Here are my very early offsesaon roster predictions for the Miami Dolphins. Still a lot of time for things to play out but as of mid-May here is how I see it with the current roster.
Quarterbacks (2)
– Josh Rosen
– Ryan Fitzpatrick
* The QB position was pretty simple to me. There’s 3 Quarterbacks on the roster (Jake Ruddock being the 3rd) and with two of them being descent starters in the league. All though I could have had Jake Ruddock on this list, I see that there’s more quality depth at other positions on this roster.
Departure: Jake Ruddock
Running Backs (5)
– Kenyan Drake
– Kalen Ballage
– Mark Walton
– Myles Gaskin
– Kenneth Farrow
* Yes, I’m going ahead and saying that ALL five of these players will make the roster, I’m going to assume that Chad o Shea replicates what worked for the Patriots and to use a lot of RBs. It’s safe to say that both Kenyan Drake and Kallen Ballage make the roster for sure. From there you have Walton, Gaskin, Farrow, and Laird. Walton was a great back up addition for the Bengals during his time and if he can stay out of trouble, he’s almost guaranteed a spot. I figured that both Farrow and Gaskin both have a lot of potential and also will receive roster spots.
Departure: Patrick Laird
Fullback/Tight End (2)
– Chandler Cox
– Nick O’Leary
* I decided to add Tight ends to this group just because I heard in some articles that these two positions would be cross training. In this case Cox and Leary will share time mainly Cox as FB and Leary at a backup TE. (Note: This will reduce the amount of Pure TEs that I went with for the roster)
Pure Tight End (2)
– Dwayne Allen
– Mike Gesicki
* This was a tough decision for me, but I decided to have the 2 top spots go to Allen and Gesicki. Other TEs would be Walford and Smythe but I believe that the phins wouldn’t go with 5-6 TEs on the roster.
Departures:
– Durham Smythe
– Clive Walford
– Chris Myarick
Wide Receiver ( 5 )
– Devante Parker
– Kenny Stills
– Albert Wilson
– Jakeem Grant
– Brice Butler
* This is a very deep and talented group for the position. I felt like all five of the players would end up being on the 53-man roster. Preston Williams could of stole a final spot on this list but there was concerns on his commitment to the sport, so I kept with only 5 Wrs.
Departures:
– Preston Williams
– Isaiah Ford
– Reece Horn
– Trent Irwin
– Ricardo Louis
Offensive Line ( 9 )
– Laremy Tunsil
– Michael Dieter
– Chris Reed
– Jesse Davis
– Jordan Mills
– Daniel Kilgore
– Isaiah Prince
– Zack Sterup
– Michael Dunn
* The OL class was very interesting to determine who received spots but I decided to only keep nine players due to the versatility of many of these guys.
Departures:
– Isiac Assita
– Ryan Anderson
– Aaron Monterio
– Deion Calhoun
– Mark Barron
– Jaryd Jones-Smith
– Cory Thomas
Defensive 4-3 Ends/ 3-4 OLBS ( 4 )
– Charles Harris
– Jayrone Elliott
– Tyrone Holmes
– Nate Orchard
* This category is not a pure position but are players that can flex at End and outside linebacker depending on the formation. In this case I’m in love with all three of these players. Harris which I believe just needs more playing time to prove himself, and two players from the AAF both which were star defenders for thier team.
Pure Defensive Lineman (6)
– Johnathon Woodard ( DE )
– Tank Carradine ( DE )
– Davon Godchaux
– Akeem Spence
– Vincent Taylor
– Christian Wilkins
* Only having 6 players here seems small but by adding 4 of the more flexible players above would make 10 total which I believe will be enough for a team especially if the Dolphins use alot of Dime packages.
Departures:
– Joey Mbu
– Durval Neto
– Jayimus Pittman
– Kendrick Norton
– Johnathon Ledbetter ( DE )
– Dewayne Hendrix ( DE )
Linebackers (4 )
– Raekwon McMillan
– Jerome Baker
– Kiko Alonso
– Andrew van Ginkel
* This was another tough decision for me. With very few spots remaining on my Roster I decided to let Mike Hull walk, he didn’t seem like the same player when he returned from his injury last year and failed to even record a very easy sack in the one game. So I gave the last spot. Ginkle which is younger and more talented than Hull and Allen in my opinion. Once again, the Flex Edge players can come into play here and make a total of 8 spots in this position.
Departures:
– Chase Allen
– Mike Hull
– Terrill Hanks
– Tre Watson
– Sam Eguavoen
– James Burgess
– Quentin Poling
Defensive Backs ( 11 )
– Xavien Howard
– Reshad Jones
– Minkah Fitzpatrick
– TJ McDonald
– Eric Rowe
– Bobby McCain
– Jamar Summers
– Montrae Hartage
– Nik Needham
– Jalen Davis
– Walt Aikens
* If what the Articles I’ve been reading are accurate, the Dolphins will be using a lot of packages where you will be seeing a lot more DBs on the field than the heavy hitters. There’s a lot of no names on here but I’ll explain my madness starting from Jamar Summers. Jamar was one of the best safeties Corners in the AAF collecting 3 interceptions in the short stint of games he’s a big upgrade from Tory Mctyer and Cordrea Tankersly. Montrae Hartage and Nik Needham were undrafted players this year, but both look like they could be developmental players in the league. I decided to be bold and gave Jalen Davis a spot over the other short slot corner in Cornell Armstrong ( Based mostly on their performances last year ), and finally Walt Aikens just the fact that he’s a great locker room guy and a great special teams player.
Departures:
– Tory McTyer
– Maurice Smith
– Cornell Armstrong
– Jomal Wiltz
PUP:
– Cordrea Tankersly (In my opinion won’t be healthy)
Kicker ( 1 )
– Jason Sanders ( Uncontested )
Punter ( 1 )
– Matt Haak
Departures:
– Paul Stone
Long Snapper ( 1 )
– Wes Farnsworth
* Another bold move in choose the younger and cheaper long snapper over an Old but Reliable John Denny
Departures:
– John Denny
Practice Squad ( 10 + 1 International )
– Preston Williams
– Jayimus Pittman
– Cornell Armstrong
– Durham Smythe
– Tre Watson
– Terrill Hanks
– Durval Neto
– Ryan Anderson
– Deion Calhoun
– Jomal Wiltz
– Mark Barron
The list is reasonable. I think it gives up too easily on a lot of the new guys. It is also has a lot of DE’s(6+) and Defensivebacks(11). Many of these are mediocre guys competing for a couple of roster spots.
I think there could be some surprises on the OLine. I’ll pencil in C Ryan Anderson and T Jaryd Jones-Smith as Starters with G Deion Calhoun at RG. Those were 3 of your departures. I’ll also bet on WR Preston Williams to win a spot over Brice Butler. I’ll put Terril Hanks on the bubble, along with Canadian Sam Eguavoen(who apparently already pick-6’d Josh Rosen).
Kendrick Norton is a big unknown. He could steal Akeem Spence’s spot, or a practice squad spot.
Appreciate the hard work, but you really butchered a lot of those names.