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The Miami Dolphins don’t really seem to specialize in handling tight ends on either side of the ball.
One player who has not been producing well for the Dolphins is tight end Anthony Fasano.
If you ignore the touchdown pass to off of a fake to Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano against the Packers, then you can see how little Fasano has been doing this season.
Even with the touchdown, though, his numbers aren’t very good. So far Fasano has only gained 149 yards with two touchdowns, but his low production is not his own fault. It is actually the fault of the Miami Dolphins and their offensive playcalling.
Anthony Fasano is capable of a lot more than just 149 yards and two TDs, but he doesn’t have the opportunity to do any more.
Two years ago he was great, and it is remarkable to me that the Dolphins don’t use him quite as often as a receiver like they did in 2008-2009. He was one of the best producing tight ends, and I think he can still be one if Miami uses him enough.
I have always believed tight ends are a great safety blanket who can produce great numbers when all of the other receivers are covered. Chad Henne sometimes tries to fit in ill-advised passes with hardly any chance of being caught by a Dolphins receiver, and those passes would be a perfect time for him to try and throw it to Fasano instead.
But even with the Dolphins lack of offensive production on offense by Fasano, their real weakness is against opposing tight ends.
I honestly don’t understand why they have such a problem, but it just always seems like opposing tight ends are able to run all over the Dolphins more than most teams.
After the first five games the Dolphins have allowed 269 yards and two touchdowns to tight ends. The real devastating statistic, though, is that they have allowed receiving gains of 31, 33 (twice), and 23 yards. That is four plays of 20+ yards in the first 5 games by just tight ends. Each one of those plays can be devastating to a defense, and Miami needs to find a way to stop them.
I have noticed that a lot of times tight ends beat Miami’s coverage when they have a linebacker covering them. So, maybe the Dolphins should move a corner to cover the tight end instead.
Whatever they do, though, they need to figure out something in a hurry because getting beat consistently at the same weakness gets pretty frustrating.
Let me know what you think with your comments, and thanks for reading.
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