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AC In The AM: Dolphins Looking Strong At Tight End Andy Cohen
Perhaps the Dolphins’ most significant free agent signing not named Ndamukong Suh
is a tall, athletic tight end who has a Pro Bowl appearance on his resume.
Jordan Cameron is exactly what this team needed: a big, fast, athletic player who can not only stretch the middle of the field, but can be a major factor in the red zone as well, which was evident in last Friday’s scrimmage when Cameron caught a couple of touchdown passes.
Combine him with Dion Sims, a third-year player who is clearly on the rise, and the Dolphins have as formidable a pair at tight end as they have had in quite some time.
Don’t get me wrong. I was a big Charles Clay fan. He was tough and productive and the Dolphins did their best to keep him. But, as good as Clay was, he simply did not have the big-play capabilities of Cameron nor the prototype tight end physique of Sims.
Based on what we’ve seen over the first couple of weeks of training camp, Jordan and Sims will give this offense a nice dimension, two players with different skill sets, yet two very effective players. In many ways, Cameron is a wide receiver in a tight end’s body and the perfect compliment for the other skill players added this past offseason.
“I think I’m a good fit here,” Cameron said after a recent practice. “It’s a vertical attack offense. You can use your speed and get open. That’s what I do best.”
In truth, Cameron does all sorts of things well. Two seasons ago, playing for the Cleveland Browns, he was as productive as any tight end in the league. He caught 80 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns. But those numbers tailed off last season as a pair of concussions slowed his progress and left the skeptics wondering whether these medicals issues will haunt him his entire career.
Well, Cameron is happy to report that he now feels fine, that there have been no lingering effects of those concussions and he remains optimistic that those problems are now a thing of the past.
“I feel great and I’m so happy to be here,” Cameron said.
This is a very likeable young man. He is soft-spoken yet confident. It is clear by talking to him how much he treasures this experience, how much in so many ways he is a kid living out a dream.
“My favorite touchdown?” he asked, repeating my question. “Had to be the game-winner against Minnesota in 2013. It was just a little out-pattern, nothing fancy. But it was the feeling afterward that I’ll never forget. It’s what you dream about as a little kid playing in your backyard. It’s what you think about all the time.”
Cameron wipes some sweat from his forehead and smiles. “That’s the way I feel after every touchdown. I’ll never take that for granted.”
It wasn’t an easy decision coming to the Dolphins after spending four seasons with the Browns. The clincher for Cameron, once the money issue became resolved, was the presence of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Cameron didn’t want to be part of a massive re-building effort; he wanted to go somewhere with a young quarterback in the prime of his career. He wanted to grow with that young quarterback.
“Ryan is a great player,” Cameron said. “He is smart and works his butt off. What more can a receiver ask for?”
Cameron looks around the Dolphins practice field and sees all sorts of alternatives for Tannehill. But he is not intimidated by the competition. He knows what he brings to the offense and understands that he provides a dimension, certainly in the red zone, that most of the others don’t.
“I’m a bigger body,” he says. “I can get the ball at its highest point. It is a mindset and an aggressiveness. I’ve worked hard to develop that.”
Cameron has no doubt he can return to the Pro Bowl. He has set clear goals for this season, but is not ready to share them quite yet. These days are more about getting acclimated to his teammates and adjusting to a new offense.
As for Sims, he is ready to take the next step after catching 24 passes and improving his blocking a season ago. He looks bigger now, seems more determined and likes the pieces this team has put around him. “We’ve got a lot of talent here,” he says.
Including a pair of tight ends who can beat you in so many different ways.
Perhaps the Dolphins’ most significant free agent signing not named Ndamukong Suh
is a tall, athletic tight end who has a Pro Bowl appearance on his resume. Jordan Cameron
is exactly what this team needed: a big, fast, athletic player who can not only stretch the middle of the field, but can be a major factor in the red zone as well, which was evident in last Friday’s scrimmage when Cameron caught a couple of touchdown passes. Combine him with Dion Sims
, a third-year player who is clearly on the rise, and the Dolphins have as formidable a pair at tight end as they have had in quite some time. Don’t get me wrong. I was a big Charles Clay fan. He was tough and productive and the Dolphins did their best to keep him. But, as good as Clay was, he simply did not have the big-play capabilities of Cameron nor the prototype tight end physique of Sims.
Based on what we’ve seen over the first couple of weeks of training camp, Jordan and Sims will give this offense a nice dimension, two players with different skill sets, yet two very effective players. In many ways, Cameron is a wide receiver in a tight end’s body and the perfect compliment for the other skill players added this past offseason.
“I think I’m a good fit here,” Cameron said after a recent practice. “It’s a vertical attack offense. You can use your speed and get open. That’s what I do best.”
In truth, Cameron does all sorts of things well. Two seasons ago, playing for the Cleveland Browns, he was as productive as any tight end in the league. He caught 80 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns. But those numbers tailed off last season as a pair of concussions slowed his progress and left the skeptics wondering whether these medicals issues will haunt him his entire career.
Well, Cameron is happy to report that he now feels fine, that there have been no lingering effects of those concussions and he remains optimistic that those problems are now a thing of the past.
“I feel great and I’m so happy to be here,” Cameron said.
This is a very likeable young man. He is soft-spoken yet confident. It is clear by talking to him how much he treasures this experience, how much in so many ways he is a kid living out a dream.
“My favorite touchdown?” he asked, repeating my question. “Had to be the game-winner against Minnesota in 2013. It was just a little out-pattern, nothing fancy. But it was the feeling afterward that I’ll never forget. It’s what you dream about as a little kid playing in your backyard. It’s what you think about all the time.”
Cameron wipes some sweat from his forehead and smiles. “That’s the way I feel after every touchdown. I’ll never take that for granted.”
It wasn’t an easy decision coming to the Dolphins after spending four seasons with the Browns. The clincher for Cameron, once the money issue became resolved, was the presence of quarterback Ryan Tannehill
. Cameron didn’t want to be part of a massive re-building effort; he wanted to go somewhere with a young quarterback in the prime of his career. He wanted to grow with that young quarterback. “Ryan is a great player,” Cameron said. “He is smart and works his butt off. What more can a receiver ask for?”
Cameron looks around the Dolphins practice field and sees all sorts of alternatives for Tannehill. But he is not intimidated by the competition. He knows what he brings to the offense and understands that he provides a dimension, certainly in the red zone, that most of the others don’t.
“I’m a bigger body,” he says. “I can get the ball at its highest point. It is a mindset and an aggressiveness. I’ve worked hard to develop that.”
Cameron has no doubt he can return to the Pro Bowl. He has set clear goals for this season, but is not ready to share them quite yet. These days are more about getting acclimated to his teammates and adjusting to a new offense.
As for Sims, he is ready to take the next step after catching 24 passes and improving his blocking a season ago. He looks bigger now, seems more determined and likes the pieces this team has put around him. “We’ve got a lot of talent here,” he says.
Including a pair of tight ends who can beat you in so many different ways.
