The New England Patriots signed former Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki in March. Now, we are beginning to get a clearer picture as to how he will be used in New England.
Gesicki tallied 32 receptions for 362 yards and five touchdowns. The tight end may have been underutilized in Miami’s offense last season with coach Mike McDaniel installing a new offense. He is just two seasons removed from a campaign that saw him record 73 receptions for 780 yards.
New reports indicate that the Patriots wanted Gesicki to be more of a receiver, as New England looks to open up the offense under offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
This would help New England with pass-catching depth on a unit that already includes newcomer JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne. Tyquan Thornton will undoubtedly factor into the equation as well.
Doug Kyed of A to Z Sports further expanded on this idea:
A source said Gesicki isn’t expected to meet with wide receivers, but “he won’t be asked to do typical tight end blocking assignments either.”
That’s certainly sounds a little bit different from how he was used by McDaniel in Miami, when he lined up inline on 33 percent of snaps. That was up from 12 percent in 2021, 19.6 percent in 2020 and 22.7 percent in 2019. Gesicki played 59.7 percent of his snaps inline as a rookie in 2018.
Gesicki as more of a receiving tight end could work, as he tallied 1,481 receiving yards during his time at Penn State.
O’Brien is already familiar with his skill sets, having recruited him to the Nittany Lions. Now, they will get a chance to work together with Gesicki being viewed as an added receiving weapon.
