How many times have you watched a Dolphin’s game and wondered;
“why can’t Miami ever have a TE that’s worth a damn?” If you’re like
me then the answer to that question is about a billion times. It’s so
frustrating seeing teams have a guy who can consistently stretch the middle of
the field, who defenses must respect so that the guys on the outside can be put
in even better positions. Wouldn’t that be nice just once? Miami has gone
through a laundry list of TEs like their QBs who show up, play a bit, under
achieve, and get released within 3 years. Guys like McMichael, who might of
been the most consistent guy in the last 18 years, Donald Lee, Justin Peele,
David Martin, Fasano, who I truly enjoy being on the team as a backup and love
what he did in 2008 and even this year at times, crappy draft picks that
somehow never even materialized into actual snaps in actual games like Egnew
and Duarte, Keller who never really got going due to that disgusting injury and
of course the gross Julius Thomas. I’m sure I’m missing several other misses.
All just a bunch of dudes who were at the very most were just “nice”
players. Never guys that defenses had to really game plan for. Just guys that
occasionally can make a play if the situation was perfect. This year via the
draft, Miami can select a guy who can be a difference maker right from the
start at TE and that’s PSU’s Mike Gesicki.

Mike
Gesicki is projected in all the top dogs of draft “expert”
projections as a top 5 TE prospect so he realistically will be drafted at the
very most late 1st round and very least somewhere in the 2nd round. I wouldn’t
be surprised if somebody reached for him because the guy is a freak athlete. If
you ever watched any PSU game you heard the announcers mention about a dozen
times how Gesicki played volleyball in high school because that’s a metric that
apparently means something. And you couldn’t escape a PSU game without seeing a
video of him dunking.
Pretty
cool video I know but again tough to equate this to NFL pass catching but ever
since Antonio Gates, this is the world we live in. But on the football field,
Gesicki is a freak pass catcher. He’s 6’6″ has very soft enormous hands
and as you can plainly see from all his boomshakalaka type dunks, he can jump
out of the building which should bode nicely for him in the red zone something
Miami consistently underachieves at.
The
way the NFL is constructed is an NFL where receivers can freely go down the
middle without anyone trying to kill them like it was in 1995. The rules
benefit and protect offense and teams like the Saints, Patriots, Eagles,
Chiefs, Chargers, and others who have been using these “hybrid” TEs
that who are more receiver than anything has done well for themselves on that
side of the ball. Look at a guy like Evan Ingram. Years ago, there wasn’t a
place for him due to him being so lean. Today, he has a chance to be a top 7ish
or better TE. Make no mistake, Gesicki is not going to the NFL to run block.
He’s suspect at that and pretty much isn’t a fan of it. His job is to catch the
ball and run fast with it after he catches it. That’s what he does, and he does
it very well. Not sure how Miami would meander a way to select him but if they
want him, they can get him.
It’s
important that I say that I am a PSU alumnus. But I will also say that although
I’d rather them do well, I don’t live and die with them like Miami. If they
lose, oh well. If they win, cool. I watched enough PSU games to see when the
offense makes it a point to get Gesicki the ball it typically works well for
them. When Miami tried getting the ball to Julius Thomas on no less than 4,000
fade routes, the results were disgusting and sad. Not saying Gase can’t figure
out how to use a guy like Gesicki but thinking Thomas was going to be anything
like he was in Denver with Manning was just wishful thinking and everyone knew
it was going to go exactly like it did. So, let this be the year Miami
addresses the TE position in a smart way and gets Gesicki so that they don’t
have to worry about that position for 5 years and possibly more. Or, Miami
drafts Gesicki and ends he up being like Egnew and Duarte. That be par for the
course
Here’s
some obligatory Gesicki highlights

@2ndSatSports