Tight end was one of the Miami Dolphins’ deepest positions in 2021, and they’re running it back at the position in 2022.

Mike Gesicki was placed on the franchise tag and Durham Smythe was re-signed for two years with Adam Shaheen, Hunter Long and Cethan Carter already under contract, making it so that the five Dolphins that played tight end last season are set to return.

Gesicki, who uses his long, rangy 6-foot-6 build to make contested catches, looks to take another step forward after he has increased his receiving totals every year to the point of finishing with 73 receptions for 780 yards last season. Smythe, known more for his blocking prowess, also set career highs in 2021 with 34 catches for 357 yards.

With a lot of tight ends, comes a lot of tight end snaps.

The Dolphins led the NFL in 2021 by lining up in 12 personnel — one running back and two tight ends — on 61 percent of their offensive plays. That was more than twice as often as any other team used such an alignment.

Gesicki saw 72 percent of Miami’s offensive snaps, while Smythe was in on 62 percent and Shaheen 46 — in games they played (Shaheen missed five games). Shaheen’s reps produced 12 receptions for 110 yards.

Despite returning the personnel at the position, that number may revert back closer to the norm given the Dolphins’ offseason additions of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Cedrick Wilson Jr. to pair with rising star Jaylen Waddle heading into his second season. Miami should run out three wide receivers more often.

Not to mention, new coach Mike McDaniel’s offense will also get the fullback involved, and the Dolphins added Alec Ingold and John Lovett this offseason to play the roles of those lead blockers out of the backfield. Carter, after only playing 5 percent of offensive snaps in his first season in Miami, is also a candidate to contribute in a versatile H-back role.

While extremely productive in the passing game, questions remain over Gesicki’s run-blocking ability. And in McDaniel’s outside-zone scheme, blocking at the position is expected to be pivotal.

“It’s important because our system is based off of outside zone,” said new tight ends coach Jon Embree, who was under McDaniel and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s same system in San Francisco earlier in the offseason. “[To] get on the edge or to get the corner, so to speak, it starts with your tight end. So, it’s an integral part of our offense.”

But the same way Gesicki’s blocking concerns were masked by lining him up in the slot or out wide more often than he did as an in-line tight end in former co-offensive coordinator George Godsey’s scheme, McDaniel can devise ways of utilizing his strengths over his weaknesses.

“I think there’s multiple ways to use players that have skill sets that can help you do things offensively,” McDaniel said at the NFL scouting combine in early March. “We’ve had tight ends in our history that have been featured pass receivers, and we’ve had featured blockers. On both ends of the system, they are expected and will do both things, majoring or minoring in one or the other, depending on their skill sets.

“I have no problem, no hesitation or no concern of Mike being able to contribute as a blocker, and we’ll use him the way it’s most appropriate for him, as well as we’ll do the same thing for him in the pass game.”

Smythe fits the mold of that effective blocker on the edge, and the combination can still find situations where both are in their comfort zones on the field together when Gesicki is lined up out wide. Especially with wide receiver DeVante Parker no longer on the Dolphins, traded to the Patriots, Gesicki can present a possession receiver on the outside aside from Preston Williams. Hill and Waddle are smaller receivers whose games are based on speed, and Wilson does most of his work in the slot.

Long underwhelmed as a rookie after he was drafted in the third round in 2021, but part of it had to do with the Dolphins’ depth at tight end. Inactive for 10 games, he played seven games, starting two, and made one catch for 8 yards.

Previously addressed

Dolphins giving Tua Tagovailoa tools to succeed heading into Year 3

Dolphins’ new-look backfield should benefit from Mike McDaniel’s run game

Dolphins have improved offensive line, but are still a piece or two away up front

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