Without further ado Davon Godchaux Jersey , here’s 22% of his snap count in GIF form...Note to audience: not all film is glamorous. The TapeSam Young reports as eligible so the Miami Dolphins are in a pseudo-12 personnel, with both TE’s to the left, Mike Gesicki on the outside. Does this block get the job done? Yes. Does it look a little clumsy? Yes. At first I thought, “man, how does Gesicki lose his balance after 2 steps of being engaged in the block?” I watched this play a few times and it looks like Patrick Chung grabs Gesicki on the right shoulder with his left hand (you’ll notice the hand still there towards the end of the GIF). Whether this is a hold or not on Chung, eh, I don’t know. This type of stuff probably happens all the time. Gesicki’s block did enough to keep his defender from making a pla y on the ball, but I can’t say I like the initial set-up: head way past his feet, it’s almost like he begins the play lunging. Better balance is needed coming in to the “engagement” part of the block, in my opinion. As he matures, I think you’ll see him drive with his legs for the power, and use upper-body for positioning and “accuracy” of the blocking angle. Gesicki has him by 30 pounds, and you want to see him maintain the leverage the entire time (although again, admittedly, Chung pulls on the right shoulder). The Dolphins used this route combination a few times on Sunday, including the very first play of the game (good for 22 yards to Kenny Stills). Gesicki and Stills are running “deep drags” (intermediate crossing routes) and this time, it’s not so effective. Gesicki is matched up on Chung, and Ryan Tannehill throws a pretty dangerous ball. I like that he trusts Gesicki enough to try and make a play on that, but he’s almost throwing across the field here and that’s QB 101 big no-no. Here he is in a pass blocking situation, helping Ja’Wuan James. He’s matched against Kyle Van Noy, a solid edge piece for the Patriots and I would not expect him to win this match-up 1-on-1. Van Noy gets Gesicki right on the numbers and able to “stand him up” - Gesicki is a tall guy so he’ll have to work on staying low even when engaged. Part of that will come through a regular season and subsequent off-season of NFL strength, conditioning, and nutrition.Gesicki is lined up all the way to the right on the line of scrimmage, allowing his guy to shoot the gap. Luckily the play goes immediately away from the chaos, but a running play in that situation gets blown up. This could’ve been a miscommunication between he and Sam Young (#79) in terms of who had which gap. Looks like Young starts moving left and then looks back and sees the immediate penetration to his right and tries to shuffle back in time. Unfortunate because Jesse Davis needs absolutely no help on this play. At any rate, none of this affects the play that occurred. But you want to see better communication and execution http://www.dolphinscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-jakeem-grant-jersey , even on the weak side of the play. Dont’a Hightower significantly redirects Gesicki as he comes out for his route. The Patriots were chucking him at the 5-yard zone, and I expect him to be able to brace for contact better and to use his basketball background in these short quarter situations. The pass is forced to him, and Tannehill seemed to rush the throw as the OL held up admirably on this snap. Too often we saw Tannehill locking onto targets in this game - this offense is best spreading the ball around and going through the progressions. As Gesicki runs more routes into the seams, absorbing contact from defenders or using his athleticism to circumvent them, will be of utmost importance in the Dolphins vertical passing attack. On this particular play, however, I don’t think there’s any way he could’ve made a play on the ball.Jason McCourty 5’11”, 195. Mike Gesicki, 6’6”, 245. Again, just talking about the 5-yard contact zone, you expect a 50-pound advantage to be your asset at this juncture. An in-breaking route here yields results in my opinion. I don’t know if it was sheer play design or if Gesicki had reads/options there in the route he ran, but the middle of the field is wide open.At any rate, you don’t like to see Gesicki lose in the contact zone against someone 50 pounds smaller. An out pattern to the wide side of the field here? We could’ve sent Gesicki on a better route by my estimate. Let him use the 7-inch, 50-pound advantage on a deeper curl route - something that allows him to “box out”, use his body, and take advantage of his size. If McCourty trails the play, you push the seam. Hell, I’d rather have seen a wheel route and put him in a jump ball situation. Either way, we’re using body size and jumping ability over lateral agility. He’s matched up 1-on-1 with Van Noy, again. You know how I feel about that. Not a match-upI expect him to win. A tad more resistance is required, though. Van Noy disengages and flowing to the play immediately after 1st contact. He had the inside position and just had to square his shoulder better to make Van Noy take a more extreme angle in pursuit. His sole catch. Leaked out after helping chip for Laremy Tunsil. End of 1st half soon afterwards. I like this block by Gesicki, although you might think to yourself: “Dude! Hightower tosses him like a rag doll!” Well the play completely switches directions, and it wasn’t a designed misdirection. He can’t see where Drake is going, and he thinks this play is going to the right edge. Van Noy gets upfield and makes Drake abandon the initial play direction to the other side. I can’t fault Gesicki for that, and he maintained his block much better than some of the other GIF’s we saw. Hightower is a big Akeem Spence Jersey , powerful LB, too. Effective block by Gesicki: sliding feet (think “defensive slide” in basketball) and maintains a good blocking angle and engagement until Drake peels off the other way. ConclusionI know what you’re thinking to yourself: “SUTTON, the Dolphins didn’t draft this guy to block.” DING DING DING! You’re right. More routes run/game are desired. Yet, with the health of the offensive line and tight end group, we’re having to make adjustments on the fly to maintain pass protection and generate rushing lanes. This means throwing Gesicki to the wolves so-to-speak in terms of blocking assignments. I doubt this is the way the Dolphins wanted this to go with the kinds of situations and wrinkles in the playbook they wanted to use for Gesicki. But here we are. Perhaps this steep learning curve will allow Gesicki to mature into the all-elusive “dual-threat” TE in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals have been vulnerable in the seams with some of their zone coverages, and Gesicki looks to be a favorable match-up against the Bengals LB’s. Let’s see if the OL can hold up and Gesicki can afford to be out on more routes and making plays.Miami Dolphins fans Week 1 rooting guide It is only Week 1 of the 2018 regular season, but that does not mean playoff considerations can not be already made. I know, it is way too early, but at the end of the season, a win in Week 1 could make or break the Miami Dolphins’ playoff positioning. As such, we need to take a look across the NFL’s schedule and see which way you should be rooting.The basic rules for most of the game is that you root the Dolphins, for NFC teams over AFC teams, and you do not root for teams in the AFC East. Later in the year, when strengths of victory and the surprises of the season - “bad” teams being good and “good” teams being bad - this will adjust, but for Week 1, here is our rooting guide:Bills at Ravens - 1pmThe first game on our tracker is actually a tough one to try to decide where to root. The Bills were in the playoffs last year and are an AFC East team, so the rule should be to root against them. The Ravens, however, are always a tough team for Miami - luckily they are not a regular season opponent this year - and should be in the AFC Wildcard picture. A loss early in the year from Baltimore could be a good thing for Miami. At the end of the day, however, we will stick with trying to see Miami get ahead of Buffalo in the division. Root for: Ravens.Jaguars at Giants - 1pmCan the Jaguars repeat their 2017 performance and win the AFC South? If they can put themselves in that position, then a win here is actually better for Miami because it will help their strength of schedule and possibly strength of victory when the Dolphins host the Jaguars in Week 16. That said, AFC losses are better for Miami right now, especially if the Jaguars are not able to reclaim their division title and are in Wildcard positions. Root for: Giants.Texans at Patriots - 1pmIf we are being honest, the Patriots will win the AFC East again this year, while the Texans will be a Wildcard competitor (assuming they do not beat the Jaguars for the AFC South championship). A Houston loss here is probably better for the Dolphins http://www.dolphinscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-robert-quinn-jersey , especially since the Dolphins have two shots at the Patriots and just one at the Texans. I cannot write that however, because it is the Patriots, and at this point, we will assume Miami is in the running for the AFC East. Root for: Texans.49ers at Vikings - 1pmThis one is simple. Miami plays the Vikings this year, they do not play the 49ers. Two NFC teams does nothing for the playoff picture in the AFC, so getting Miami’s opponent a stronger strength of schedule is better. Root for: Vikings.Bengals at Colts - 1pmBoth teams are on Miami’s schedule this year, neither team was a playoff team in 2017, and both could struggle this year. I will lean toward Andrew Luck’s return making the Colts a better team in 2018, so I want to see them lose early, but this is a coin toss game at this point. Root for: Either.Steelers at Browns - 1pmAssuming the Ravens are in the Wildcard hunt probably means the Steelers are winning the AFC North. Miami does not play either of these two teams this season, so seeing Pittsburgh get out to an early divisional lead will be good. Root for: Steelers.Chiefs at Chargers - 4:05pmAnother AFC versus AFC game that does not have much of an impact on the Dolphins - at least until the Wildcard picture starts to come into focus. The Chiefs won the division last year, with the Chargers a game behind them but missing the playoffs. This game is just about who you think will be more likely to win the division and which team you want to see pick up a loss for the Wildcard competition. Root for: Either.Seahawks at Broncos - 4:25pmNFC versus AFC make this one simple. Root for: Seahawks.Bears at Packers - 8:20pmMiami faces both teams this year, so the strength of schedule options sort of come into play, but since they even each other out with a win and a loss in this game, it does not mean anything in the long run unless Miami beats the loser and loses to the winner. Another coin-toss game that could be in the not considered list, but made it up here. Root for: Either.Jets at Lions - MNF 7:10pmA pretty straight forward one, though you could argue that the Dolphins face both of these teams, and since the Jets are on the schedule twice, a win for them here could be better for Miami’s strength of victory/schedule, but getting ahead in the AFC East is always better. Plus, there is no way to write “Root for” followed by the New York team unless it is an absolute necessity. Root for: Lions.Rams at Raiders - MNF 10:20pmNFC at AFC. The strength of victory/schedule could be an option here, but getting the Raiders a loss in the Wildcard chase is better. Root for: Rams.Games without consequence for DolphinsBuccaneers at Saints - 1pmCowboys at Panthers - 4:25pmRedskins at Cardinals - 4:25pm