‘He left about 185 yards out on the field’ - Miami Dolphins assistant coach pushing tight end Jonnu Smith to get greedy with 2025 touches

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kyle Crabbs | Last updated May 22, 2025 2:51 PM ET

The 2024 Miami Dolphins offense was, by and large, a disappointment. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle saw their numbers regress significantly. Tua Tagovailoa endured more injuries, which cost him and the team valuable time on the field. And the Dolphins’ bets placed along the offensive line at guard faltered. Despite all the bad, the team’s yield from tight end Jonnu Smith should be celebrated as a major individual achievement for the Dolphins.

The question now is, how does Jonnu Smith top what was a record-setting season as a member of the Dolphins? By the end of the 2024 season, Jonnu Smith had wiped Randy McMichael’s name from the top of the franchise leaderboard for single-season receptions and yards at the tight end position.

Smith would finish with 88 receptions for 884 yards and 8 touchdowns — all numbers that tied or equalled his career bests, as well as the pinnacle of performance for a Miami Dolphins tight end.

Miami Dolphins assistant head coach and tight ends coach Jon Embree has a clear plan for how Smith can top his record-setting 2024 campaign. Maximize the open field opportunities.

“...just being better with the ball when he has it. As good as he was last year, he left about 185 yards out on the field. So if we can just get every yard we have available to us, that’s what I’m going to be looking at.” - Jon Embree on Jonnu Smith’s growth opportunity in 2025

On the heels of a season where several Dolphins standout players either publicly or privately contributed to a negative team culture, this kind of messaging can be helpful to setting the right kind of tone around 2025. If Jonnu Smith, arguably the team’s biggest success story of 2024, can receive this kind of messaging to continue to play hungry and be better, why can’t anyone else on the roster?

It will ultimately come down to Smith executing when the chips are down this fall. But by burying the bug in his ear now, Embree can hope that every touch from Smith this season will be finished efficiently. If Smith follows through to optimize his yards at the end of catches? It will, by extension, add more collisions to the end of his runs.

With more collisions at the end of runs, Smith will be doing his part to help contribute to a more physical football team in 2025 than the Dolphins fielded last season. That remains one of the central focus points of how Miami must improve this year, and every run after every catch counts.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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