MIAMI GARDENS — Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins coach who gave us the rarely used 12-man offensive formation (at least on paper), is causing folks to scratch their heads with his latest curveball on the depth chart.

Namely, what the, uh, heck, is the "F" position?

“What is an F?” McDaniel said. “He’s not the Y, Z or X.”

When the Dolphins released their first depth chart of the regular season earlier this week, right there on the line below the tight ends is the "F." Alec Ingold is listed as the first-team F. So the F is a fullback? Not quite, because the backups at F are Jonnu Smith and Tanner Conner, whose day jobs, according to the roster, involve playing tight end.

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McDaniel did explain his reasoning for the F designation. It has to do with the versatility of the players coupled with the versatility McDaniel’s system requires.

“Most of the time our fullback, by definition of what a fullback is known to be, isn’t playing fullback,” he said. “He’s playing receiver or tight end or a multitude of things. For us, F can be a third-down target, can be a core blocking tool, an asset or a guy you’re trying to get the ball to in space.”

Smith has only 17 rushing attempts in seven prior NFL seasons, but it shouldn’t be a shock if he gets the ball in a variety of ways in 2024. On the flip side, Ingold often serves as a lead blocker but caught 13 passes last season.

“Everything man, everything,” Smith said of the number of roles McDaniel has asked him to fill. “Whatever I'm called to do, you know, he's going to utilize me to my skill set. That's why I'm so excited about being here. You know, I've been in offenses where my talent's been utilized and underutilized. So it's good to be back on this side of it.”

Jon Embree, the Dolphins’ assistant head coach and tight ends coach, said the Dolphins have little value in a one-dimensional tight end unless he’s “elite” in one department.

“The guys that we have in there, they all can be complete tight ends,” he said.

The tight ends on the depth chart, in case you’re wondering, are Durham Smythe on first team and Julian Hill on second.

This isn’t the first time the Dolphins have fudged on the depth chart. At times when two players have been neck and neck at a position, they’ve both been listed on the first team. That’s not all.

“No one has noticed that fact that there wasn’t one depth chart last year that was the first play of the game exactly right,” McDaniel said. “Right? It would have been illegal every game. There’s 12 (listed). There’s only 11 on the field.”

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mike McDaniel on the new 'F' position: 'He's not the Y, Z or X'