Miami Dolphins sixth-round pick Elijah Higgins is taking part in the team’s rookie minicamp, along with the three other selected rookies, 21 undrafted free agents and a number of players who received tryouts.
As the former Stanford Cardinal makes his transition to the NFL game, he’s also switching positions, moving from wide receiver to tight end for the Dolphins, something that most teams talked to him about prior to the draft.
With that comes a lot of work with Miami’s tight end coach Jon Embree, who has had a long career of getting the most out of his players at the position. In his previous stops, he’s worked with Tony Gonzalez, Chris Cooley, Fred Davis, Jordan Cameron, Cameron Brate and George Kittle.
Since following Mike McDaniel to South Florida from San Francisco, Embree has had some tough projects to work on. In 2022, he was tasked with getting Mike Gesicki to fit to the system as well as help Tanner Conner transition from college wide receiver to NFL tight end.
While Gesicki never truly did fit McDaniel’s scheme last year, Embree spent a lot of time showing the Penn State product film of Kittle during their time together with the 49ers, and now, Higgins is getting that same treatment.
Elijah Higgins talking about the early process of transitioning from big slot WR in college to NFL TE. He said Dolphins TEs coach Jon Embree has had him watching George Kittle tape. pic.twitter.com/vvPbSbXw32
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) May 12, 2023
Not everyone can be Kittle, that’s something that everyone should understand, but there are definitely things that Higgins can learn from watching his tape and asking questions from the coach who helped him develop into the player that he is today.
Dolphins fans will just have to hope he can adjust more than Gesicki was able to.
