While Mike McDaniel’s offense has received plenty of praise during his time as the Dolphins’ head coach, his use of the tight ends has not generally been one of the highlights.

Over the past two seasons, Mike Gesicki posted the highest fantasy finish of any of the team’s TEs as the PPR TE23 in 2022. To be fair, it is hard to put up meaningful production without the benefit of a double-digit target market share. But this trend does raise the question: were Miami’s TEs not seeing targets by design, or were they simply not good enough to earn them?

The Dolphins’ lack of TE production was a big reason their signing of Jonnu Smith did not make many big waves this offseason. Smith had just put together something of a career renaissance in 2023 during his lone season in Atlanta, as Arthur Smith used him to further depress the fantasy value of Kyle Pitts. Jaded Falcons fans and fantasy managers alike attributed the time share more to poor coaching decisions than any true equivalency of talent.

Still, Smith was able to finish as the PPR TE17 in 2023 despite the time share, including putting together five TE1 performances. Last season was the second time Smith would finish as the TE17 in his career, with the first instance prior to his two forgettable seasons in New England.

After Smith signed with the Dolphins this offseason, it was fair to wonder how much fantasy value he would actually have. Over the previous two seasons, Miami seemed content to funnel the majority of their targets to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and had success in doing so. While it could be argued that Smith was the best TE the team had rostered since McDaniel became their coach, it was not as if Smith had put up the sort of elite production that would lead to him siphoning significant targets away from the Dolphins’ star WR duo.

Before we could get a real idea of what the Dolphins’ 2024 offense would look like, disaster struck when Tua Tagovailoa was forced to IR with a concussion in Week 2. Forced to play with a combination of Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle, and Tyler Huntley over the next four games, the offense sputtered. From Week 2 through Week 7, the trio of Hill, Waddle, and Smith were only able to put together four games with double-digit PPR points, and surprisingly it was Smith who authored three of them.

Smith’s production with the backup quarterbacks could be explained away by saying that they leaned on him as a check down. But once Tagovailoa returned to the lineup in Week 8, Smith continued to earn volume consistent with Miami’s top-two WRs.

Heading into the Dolphins’ game against the Packers on Thanksgiving, Smith ranked as the PPR TE5 for the season.

Playing in Green Bay, the Dolphins were furthering the narrative that they could not play in cold weather, as they were getting blown out 24-3 at halftime. Despite the team’s struggles, Smith finished the first half of the game by catching all of his four targets for 43 yards. A decent stat line, but with Miami in catch-up mode in the second half, Smith added another six catches on seven targets for 70 more yards. When the game had ended, Smith once again found himself leading the team in PPR points (21.3), targets (11), receptions (10), and receiving yards (113).

Following another big game, Smith only trails Hill by 2.4 PPR points for the lead among all the Dolphins’ receivers. Is it time to consider Smith the clear second option in Miami’s passing game, and is it possible that he finishes 2024 as the group’s top scorer?

Jonnu Smith ROS Outlook

When looking at Smith’s production this season, the thing that stands out the most is the efficiency with which he is operating. Smith has been running significantly fewer routes than Hill or Waddle, but is more efficient than either when he is on the field.^[1]Miami’s Week 13 game against the Packers has not been factored into the numbers in the table below.

MIAMI DOLPHINS 2024 SEASON

If we only look at Week 7 through Week 12, the results are even favorable for Smith, as his production and efficiency dwarf that of both Hill and Waddle over the six-game stretch. But it is not only Smith that has seen his route participation increase, as both Hill and Waddle have seen a bump as well. All the while, Julian Hill and Durham Smythe have both continued to be involved, as their route participations have stayed relatively consistent over the course of the season.

2024 MIAMI DOLPHINS – WEEK 7-12

Smith’s connection with Tagovailoa is evident, as the TE has the third-highest AYA of any player Tagovailoa has played with during his entire career. Of course, the first two receivers on the list are the players Smith is in direct competition with for targets in Hill and Waddle.

It must also be noted that De’Von Achane has shown up consistently when looking at Miami’s top receivers this season, and his increased usage in the passing game has also resulted in the decrease in concentration of targets to Hill and Waddle.

In Miami’s quest to become a more balanced passing offense, it seems like Hill and Waddle have been the biggest losers. Smith and Achane are taking away many of the targets in the short-and-intermediate areas of the field that previously bolstered Hill and Waddle’s PPR scoring.

The entire Dolphins passing game faces an overall unfavorable schedule over the rest of the fantasy season, with Smith and the TEs hit the hardest.

MIAMI TE SOS ROS

MIAMI WR SOS ROS

Even with the tough schedule, Smith has been too consistent to bench at this point. Elevating Smith over Hill in the Dolphins’ receiving hierarchy still seems like a reach, but having him on equal footing as Waddle does feel about right. As recently as last week, we have seen Miami still look to feature Waddle, so some variability in the team’s leading receiver over the rest of the season should be expected. Still, the 2024 iteration of the Dolphins’ passing game is considerably more inclusive than in years past, and we should be adjusting our expectations accordingly.