The Miami Dolphins certainly didn’t draft OT Robert Hunt to play tight end on the goal line. And once the Dolphins’ young line gets a little more experience, we should still absolutely expect to see Hunt manning the right tackle position in the future. But in the meantime, with the Dolphins looking to avoid playing too many rookies up front on an every-down basis, the No. 39 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft has found quite the specialty to keep him busy: he’s one of the short-yardage tight ends.
On Dolphins game day, you’ll hear the referee proclaim “Number 68 has declared eligible on the play” when Hunt checks in on 3rd and inches or down near the goal line. And indeed, Hunt will play tight end and serve as extra muscle up front. It’s a productive way to boost the running game, but it is also — according to OL coach Steve Marshall — a big boost to Miami’s deception and strategy, as well.
“If (defenses) want to think we’re going to run the ball all the time (with Hunt declared as a TE); yeah, we are going to run it and then play-action off it. That’s advantage offense in my book. Yeah, that’s one of the things we do to kind of get guys and trying to match up at every position, where we think we can gain an advantage or a win. Putting Rob as an eligible tight end in our ‘heavy’ package or whatever you want to call it, gives us some advantage on certain things we like to do,” said Marshall when asked about the dynamics of Hunt having to declare as eligible when he takes the field.
“I think moving forward, again, we’ll see each and every week – each and every week poses different problems as the 49ers are this week. They’ve got a big ol’ athletic front and we’ll see kind of where we think we need to put guys moving forward.”
The 49ers are down some of their best defensive linemen this season, including Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and Solomon Thomas. But never the less, the Dolphins would be wise to continue to use Hunt’s raw power in small doses at tight end against the 49ers and hopefully drive up the team’s red zone scoring proficiency as they search for their second win this season.