Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Can he hold off a second-year competitor for the backup spot?
The Miami Dolphins have wrapped up their rookie minicamp, organized team activities and mandatory minicamps and will return to the Baptist Health Training Complex near the end of July to prepare for the 2023 regular season.
Before that, we’ll be going through the majority of Miami’s roster to preview their background, projected role and bottom line with the team entering training camp.
After looking at starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday, we’ll move to his backup – Mike White.
Miami would greatly benefit from a breakout season from the second-year TE.
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Over the last few months, the Miami Dolphins have essentially overturned their entire tight end room.
Miami allowed Mike Gesicki, the team’s top tight end in recent years, to hit free agency and sign with the New England Patriots. They traded 2021 third-round pick Hunter Long to the Los Angeles Rams as part of the package to acquire cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Special teams contributor Cethan Carter was cut before the league year officially opened and has remained unsigned. And, Adam Shaheen, who missed all of 2022 after a knee issue popped up during a physical, also remains an unsigned free agent.
Only two tight ends remain from last season – Durham Smythe and Tanner Conner. The former is expected to be the team’s starter while the latter will be battling through training camp with Eric Saubert, Tyler Kroft, Elijah Higgins and Julian Hill for opportunities in the regular season.
Conner was an undrafted free agent in 2022 after a collegiate career at Idaho State where he played wide receiver. Like Higgins, this year’s sixth-round selection, he made the transition to tight end at the pro level.
Unfortunately for the former Bengal, he failed to catch a pass in his rookie season. However, in preparing for his second year, Conner told the media at last week’s minicamp that he’s put on roughly 10 pounds of muscle that can be useful for the position.
“Last year was a very stressful year, and I wasn’t eating as well as I should have,” Conner said (transcribed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel). “So this year, this offseason, I made it a goal to be more routine with my eating. I got in the weight room. I did my whole offseason here with (head strength and conditioning coach Dave Puloka) and the guys.”
It’s not just about the physical stuff, though. Conner also is starting to pick up the intricate aspects of the NFL and Mike McDaniel’s playbook that make adjusting to the league extremely challenging, especially while changing positions.
“Coming into it this year, way more comfortable,” Conner said. “I feel like the game has slowed down for me, at least from a knowledge standpoint. It’s been a big learning curve for me and last year was really rough, but it’s good to see the first-year labor finally start to see improvement this year.”
Luckily for Conner, the role that he’s best suited for appears to be a wide-open competition. He’ll work with but also against Higgins to be the “pass-catching tight end,” potentially playing a role similar to what Gesicki did in 2022.
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Pictures of the last work before the break.
The Miami Dolphins have finished their offseason work, as they’ve completed their rookie minicamp, organized team activities and mandatory minicamp before their long break.
Mike McDaniel’s squad won’t be back on the fields at the Baptist Health Training Complex until late July when training camp begins.
Until then, we have photos to look at from their minicamp, which featured some of Miami’s best players as well as their coaches.
Here were some of the best photos from practice:
Second-round pick making waves?
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The Miami Dolphins entered the 2023 draft without a first-round pick, despite having two at one point.
They had one pick stripped due to tampering violations, and they traded the other at the 2022 trade deadline for linebacker Bradley Chubb before giving him an extension.
So, Miami’s first selection came in the second round when they drafted South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith.
Smith joined a deep cornerback room that also features Jalen Ramsey, Xavien Howard, Nik Needham and Kader Kohou, and that’s great news for the rookie, as he can learn from some of the best in the game. Not only that, but he will also have to earn opportunities, and he’ll be practicing against some of the NFL’s top receivers in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
All of that means Smith will be tested early and often in camp.
On Thursday, Dolphins cornerbacks coach and pass-game specialist Sam Madison spoke with the media and answered questions about Smith’s performance in rookie minicamp, OTAs and mandatory minicamp.
“[He’s] doing very well,” Madison said. “But guess what, he’s a rookie, right? We can look around the league since football’s been in inception and they’re going to have their ups and downs. But he’s a fast learner.
“He still has a long way to go, but he’s getting better at each and every last one of those things that we’re throwing at him. We’re going to keep challenging him, we’re going to keep putting him in positions and see exactly what we can get out of him.”
Smith, like all rookies, has adjusting to do before he takes the field in September against some of the toughest coverage assignments in the league, but he’s trending nicely.
His biggest issue during his collegiate career was the penalties, and that’s something that can’t happen in the NFL. A cornerback won’t see the field if there are always flags being tossed on the field because there was too much contact.
If Smith can clean that up, he has the athleticism to be an impact player in Vic Fangio’s defense, and having that type of talent as a third or fourth cornerback is a luxury that most defenses don’t have.
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The wideout is providing excellent examples of practice and work.
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The Miami Dolphins acquired wide receiver Tyreek Hill last offseason for a slew of draft picks and immediately gave him an extension making him the highest-paid wideout in the league.
While the talent was obvious, there were questions about whether or not Hill would have the same impact with the Dolphins that he did with the Kansas City Chiefs, playing with Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback.
Hill quelled all of the noise in 2022, as he was second in the league in receptions (119) and yards (1,710). Both marks were also career highs for the 28-year-old.
One aspect that has made the Hill trade a resounding success has flown a bit under the radar, and that’s the effort that he puts in on the practice field and by himself, setting a great example for others.
After Wednesday’s minicamp session, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke about Hill’s work ethic and how it makes things easier for the leaders.
“Yeah, it makes it a lot easier because before Tyreek came here, he was a well-known person,” Tagovailoa said. “He’s a superstar in the NFL. For him to come here, we have a young team so a lot of the younger guys look up to someone like him. Now that he’s on the team, they see the kind of work ethic he has. They see what kind of person he is in the building, around the building and it’s like, oh, he’s a cool dude. He’s just like any other person. He’s not this, ‘I’m this ego person.’ Although everyone in the locker room thinks they’re better than everyone. But at the end of the day, it’s a team and everyone respects each other in there.”
When a superstar comes in and puts everything into their training, that sets a level of expectations around the building. Rookies come into work seeing a seven-time Pro Bowler grinding every day, they’ll have to come in and have that same mindset if they want to be successful in the league.
While Hill’s ability is incredible, what he brings on the practice field and to the locker room might be more impactful.
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Highlights, attendance and orange jersey update.
On Wednesday, the Miami Dolphins continued their work on the practice fields of their Baptist Health Training Complex for their second day of mandatory minicamp.
These opportunities are so important for players looking to establish a role for themselves in one or more of the three phases of the game, as they’ll get some key chances to showcase their talents in front of their coaches as well as pick up some tricks and tips from their teammates.
Here are some updates from the team’s work on Wednesday:
He’ll have to really impress.
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As the Miami Dolphins work through their mandatory minicamp sessions, the battle for depth wide receiver spots continues.
Miami’s offense boasts a number of talented weapons, and the receiver room holds the majority of them. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are the impressive tandem at the top of the depth chart that recorded over 3,000 yards combined last season.
Behind them, veterans Braxton Berrios, Robbie Chosen (formerly Robbie Anderson) and Cedrick Wilson Jr. are expected to be the next three with varying roles.
However, a true first-world problem that the Dolphins have is that the depth goes beyond that. River Cracraft, Erik Ezukanma, Freddie Swain, Braylon Sanders, Chris Coleman and Daewood Davis are all fighting for a potential sixth spot on the active roster or practice squad jobs.
Ezukanma, Miami’s fourth-round selection out of Texas Tech in 2022, recorded just one reception for three yards as a rookie in his lone game on the gameday roster.
On Tuesday, head coach Mike McDaniel spoke about the former Red Raider and his progress heading into this second year.
“I challenged him – I was on the phone with him before this offseason, just checking in on how he was doing just knowing that it was going to be a big year,” McDaniel said. “You go zero to 60. You know, he did get active at the very end of the season, but for the most part, it almost feels like a redshirt year for him. Which it’s not. You have to learn a ton and he knew that we have a very talented receiving corps. So he had no – all those learning lumps that really every rookie incurs, but specifically wide receivers that are hearing huddles for the first time.
“He knew he’s was going to have to be on his stuff at not just one but multiple positions. And he’s probably made the biggest gains from last year to this year and ownership of the offense. So what that does; that allows him the opportunity to try to carve out a specific role for himself because otherwise he wouldn’t have a shot. There’s too many – specifically the receiving corps that he’s practicing within is competitive and deep with bona fide NFL players that I’ve been around so the challenge is real, but he’s put himself in a position to really compete for opportunities which is – I’m happy for him as it stands and moving forward I can’t wait to see what he does.”
Making a name for yourself as a mid-round rookie is an extremely tough task, especially within a group that’s already well-established. Now, that’s he had a full year to adjust to the game and learn McDaniel’s playbook, Ezukanma should be in a much better position to compete.
Still, that talent ahead of him may be too much. If Miami opts to hold six wideouts for the regular season, Ezukanma will likely be the last one.
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Three days of work with Dalvin Cook rumors still looming.
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The Miami Dolphins return to the practice field on Tuesday with a mandatory minicamp over the next three days. This will be the last opportunity for the team to be together as a full unit until training camp begins in the latter portion of July.
Over the last few weeks, the scattered organized team activities have been rather productive for the Dolphins, having seen veterans come back close to peak physical condition and form, young players getting healthier and closer to 100% and experimental positional situations seemingly progressing properly.
Furthermore, in the productive mindset, Miami was able to utilize a small portion of the $13.6 million savings from the Byron Jones cut at the start of the month, as they inked three of their four 2023 draftees, with just second-round cornerback Cam Smith remaining.
The next few days will also be an excellent opportunity for the team’s undrafted free agents to impress before several weeks of business will still be conducted in front offices around the league.
As for business, there are rumors and smoke coming out from Miami general manager Chris Grier’s office, as the Dolphins seem to be on a very short list of potential suitors for Dalvin Cook. However, it remains to be seen how much cooking Grier is willing to do to create a fire that would ignite an acquisition of a veteran running back currently on the market.
Minnesota is likely making efforts for a trade, which behooves them financially over a simple cut from a salary cap savings as well as a dead-cap standpoint. Yet, if the price isn’t agreed upon, and the Vikings are forced to simply cut their losses, a team will swoop in with a fresh contract.
In a fun coincidence, something you really can’t even script, both the rookie Smith and veteran Cook, each in their own storyline with the Dolphins, share the same agent.
Regardless of the salary ramifications, Miami currently sits at 90 players, so any importing of a player would simply call for export as well in some form. That could be player compensation in part of a deal for Cook, another potential deal with a different team for a pick package or a cut of their own to make things neat. The Vikings don’t seem to be interested in adding more players, so the hold-up could be an agreement on the draft pick(s) in which Miami, or any other team, would need to send to Minnesota.
It’s to be noted that Miami is without some key capital in the 2024 draft. They’ll be without a third-rounder, which was stripped away from the NFL for violating league tampering rules with now-retired quarterback Tom Brady. They’re also without a 2024 fourth-rounder, which was part of the Bradley Chubb trade with the Denver Broncos last season.
Interestingly enough, that Chubb trade was made possible from capital set up from the famous Laremy Tunsil trade with the Houston Texans. The Chubb deal became a branch on the Tunsil tree after yet another deal, and part of that was a 2025 fifth-round pick.
In what could be a remarkable addition to that tree, should Grier be able to flip that 2025 fifth-rounder as part of a tolerable pick package to Minnesota for Cook; that could just make the Dolphins running game as strong as oak.
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Seems like the experiment is working for the LB.
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The Miami Dolphins hit the field on Friday for another round of organized team activities. This OTA will be the last session until their mandatory minicamp from June 6-8 before players are off until training camp in July.
Hitting the practice field at Baptist Health Training Facility, and orange-clad in reward-type recognition, was linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel.
As OTAs were approaching, it was reported that Van Ginkel was asked by new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to play a bit of inside linebacker to add to his outside role.
Apparently, this move has been working in the early goings, as Van Ginkel repped the prestigious orange practice jersey, which has been given to a lone representative during workouts and is certainly to be viewed as an individual accolade.
A perk to the orange practice mesh would be selecting the day’s training music. Van Ginkel’s playlist is something that could be rather unique Friday morning, and that could be metaphorical to his potential this season.
Van Ginkel can be a unique linebacker for Fangio, utilizing his edge-rushing ability to blitz when needed on the outside and spell stars like Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips. In fact, when Van Ginkel has blitzed the quarterback eight times or more in single games throughout his NFL career, the Dolphins have won 10 out of 11 of these occurrences.
Adding to his outside skills, a move inside can help keep Van Ginkel on the field more and in a rotation with players like Jerome Baker and newcomer David Long.
Putting Van Ginkel in each of these groupings should spike that 2022 snap count of a measly 29% back to the 71% range that he was on the field for in 2021.
While Long and Baker are your “starters” on the inside, Van Ginkel will be in the mix both inside and outside, and his awarding of the orange practice jersey is a telltale sign that the experiment is progressing properly.
The former Wisconsin Badger re-signed with Miami in March, while a number of other teams were interested in his services, as he inked a one-year $2.65 million deal with the Dolphins in the offseason. In his four NFL seasons, Van Ginkel has registered 181 total tackles (23 for a loss), 38 quarterback hits, 11 sacks and a pair of memorable touchdowns.
Van Ginkel will be a versatile force for Fangio and this defense, as he could handle pass-rush, run-stopping and coverage duties when called upon. He has also tallied 13 career passes defended and even led Miami in special teams tackles last season. It’ll remain to be seen if he’s still utilized on that coverage unit this season, especially with his now-added inside usage.
Van Ginkel is clearly going to be on the field more than he was last season and will be a very viable asset for Fangio as yet another “chess-piece” type of player for the defensive guru.
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It doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere.
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Miami Dolphins wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. was signed last offseason to a three-year deal that was expected to make him the second or third receiver behind Jaylen Waddle and potentially DeVante Parker.
Since then, Parker was traded to the New England Patriots, and Miami swung a deal for superstar wideout Tyreek Hill. Wilson entered training camp as the expected third wideout, but when the season came along, it was Trent Sherfield who really took on that role.
Entering the 2023 offseason, there was a lot of talk about Wilson’s future with the Dolphins, as he seemed to not have much of a role. Despite Sherfield signing with the Buffalo Bills, Miami restacked their room with Braxton Berrios and Robbie Chosen (formerly Robbie Anderson).
After Wednesday’s OTA session, Wilson was asked if his mindset and whether or not he expected to be traded.
“I work out every offseason to perform when the game comes,” Wilson said. “I want to be here. I’m here right now. That’s what it’s granted to be. I’m gonna give it my best.”
Wilson’s heading into a new year, the second in Mike McDaniel’s system, with an opportunity to be the third wideout again. There’s a chance that he can be on the field making plays over Berrios and Chosen, but he’ll have to show that he can be a playmaker with the ball in his hands early and often.
Last year, Wilson took on the role of returner with not much experience in the role because he was looking to make himself more valuable to the team, and while that was something that could’ve been considered for 2023 again, Berrios has All-Pro return skills and will likely take those opportunities as well.
If the former Boise State wideout doesn’t turn in a strong performance this season, he probably won’t see the third year of his current contract, as the Dolphins could move on from him next offseason and save $7.3 million while incurring $1 million in dead money.
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