Miami Dolphins tight end position not a concern for Joe Philbin

In the past couple of years, the tight end position has played a significant part in the Miami Dolphins passing game. And a lot of that production came from Charles “Big Play” Clay. But when the Buffalo Bills made a huge offer to Clay this past spring, the Dolphins declined to match, letting their transitional-tagged player and one of the key cogs in their offense slip away. But it didn’t take long to find a replacement, as the team signed Jordan Cameron less than week later.

The Dolphins seem to be pretty happy with their current group of tight ends, and in a team press conference, head coach Joe Philbin had plenty of praise for Cameron and second year player Dion Sims.

On Sims, Philbin said, “I think Dion is doing a really good job. I think he's moving as well as he's ever moved since he's been here. As you know, we use an extensive two-tight end package, and Dion Sims I think has really had a good offseason, and his training camp so far is good.

“I thought Jordan (Cameron) had a really good one-on-one rep in pass rush,” Philbin continued. “I was down at the other end on the one-on-one period, and I saw one of his (reps), and I thought it was really good. I think the quarterbacks have developed a pretty good early on rapport with him.”

Cameron has impressed the coaches with how quickly he’s acclimated to a new offense and picked up the playbook. Whether he can equal the success he’s had in past seasons – Cameron was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2013 – remains to be seen. But Philbin likes what Cameron brings to the table.

“(Cameron’s) got good hands,” said Philbin. “I like his size. I think he's got a good understanding, and I think he feels good about the system that we have here and how we can utilize him in some of the passing concepts that we typically utilize with our tight end. I don't want to put a number on it, but I like what he's doing."

Sims caught 24 balls for 284 years and two touchdowns last year while being paired with Clay in two-tight-end sets. Those numbers should improve, and Cameron hopes to return to his Pro Bowl form after an injury-riddled season.

While the Dolphins have plenty of targets in their passing game, Sims and Cameron will both see their share of targets. And Philbin is looking for improved numbers from both this season.

“I'm happy with both of those guys."

This story was written by Eldon Jenson. Follow him on Twitter @EJFootball.