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Anthony Fasano
Tight Ends on the Loose
By ALAIN POUPART
Dolphin Digest Associate Editor
Anthony Fasano was talking about his two-touchdown performance at Kansas City when he was asked about the recent contributions from the Dolphins tight ends.
"Yeah, I got fined the last game because I didn't score and I think Joey Haynos is getting fined because he didn't score (in this game), so we're trying to get all the tight ends to score," Fasano said, joking. "But it's good that we're contributing and I think it's a big part of this offense."
Let's make that a very big part of this offense.
That's the way it began this season, with Chad Pennington throwing touchdown passes to both Fasano and David Martin in the opener against the Jets, and that's the way it's been the last two weeks.
Besides Fasano's two scores, Martin had Miami's first touchdown at Kansas City.
Martin also scored in the victory over San Francisco the previous week, as did Haynos.
That's five touchdowns from the tight end position in the last two games. That's very big.
Obviously, the Dolphins tight ends haven't maintained that kind of pace all season. But they have been, Fasano and Martin in particular, major contributors.
Thanks to their efforts, the Dolphins have gotten 10 touchdowns from the position, which is one short of the franchise high set in 1985 by the combination of Bruce Hardy (4), Joe Rose (4) and Dan Johnson (3).
The star of this year's group clearly has been Fasano, who came to the Dolphins in the offseason in one of the best trades in team history. To refresh your memory, the Dolphins got not only Fasano but starting linebacker Akin Ayodele as well from Dallas in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.
Fasano originally joined the Cowboys as a second-round pick, so he obviously had potential all along. His problem in Dallas mainly was having to play behind perennial Pro Bowl selection Jason Witten.
His emergence with the Dolphins really shouldn't be considered a huge surprise. With one game left in the season, Fasano already has established career highs in receptions (31), yards (415) and touchdowns (6).
His six touchdowns are one shy of the franchise record for the position, set by Keith Jackson in 1994. Against Kansas City, Fasano became the seventh Dolphins tight end to score twice in the same game.
While there was reason to be confident about Fasano heading into the season, Martin was more of a question mark after his disappointing performance last year.
But Martin has rebounded nicely and shown why the Dolphins' previous regime signed him as an unrestricted free agent last offseason. Martin has only one less reception on the season than Fasano, and his yardage total (442) is higher.
That yardage total was helped by his 61-yard touchdown catch against San Francisco, which tied for the second-longest in team history by a tight end, behind only Ferrell Edmunds' 80-yard touchdown against the Jets in 1988.
That touchdown against San Francisco was one of several leaping catches made this year by Martin, who showed none of that ability in his first year in Miami.
It was even reasonable to wonder whether Martin would get a second chance with the Dolphins after Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano took over.
Keeping Martin turned out to be one of the many good decisions made this season.
With Martin and Fasano, the Dolphins have a solid 1-2 punch at tight end.
Martin, a former wide receiver at the University of Tennessee, is the guy who can get downfield or go up to catch a high pass, as he did on his touchdown against Kansas City. Fasano is the physical, sure-handed possession receiver who's a load to bring down after the catch.
Just ask the Chiefs, who watched him break tackles on both of his touchdowns last Sunday.
The wild card in the group, and perhaps future star, is Haynos. Signed off the Green Bay Packers' practice squad early in the season, Haynos has the height (6-8) and hands to become a prolific pass-catching tight end.
His touchdown against San Francisco came on his first NFL reception and in only his fifth game. With Fasano and Martin ahead of him, though, he's going to have to wait his turn before he becomes a bigger factor.
With those three, when it comes to the tight end position, the Dolphins appear to be in good hands for the foreseeable future.
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