A look at who made the Dolphins roster and Dolphins’ new left tackle
Roster observations after cuts and the trade of Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to Houston:
▪ Miami picked up one starter in the Houston deal - offensive tackle Julie’n Davenport, who started 15 games last season, including 13 at left tackle. And he immediately becomes the top candidate to replace Tunsil, with Zach Sterup also an option.
Jesse Davis will start at right tackle.
Davenport is a 2017 fourth-round pick from Bucknell. He started 13 games at left tackle last season and two at right tackle last season and had four starts as a rookie in 2017.
Davenport struggled throughout last season, allowed 12 sacks (which were second-most among all NFL offensive linemen, per Pro Football Focus) and 41 quarterback hurries, which were tied for second most. As a run blocker, PFF rated him 94th of 127 offensive tackles.
Davenport was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded tackle during the wild card round of the playoffs last season. But the Texans clearly wanted to upgrade over Davenport and that’s why they sent two first-round picks and a second-rounder to Miami for Tunsil and Kenny Stills.
▪ The Dolphins extracted more players from the shuttered Alliance of American Football than any other team. Alas, it never materialized into anything that will help the Dolphins when the regular season starts next weekend.
Miami ended up cutting all eight players it signed from the AAF, with edge rusher Tyrone Holmes the last to be released, on Saturday.
Cornerback Jamar Summers and edge rusher Jayrone Elliott were released before training camp started, and five other AAF alums were purged on Friday: offensive linemen Jaryd Jones-Smith and Michael Dunn, running back Kenneth Farrow, defensive tackle Joey Mbu and receiver Reece Horn.
▪ The Dolphins, at least in their initial 53-man roster, retained seven undrafted rookies: receiver Preston Williams, running back Patrick Laird, tight end Chris Myarick, guard Shaq Calhoun, defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter, linebacker Terrill Hanks and safety/cornerback Montre Hartage.
▪ The Dolphins ended up releasing the first three veterans signed by the new regime this offseason: quarterback Jake Rudock, defensive lineman Tank Carradine and tight end Dwayne Allen. Their two most expensive free agent additions made the team (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Eric Rowe), but the third and fourth (Allen and Mills) did not; those two were waived with injury settlements.
▪ The Dolphins will have a league-leading $44 million in dead money this season, which is the amount of cap allocations for players not on the team, including $18.4 million for Ryan Tannehill and $13.2 million on Ndamukong Suh. Cutting Carradine carried no dead money.
▪ Keep in mind that several players who made the team are at risk of being released Sunday if Miami claims any players off waivers from other teams.
Biggest surprises of the weekend: 1) Miami keeping six running backs. 2) Undrafted rookie tight end Chris Myrarick’s rise from a player who caught 23 passes for 229 yards in his career at Temple to initially making the 53. 3) Carradine being released after starting the first three preseason games and playing well.
WHERE ROSTER STANDS
The Dolphins figure to do more roster tinkering Sunday. In the meantime, here’s how the 53-man roster stood as of late afternoon Saturday:
▪ Quarterback: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen. Fitzpatrick will begin the season as the starter.
▪ Running backs: Kenyan Drake, Kalen Ballage, Mark Walton, Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin and fullback Chandler Cox. Drake and Ballage will likely split carries, and Walton appears to be the No. 3 back. Laird was one of the surprises of training camp. It wouldn’t be surprising if Miami replaces a running back with a player claimed off waivers in the coming days.
▪ Wide receiver: DeVante Parker, Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant, Preston Williams, Allen Hurns. The Dolphins opted for Hurns over Brice Butler and Isaiah Ford. The question is whether the promising Williams will develop enough to earn playing time this season, with four accomplished veteran receivers on the roster.
▪ Tight end: Mike Gesicki, Nick O’Leary, Durham Smythe and Myarick. The Dolphins thought Dwayne Allen would be their starter, but he was rarely healthy and played only 14 snaps in preseason. So Miami will use this season to get a read on whether Gesicki and Smythe are longterm pieces. O’Leary remains spectacular in no areas but solid in all areas. Myrarick impressed with six catches for 78 yards in the preseason finale.
▪ Offensive line: Tackles Juli’en Davenport, Jesse Davis, Zach Sterup and Isaiah Prince; center Daniel Kilgore; rookie guards Michael Deiter and Shaq Calhoun and backup interior linemen Chris Reed, Danny Isidora and Evan Boehm.
Davenport was one of the league’s worst starting tackles last season. Davis, who played every snap at right guard last season, will begin the season at right tackle. The surprise was Miami keeping six interior linemen. Sterup and Prince could be vulnerable if Miami finds better options on waivers.
▪ Defensive ends/edge rushers: Charles Harris, Nate Orchard and Jonathan Ledbetter. Surprising that Miami kept only three, but some of the defensive tackles could play end when Miami uses a 3-4. Ledbetter was stout against the run in preseason. The veteran Orchard, who was cut by four other NFL teams in the past year, led Miami with four sacks in preseason. Miami wants to re-sign Dewayne Hendrix to the practice squad.
▪ Defensive tackles: Christian Wilkins, Davon Godchaux, Vincent Taylor, Adolphus Washington. Wilkins and Godchaux have been the starters since Day 1 of training camp. Washington, who started 21 games for the Bills over 2016-17, beat out Akeem Spence and several young players for a roster spot.
▪ Linebackers: Jerome Baker, Sam Eguavoen, Kiko Alonso, Raekwon McMillan, Andrew Van Ginkel and Terrill Hanks. The undrafted rookie Hanks, from New Mexico State and Miami’s LaSalle High, beat out fellow rookie Tre’ Watson and veterans Nick DeLuca and Terrance Smith for a roster spot. McMillan and Van Ginkel have been injured most of camp. Baker is expected to play every down and call the defensive signals. Eguavoen was the surprise of training camp and will play a lot. Alonso has asked for a trade and still could be jettisoned.
▪ Safeties: Reshad Jones, Bobby McCain, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Walt Aikens and Montre Hartage. Fitzpatrick and Hartage also can play corner. McCain, a former cornerback, has been the starting free safety since training camp started.
▪ Cornerbacks: Xavien Howard, Eric Rowe, Jomal Wiltz, Chris Lammons and Johnson Bademosi. Rowe won the starting job opposite Howard, and Lammons earned a job with sterling special teams work. Rowe and Wiltz gave Miami two 2018 Patriots at cornerback, with Wiltz on New England’s practice squad last season. Fitzpatrick was among the NFL’s best slot cornerbacks last season and figures to get work there.
Bademosi, acquired in the Tunsil trade, is primarily a special teams player with one career interception. He played for the Patriots in 2017.
▪ Special teams: Jason Sanders, coming off a strong rookie year, went unchallenged in camp, and Matt Haack withstood an early camp challenge from undrafted FIU rookie Stone Wilson, with Miami so far bypassing jettisoned former Patriots punter Matt Allen to keep Haack. John Denney beat out rookie Wes Farnsworth to earn a 15th season as the Dolphins’ long snapper.
Here’s a list of the Dolphins’ cuts this weekend.
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 4:35 PM.