The 2018 NFL Draft is just 2 days away!  What better time to take a look at a position the Miami Dolphins have largely ignored or failed to adequately fill in over a decade!  Nope, not QB, although I’m sure some of you feel that way, no it’s TE!  If you just look at the names we’ve had in at TE it doesn’t seem nearly as bad, but trust me, we didn’t have that player when they were producing or healthy.  Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron, Dion Sims, Charles Clay,  Anthony Fasano, David Martin and finally Randy McMichael.  McMichael was our best TE out of this group, and David Martin was a nice #2 TE, but the rest, fughettaboutit!  It’s time to change that, and this particular draft has pretty decent depth, and I’d feel pretty comfortable with at least 3 prospects, so we do have a chance of finally drafting a TE early that will help this offense and make a major impact as a receiver.

Mike Gesicki  6’5 247 Penn State

Mike Gesicki would be my first choice at TE.  He’s not the best blocker at this point, in fact, he may be the player least likely to block, but I do think he may be the most dangerous receiver at TE.  You can teach a player to block, but you can’t teach speed and athleticism, and Mike Gesicki has that in spades.  At 6’5 247, with long 34″ arms, Gesicki ran the 40 in 4.54 seconds, put up 22 reps of 225, had an amazing 41.5″ vertical, a very fast 4.1 20 YD shuttle, and a 129″ broad jump.  This kid screams explosiveness. Gesicki made his presence felt as a Junior at Penn State, and had his breakout season.  He finished with 48 receptions for 679 yards and 5 TD’s, a very nice 14.5YPR.  In his Senior season, Gesicki caught 57 passes for 563 yards and 9 TD’s.   Mike Gesicki is the highest rated TE at NFL.com by a slight margin at 5.92.  Besides the long arms, at the end of those long arms are some big mitts, 10 1/8″ mitts.  I think Gesicki could be the missing piece that gets our offense going.  Having that fast TE threatening the seam will open things for our running backs, and also our other receivers.  We haven’t had a TE commanding any attention in far too long.

*********************************************************************

Hayden Hurst 6’4 250  South Carolina

Hurst is also a very athletic TE prospect,  He was actually in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as a pitcher, but left baseball and walked on at S. Carolina as a TE.  Hurst finally got his big chance his Sophomore year, and he took advantage of that chance and finished the season with 48 catches for 616 yards and a TD.  His Junior year was pretty consistent with his last season, 44 catches for 559 yards and 2 TD’s.  The one negative about Hurst is he will be a relatively old rookie at 25 years old.  Hurst did well at the combine as well, though not as good as Gesicki, running a 4.67 40, and a 31.5″ vertical.  Hurst is a better blocker than Gesicki, and at least has blocked, unlike Gesicki who is mainly used as a receiver.  Hurst has very good hands, registering only 1 drop against 100 receptions.  Hurst is rated at 5.90, 2nd highest rated TE.

***********************************************************************

Dallas Goedert 6’5 255  South Dakota State

Dallas Goedert has a lot of receptions on his resume, and many of them one handed acrobatic grabs as he is pictured making above.  He’s got talent, and although he’s Rock’s favorite, he worries me a bit.  First off, he played at South Dakota St. where he was a man among boys.  The guy covering him in that pic above looks smaller than me!  This is what worries me, he hasn’t played against tough coverage, and bigger defenders, and he surely will in the NFL.  An average LB in the NFL will likely be heads and shoulders better than anything he’s faced in college, so I think he has some challenges ahead of him. Goedert didn’t run the 40 at the combine or his pro day due to a hamstring injury, but he did some drills at his pro day.  Dallas had a nice 35″ vertical and a 10.1′ broad jump.  He also ran a nice 4.06 in the 20 YD shuttle, as well as a quick 6.87 in the 3 cone drill.  Goedert’s best season was his Junior year where he caught 92 passes for 1293 yards and 11 TD’s.   He’s rated as the 3rd best TE by NFL.com at 5.87

***************************************************************

Ian Thomas  6’4 259  Indiana

Thomas is one of the more well rounded TE’s in the draft.  He’s a good receiver as well as a good blocker as an in line TE.  He doesn’t have great speed, but he’s fast enough.  He actually has a remarkable story as far his upbringing, after losing both his parents at 9 years, and being raised by siblings.  He’s known as “Humble and focused” at Indiana,  and scouts say he loves football.  Thomas had his best season as a Senior after he transferred from community college a year earlier.  He caught 25 passes for 376 yards and 5 TD’s.  Although he didn’t perform the bench press at the combine or his pro day, Thomas is considered a powerful athlete. He has good run after the catch ability and is very physical separating from would  be tacklers.  Thomas does need coaching on route running and may have some more upside in that regard.  Thomas is somewhat of an unfinished product having played only 2 seasons, really 1 full season of college ball.  Thomas is rated at 5.82 at NFL.com

*****************************************************************

Dalton Schultz  6’6 242  Stanford

Schultz is actually at the other end of the spectrum from what I want for the Dolphins, because his actually a better blocking TE than receiver.  He may be one of the best blockers at TE in this draft.  His receiving stats are relatively dismal, his Senior year totals were 22 catches for 212 yards and 3 TD’s.  He wouldn’t be the guy I’d want as our 1st TE, but I wouldn’t mind him as our 2nd TE, with Gesicki spread out or in the slot.  He was a big part of the run game at Stanford and relied heavily as a run blocker.  He has the size, and I’m sure he’ll add even more weight once he hits a regular NFL lifting routine.  He’s expected to go around the 3rd or 4th RD, and honestly I wouldn’t mind doubling up on TE’s, although MarQueis Gray isn’t bad as a 2nd TE as a blocker either.  Schultz is rated at 5.70 at NFL.com

************************************************************

I know some of you have your favorites later in the draft, but I think it’s crucial to our team’s success that we get one of the top TE prospects in this draft, meaning IMO either Gesicki, Hurst or Goedert.  I feel if they pass on these guys, we’ll end with yet another JAG at the TE position, continuing the tradition here in MIA of ignoring the TE position.

PS – If you intend on attending this year’s Fest game, please vote on the poll on the right side underneath the 2018 schedule.  This way we can choose a date early and get those reservations taken care of!  Thanks, and happy voting!