. Gesicki turned in some career-high numbers last season, catching 73 passes (on 112 targets) for 780 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also set a career-high with 39 catches going for first downs.
