On the Dolphins’ need for a stretch tight end or better No. 3 receiver and more news/notes

More Dolphins chatter in our six-part facts/conclusions series on Dolphins personnel:

▪ Fact: The Dolphins were the only team in the AFC without a touchdown catch by a tight end last season.

Also, only three receptions by Dolphins tight ends went for 20 yards or more (all to Durham Smythe). As perspective, 32 tight ends exceeded three 20-plus yard receptions on their own last season, led by George Kittle’s 18.

Dalton Schultz — who signed a one-year, $6.5 million deal with Houston last March — had seven such catches, but Miami didn’t want to spend that much money on a tight end.

While Mike Gesicki returning in 2023 was never realistic, keep in mind that Gesicki caught touchdown passes against good teams — one against Baltimore in 2022 and two against Minnesota.

The Dolphins never found a player who had the red zone skills of Gesicki. They need one.

That’s no knock on Smythe, who set career highs in receptions (35) and yards (366).

Smythe and rookie Julian Hill are tough, physical team-first players who had some very good moments as blockers. But the Dolphins need another element in the room to supplement them.

▪ Conclusion: The Dolphins need either a dynamic third wide receiver or a tight end who can be a seam threat. It doesn’t matter which it is, but there needs to be another player acquired who must be accounted for, a player who can be a safety valve if Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are blanketed.

For what they’re asked to do, Smythe and Hill are certainly competent.

PFF seems to undervalue Smythe, who was rated 54th and Hill, who was rated 73rd and last among tight ends.

▪ Fact: The production for the third through sixth receivers was uneven, partly a byproduct of lack of opportunities, but sometimes a result of not getting open.

Braxton Berrios (who caught 27 of 33 targets for 238 yards) had 16 targets in the first four weeks but just 17 the remainder of the season. His disappearance from the offense was puzzling.

Cedrick Wilson Jr. had 22 receptions (for 296 yards), but on 38 targets. That’s not a good enough connection rate, especially for a quarterback as accurate as Tua Tagovailoa. Their miscommunication cost them a potential game-tying touchdown against Kansas City.

Chase Claypool (four receptions in seven targets for 26 yards) didn’t have nearly the impact expected after his October acquisition from Chicago.

Aside from the 68-yard TD from Mike White in the demolition of Denver, Robbie Chosen had just three receptions for 58 yards.

River Cracraft had eight targets in the first three games but just four targets in the next seven that he played, with an injury in between. It’s notable that eight of his nine receptions each of the past two seasons has gone for a first down. So he’s reliable when he gets a chance.

▪ Conclusion: All five of those third through seventh receivers will be free agents, and Miami probably needs to reshape the room.

It’s unclear what the Dolphins have in Erik Ezukanma, who missed the final three months with a neck injury and remains under contract for two more years. He’s now healthy and deserves a long look.

It could be justified to bring back Berrios, who’s a capable returner, and there’s no harm in bringing back Cracraft at the minimum. But Miami needs to find solid value veterans to fill out the room.

▪ Fact: Waddle, within two years, is going to be positioned to become a very expensive No. 2 receiver, perhaps the most expensive No. 2 receiver in football. The Dolphins have until May 2 to pick up his $15 million option for 2025, which is a certainty.

Despite missing three games due to injury and often deferring to Hill, Waddle caught 73 passes (tied for 36th in the league) for 1,014 yards (tied for 27th).

His yards per reception dropped from a league high 18.1 in 2022 to 14.1 in 2023.

Miami scored 70 points without him against Denver. But the Dolphins badly missed him in the Buffalo finale, and to an extent against Baltimore.

▪ Conclusion: Though a pricey extension for Waddle will put the Dolphins in even greater cap hell, trading him would probably be a mistake.

Because Tagovailoa lacks much escapability, he needs elite receivers to make this offense work. And losing Waddle would allow defenses to focus even more on stopping Hill.

The only reasons to ever consider trading Waddle? If they’re so far apart on extension talks next year that Miami feels it has no other choice, or if a team makes an offer too good to refuse. Any such offer likely would need to include a first-round pick.

▪ Fact: Nik Needham never got a chance to regain his old nickel corner job.

When Needham returned in October, 54 weeks after a torn Achilles, he was in a dime safety role playing modest snaps (just 1 to 14 defensive snaps in each of the eight regular season games he played).

He allowed six of eight targets to be caught for 44 yards, an 87.5 passer rating against.

Elijah Campbell, the other reserve safety (besides Needham and Brandon Jones), was a help on special teams and permitted 6 of 9 passes to be caught for 92 yards, a 102 passer rating against.

Needham and Campbell are both unrestricted free agents. Campbell could return on a low-money deal. With Needham, the question is whether the front office believes he can return to being an effective nickel corner.

In Needham’s last healthy season (2021), he finished with an 81.4 passer rating in his coverage area — excellent from a defensive standpoint — and no touchdowns allowed.

Before the Achilles injury in 2022, Needham allowed a 116.1 passer rating in his coverage area — 10 completions on 16 targets for 158 yards, including one touchdown and no interceptions.

▪ Conclusion: If it’s a low-money deal, there’s no harm in bringing back Needham and seeing if he can recapture that early-career magic.

▪ Fact: Unlike predecessor Josh Boyer, Vic Fangio didn’t blitz his defensive backs very much.

In 2022 under Boyer, Jevon Holland blitzed 37 times (10th most among safeties) and had nine pressures and two sacks.

In 2023 under Fangio, Holland blitzed only six times and had one pressure.

In 2021 (his last fully healthy season under Boyer), Jones blitzed 93 times (most among NFL safeties) and had 17 pressures and five sacks.

But in 2023 under Fangio, Jones blitzed only three times and had two hurries.

Starter DeShon Elliott rushed the quarterback only once in 528 passing plays and had a pressure on that play. Like Jones, Elliott is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

▪ Conclusion: Fangio’s unwillingness to blitz Jones more often was one of the great disappointments of the season, in my view, because he failed to capitalize on a unique skill.

If the Dolphins retain Jones, new coordinator Anthony Weaver needs to seize on that skill more than three times in a season. Same with Holland, even though he has great value in coverage, too.

Safety blitzes could have disrupted Tennessee rookie quarterback Will Levis during his two late game-winning drives against the Dolphins. That Fangio never tried remains one of the gnawing regrets of last season.