This offseason, the Miami Dolphins were faced with an important question that had a number of possible outcomes.
What were they going to do with tight end Mike Gesicki?
While they could’ve re-signed him to a long-term contract or let him walk, the Dolphins opted to stick the franchise tag on him for the 2022 season, a decision that will pay him $10.93 million this season.
In his four seasons in Miami, the Penn State product has recorded 199 receptions for 2,255 yards and 13 touchdowns. Entering 2022, with a number of weapons around him, Gesicki should receive less attention than he has in the past, opening him up for more contributions.
With this knowledge, Pro Football Focus is continuing its tiers and rankings at each position. PFF’s Anthony Treash was charged with evaluating the tight ends. He listed Gesicki in the third tier that he called “The Best of the Rest,” and ranked him 13th at the position.
Here’s what Treash had to say about Gesicki:
“It almost seems improper to slot Gesicki in with the tight ends considering over 85% of his receiving snaps have either come from the slot or on the outside, but his franchise tag salary and position listing indicate he is a tight end, so alas, here we are. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound pass-catcher is one of the top “big slot” receivers in the league. Gesicki ranks seventh among tight ends in slot receiving grade since 2020. He’s been highly effective against single coverage thanks to his massive frame. Over the past two years, Gesicki has racked up the third-most receiving yards against single coverage among tight ends and leads the pack in contested catches on such plays.”
Above Gesicki, Treash ranks Dawson Knox (No. 12), Pat Freiermuth (No. 11), Hunter Henry (No. 10) and T.J. Hockenson (No. 9) in that tier.
Knox, being just ahead of Gesicki and being in the division, will be compared a lot to the Dolphins tight end. Prior to 2021, Gesicki had outpaced Knox in every receiving statistic, but Knox developed into a great red zone threat this past season.
Putting Freiermuth above him already seems premature, but he did have a solid first year. We’ll see what that looks like in 2022 with either Mitchell Trubisky or Kenny Pickett leading the offense.
However, Knox (373 snaps), Freiermuth (263 snaps) and Henry (324 snaps) are all used more as blockers than Gesicki (245 snaps) and are more successful when doing so. So, if you’re going to rank the players on everything that it takes to be an elite tight end, No. 13 probably isn’t that far off.
