Durham Smythe enters his eighth year as a pro, all with the Miami Dolphins. Only Jason Sanders can match the Miami tight end in tenure with the aqua and orange. When you have a veteran that is dependable with production, it makes sense to keep him around.
Like the rest of the roster, the room has been supplemented with a variety of newcomers. Jonnu Smith is one of 14 players on the team with more NFL experience than Smythe, while Jody Fortson comes over from Kansas City, and rookie Hayden Rucci gets set for his first NFL camp.
The Cast (in order of NFL experience)
- 9 Jonnu Smith
- 81 Durham Smythe
- 88 Jody Fortson
- 80 Tanner Conner
- 89 Julian Hill
- 49 Hayden Rucci
Like many Dolphins offensive standouts, Durham Smythe's enjoyed the two best years of his career alongside the 2022 arrival of Head Coach Mike McDaniel and Tight Ends/Assistant Head Coach Jon Embree. Smythe has been a critical part of Miami's ability to get to their core offensive concepts through various personnel packages and pre-snap presentations. Taking multiple blocking assignments, from evolving positions, Smythe is a linchpin in the Dolphins' operation.
While Smythe had a career year in 2023, the Dolphins brought in some more reinforcements this offseason. Jonnu Smith provides quite the complement to Smythe in his ability to beat man coverage, make contested catches, and best of all, run after the catch. Smith finished second among tight ends with 7.3 yards after the catch on average (David Njoku, 7.5).
Fortson is one of the more intriguing additions of the offseason. He's a wide receiver convert who became a fan favorite in Kansas City working his way from the practice squad to the active roster. Injuries have prevented him from showcasing the talent Chiefs fans were exposed to at training camp, but he offers speed from the position and a catch radius that stretches from Miami Gardens to Boca Raton.
Julian Hill did a lot of the dirty work for the Dolphins after making the team as an undrafted rookie out of Campbell last year. Hill provided the block to seal the edge several times on big Dolphins gashes in the ground game.
Tanner Connor, like Hill, was a UDFA who made the team out of camp in 2022 but missed a large portion of 2023 with an injury. Rookie Hayden Rucci is trying to make it three undrafted tight ends in three years to make the squad. He caught 11 passes for 125 yards last year at Wisconsin but was a critical element of the Badgers' explosive run game.
You can catch all the incumbents and newcomers at Dolphins training camp, kicking off July 28. Tickets are free, but require reservation, which you can still secure.
