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 in 7th place.
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, CB Don McNeal at 28, CB Terrell Buckley at 27, S Jarvis Williams at 26, CB Xavien Howard at 25, RB Delvin Williams at 24, CB Patrick Surtain at 23, RB Tony Nathan at 22, RB Jim Kiick at 21, S Reshad Jones at 20, WR/KR Ted Ginn Jr., WR Rishard Matthews at 18, WR Jaylen Waddle at 17, QB David Woodley at 16, WR Davone Bess at 15 and WR Jarvis Landry at 14, QB Dan Marino at 13, QB Bob Griese at 12, QB/RB/TE Jim Jensen at 11, WR Tyreek Hill at 10, QB Jay Fiedler at 9 and S Jevon Holland at 8.
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.
DB-P Billy Lothridge (1972), QB Guy Benjamin (1978-79), K Fuad Reveiz (1985-88), K Charlie Baumann (1991), P Joe Prokop (1992), P Dale Hatcher (1993), QB Craig Erickson (1996-98), QB AJ Feeley (2004-05), QB Chad Henne (2008-11), K Jason Sanders (2018-23)
After having just five players wearing No. 8, we now have twice as many wearing No. 7. Here’s the breakdown of the 10 players who have worn it. • Billy Lothridge played in two games for the Dolphins in the perfect season at the end of his nine-year professional football career. He punted four times.
• Guy Benjamin appeared in seven games as a backup for the Dolphins over two seasons before being traded to New Orleans for fourth- and seventh-round picks.
• Fuad Reveiz was the Dolphins’ kicker for four seasons after being drafted as a seventh-round pick in 1985. He made 53 of 72 field goal attempts in those four seasons. He later played five seasons for Minnesota and made the 1994 Pro Bowl.
• Charlie Baumann kicked in two games for Miami in 1991 and made both of his field goal attempts.
• Joe Prokop averaged 37.1 yards per punt in seven games for the Dolphins in 1992. Miami was one of six teams Prokop played for during his eight-year NFL career.
• Dale Hatcher averaged 39.7 yards for the Dolphins, who he joined after six seasons with the Rams.
• Craig Erickson, a former starter at the University of Miami, played for the Dolphins in the last two of his six years in the NFL. He appeared in nine games for Miami and started three times, compiling a 1-2 record in 1996.
• AJ Feeley was acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in which the Dolphins gave up a second-round pick for a backup quarterback who had gone 4-1 in 2003 for a team that reached the NFC Championship Game. Feeley did not prove to be a starter in Miami, however, as he lost the battle for the quarterback position to incumbent Jay Fiedler in training camp and went 3-5 with a 61.7 passer rating as a starter. He was traded to San Diego in the following trade for veteran quarterback Cleo Lemon, with the Dolphins adding a sixth-round pick in the trade.
• Chad Henne was selected in the second round of the 2008 draft and completed 13-18 passes in his four seasons as a starter with Miami. Henne remains in the NFL today, although he has attempted a total of five passes since the start of the 2015 season.
• Jason Sanders was a pretty good kicker for the Dolphins and is now the longest-tenured player on the roster (along with TE Durham Smythe). Career highlights include an impressive 18-of-20 field goal attempts as a rookie in 2018, a Dolphins single-game record seven field goals against the Jets in 2019 (though he missed one in a one-point loss), and of course, receiving the “Mountaineer Shot,” one of the greatest plays in franchise history; earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2020; and finally, last-second/minute field goals in the decisive victories of the last two seasons.
1. K Jason Sanders
2. K Fuad Reveiz
3. QB Chad Henne
There are eight Hall of Famers who wore number 7 most of the time, and Ben Roethlisberger will probably reach number nine at some point. The most notable of all may be John Elway. And the Dolphins don’t have a top-20 candidate here.