The countdown to the start of the 2024 regular season has begun, with less than 100 days to go, so each day we will be honoring the best players to wear the number for the Dolphins.
Today we are at number 27.
The best players with the respective numbers so far were DE Jason Taylor with 99, DT Jared Odrick with 98, DE Phillip Merling with 97, DT Paul Soliai with 96, DT Tim Bowens with 95, DT Randy Starks with 94, DE Trace Armstrong with 93, LS John Denney with 92, DE Cameron Wake with 91, DE/OLB Marco Coleman with 90, WR Nat Moore with 89, TE Keith Jackson with 88, TE Andre Tillman with 87, WR Oronde Gadsden with 86, LB Nick Buoniconti with 85, DE Bill Stanfill with 84, WR Mark Clayton with 83, WR Brian Hartline with 82, WR OJ McDuffie with 81, WR Irving Fryar with 80, T Jon Giesler with 79, T Richmond Webb with 78, LB AJ Duhe 77, T Branden Albert 76, DT Manny Fernandez 75, T Mark Dennis 74, NT Bob Baumhower 73, T Terron Armstead 72, T Todd Wade 71, DE Kendall Langford 70, G Keith Sims 69, G Robert Hunt 68, G Bob Kuechenberg 67, G Larry Little 66, OL Jeff Dellenbach 65, G Ed Newman 64, G Mark Dixon 63, C Jim Langer 62, C Tim Ruddy 61, G Bert Weidner 60, LB Doug Swift 59, LB Kim Bokamper 58, C Dwight Stephenson 57, LB John Offerdahl 56, LB Earnest Rhone 55, LB Zach Thomas 54, LB Bob Matheson 5 53, LB Channing Crowder with 52, LB Bryan Cox with 51, LB Larry Gordon with 50, CB William Judson with 49, CB Gerald Small with 48, S Glenn Blackwood with 47, S Don Bessilieu with 46, CB Curtis Johnson with 45, CB Paul Lankford with 44, LB Andrew Van Ginkel with 43, WR Paul Warfield with 42, FB. Keith Byars at 41, S Dick Anderson at 40, FB Larry Csonka at 39, CB Calvin Jackson at 38, CB JB Brown at 37, FB Don Nottingham at 36, DB Walt Aikens at 35, RB Ricky Williams at 34, RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar at 33, RB Kenyan Drake at 32 and S Brock Marion at 31, RB Ron Davenport at 30, CB Sam Madison at 29 and CB Don McNeal at 28.
As a reminder of the basic rules: The top three spots will be determined solely based on the players’ performance in this uniform for the Dolphins.
RB Gary Tucker (1968), RB Gary Davis (1976-79), RB Lorenzo Hampton (1985-89), S Stevon Moore (1990), CB David Pool (1994), CB Terrell Buckley (1995-99, 2003), S Arturo Freeman (2000-02), CB Will Poole (2004-05), S Shirdonya Mitchell (2006), S Lamont Thompson (2007), RB Samkon Gado (2007), CB Benny Sapp (2010-11), S Jimmy Wilson (2012-14), RB Raheem Mostert (2015), RB LaMichael James (2015), S Shamiel Gary (2015), S Maurice Smith (2017), RB Kalen Ballage (2019), FB Chandler Cox (2020), CB Justin Coleman (2021), CB Keion Crossen (2022)
First up at No. 27 goes to cornerback Terrell Buckley, who had 24 interceptions in 96 career games with the Dolphins. Buckley had a career-high eight interceptions in 1998 and led the NFL with 164 interception return yards in 1996 when he had six interceptions. Gary Davis was drafted in the sixth round and played four seasons with the Dolphins, mostly as a backup. His best season was 1977, when he started six games and ran for 533 yards and two touchdowns. Lorenzo Hampton was drafted in the first round in 1985 and played 70 games with 34 starts in his five NFL seasons, all for Miami. His best season was 1986, when he ran for 830 yards and 12 touchdowns, including three in a 45-3 Monday night win over the New York Jets. Jimmy Wilson started 20 games in his final three seasons with the Dolphins, including 13 in 2014 after wearing No. 25 as a rookie in 2011. Arturo Freeman played five seasons with the Dolphins, the first three wearing No. 27 and the last two wearing No. 20. Mostert wore No. 27 in his only game for the Dolphins in 2015, but will wear No. 31 when he returns in 2022. Ballage switched to No. 27 last year after wearing No. 33 as a rookie in 2018.
1. CB Terrell Buckley
2. Running back Lorenzo Hampton
3. Running back Gary Davis
With his 50 interceptions and six touchdowns in his career, Buckley is probably among the top 10 players wearing the number 27. The leaders here are Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater and running back Eddie George.