Jonnu

Smith

Smith earned new season-highs in receptions and yards this week while tying the high-water mark in targets he set less than a week ago. Unsurprisingly, Smith led the Dolphins with a 24 percent target share. It was the third game in a row that Smith tied or outright led Miami in targets. The Dolphins have fully abandoned their explosive passing game and are instead relying on underneath looks that generate YAC to move the ball. That has been a disastrous development for Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle but is pushing Smith to the top of weekly tight end ranks. He will slot in as a top-five fantasy tight end for his Week 14 date with the Jets.

We’ve been saying this for a few weeks now, but this Jonnu Smith production is not a fluke. He started getting more involved in the Dolphins’ offense when Tua Tagovailoa was sidelined, but the Dolphins have since morphed into a quick-hitting passing attack, which has favored Smith’s athleticism. He also possesses a physicality that few other Dolphins’ receivers have, which makes him an ideal red zone target. He is a locked-in TE1 the rest of the way.

Smith got on the board early with a one-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the day. Tua Tagovailoa attempted to find him in the back of the end zone on third down but couldn’t connect. Miami went right back to the well on fourth down for an easy score by bringing Jonnu across the formation on a pre-snap motion play designed for him. He got wide open on a similar play late in the game and was completely lost by the Las Vegas defense. Smith had time to stand around and wait for the pass while hanging out behind the Raiders’ secondary before catching the ball, turning on the jets, and sprinting into the end zone for a 57-yard score. Smith has been an integral part of the Miami offense over the past month and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. This breakout performance cemented his status as a TE1 heading into Week 12.

Smith was tackled at the one on his final reception of the game, something that could have made his fantasy week much different had he found his way into the end zone. The modest yardage production has become something of an accepted expectation for the veteran tight end, a man who is unlikely to see robust weekly volume in this offense outside of his typical schemed usage. Even so, fantasy managers in deeper leagues could consider Smith one of the more consistent TE2s in the league for that same schemed usage in this offense.

Smith has been at something of a production standstill with Jaylen Waddle since Tua Tagovailoa’s Week 8 return, which really isn’t good news for anybody. It means Smith still isn’t really cracking the top 18 at tight end while Waddle is grossly underperforming what was believed to be a WR2 baseline. Smith is a TE2 with a reasonable enough floor, but he has continued to display zero ceiling.

Smith entered the game with a team-high 15 targets over the past two weeks. Things stabilized with Tua Tagovailoa back under and Smith fell to third on the team in targets, tied with Jaylen Waddle at six a piece. Both of his uncaught targets were drops of varying degrees of difficulty. Smith earned a modest 16 percent target share this week. That’s enough to keep him high in the TE2 ranks for Miami’s upcoming game versus the Bills.

With Tyler Huntley/Tim Boyle predictably struggling to get anything going down the field, Smith and his yards-after-catch skill-set popped up for the second most yards of his entire career. Smith’s 10-yard score was a Huntley dump-off where the seam man did all the work. Excellent stuff, though Tua Tagovailoa’s expected Week 8 return will reset the Dolphins’ entire offense. Despite his intriguing box scores of late, Smith will probably fall just outside the top 12 against the Cardinals with Tua more likely to funnel looks Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle’s way.

Smith saw surprising involvement in Week 5 after failing to record a reception in Tyler Huntley’s first start against the Titans last week. Smith was tied for second in targets with Jaylen Waddle. Smith’s route participation and pass game involvement vacillates too much for him to remain a reliable fantasy option, however. Miami has a bye in Week 6.

If you fell for the Jonnu Smith hype train coming off Week 2’s 6/53 performance, we’re sorry. There’s little reason to recommend anyone in this passing game right now and Smith certainly won’t be the first hungry mouth that gets fed in the event that changes. Well, maybe if Arthur Smith somehow took over play-calling in Miami.

Smith followed up his six-catch Week 2 performance with a stinker, which might come as little surprise with Skylar Thompson under center for Miami. Smith ran a pass route on just 48 percent of the team’s drop backs against the Seahawks — a drop in usage from last week against the Bills. He remains a borderline deep-league option.