Patriots: Stealing one player from every AFC East opponent
Miami Dolphins – Mike Gesicki
The jury’s still out on Mike Gesicki as a pro talent, but to be completely honest, there aren’t a whole lot of great options to choose from on this Miami Dolphins roster.
It may be cheating, but ideally, the Patriots would just take Kyle Van Noy back. KVN was a star in New England these past couple seasons, and while Pats Nation is no doubt happy to see him get paid down in South Beach, there’s no question that the Foxborough Faithful would rather still have him in Patriots gear than Dolphins attire.
Assuming that’s an illegal choice, though, where else do the Pats turn for this exercise?
It’s tempting to maybe say Tua Tagovailoa at QB, but I think we really need to give Jarrett Stidham a chance before selecting a quarterback from another division foe.
If New England’s rivals included teams like the Chiefs (Patrick Mahomes), Texans (Deshaun Watson), or Packers (Aaron Rodgers), for example, then obviously the choice would be a quarterback.
But none of the QBs on the Jets (Sam Darnold), Bills (Josh Allen), or Dolphins (Ryan Fitzpatrick/Josh Rosen/Tagovailoa) significantly represent an upgrade over Stidham’s potential at this time, so we’ll pass on that front.
New England wouldn’t need any help at running back from the Dolphins, and we already got help at receiver with the Bills’ Stefon Diggs. No one other than Van Noy fills an area of need on defense from Miami — cornerbacks Byron Jones and Xavien Howard are elite talents, but the Pats are stocked at cornerback right now (Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson, Jonathan Jones, Joejuan Williams, etc.).
The best move would be to go tight end. Gesicki probably has shown more in 2019 alone to justify his “stealing,” as he finished second on the Dolphins in receiving with 570 yards. He also had five touchdowns.
As a former second-round pick with two years of NFL experience under his belt, you’d have to assume he’s probably a better bet than New England’s two recently-drafted tight ends (Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene) to produce in 2020 — again, just in terms of this exercise, at least.