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 16.
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 with 41, S Dick Anderson with 40, FB Larry Csonka with 39, CB Calvin Jackson with 38, CB JB Brown with 37, FB Don Nottingham with 36, DB Walt Aikens with 35, RB Ricky Williams with 34, RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar with 33, RB Kenyan Drake with 32 and S Brock Marion with 31, RB Ron Davenport with 30, CB Sam Madison with 29, CB Don McNeal with 28, CB Terrell Buckley with 27, S Jarvis Williams with 26, CB Xavien Howard with 25, RB Delvin Williams with 24, CB Patrick Surtain with 23, RB Tony Nathan with 22, RB Jim Kiick with 21, S Reshad Jones with 20, WR/KR Ted Ginn Jr., WR Rishard Matthews with 18 and WR Jaylen Waddle with 17.
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.
QB Archie Roberts (1967), WR Tom Boutwell (1969), QB David Woodley (1980-83), QB-WR Marcus Vick (2006), QB Tyler Thigpen (2009-10), K Shayne Graham (2011), P Matt Haack (2017), Tanner McEvoy (2018), WR Gary Jennings Jr. (2019), WR Marcus Kemp (2020), WR Antonio Callaway (2020)
Twelve players have played a regular season game wearing the No. 16 jersey for the Dolphins, but only two of them did so for more than one season, making it pretty difficult to pick the best three. Roberts appeared in one game as a backup in 1967, completing 5 of 10 passes for 11 with one interception. Boutwell played in five games, all as a backup, and caught four passes. David Woodley was drafted in the eighth round and started 11 games as a rookie after Bob Griese was injured, going 27-12-1 as a starter. Woodley was also effective as a scrambler, replacing Don Strock in the 1981 playoff classic against the San Diego Chargers and with a 4-for-14 performance in the 1982 Super Bowl against Washington after nearly flawless play in earlier playoff victories that year against New England and San Diego. Woodley also holds the honor of being the Dolphins’ starting quarterback before Dan Marino took over. Marcus Vick, brother of Michael Vick, played his only NFL game with the Dolphins on Christmas Eve 2006 against the Jets but did not record any stats. Thigpen appeared in six games with one start over two seasons, and that one start ended in a 16-0 loss to the Chicago Bears in a Thursday night game. Graham played two games in 2011 to replace injured kicker Dan Carpenter, making 4-of-5 field goals and 6-of-6 extra points. Before switching to his current No. 2, Haack wore 16 as a rookie in 2017, when he averaged 44.5 yards and failed to complete his first NFL pass attempt. McEvoy played two games for the Dolphins in 2016, and his appearances consisted of 37 special teams snaps. Jennings was claimed off waivers by the Seahawks in 2019 and played just one game for Miami before suffering a season-ending injury on the opening kickoff. Callaway and Kemp each played briefly in 2020. Bailey had a decent, if uninspiring, 2023 season as the new punter.
1. Quarterback David Woodley
2. P Matt Haack
3.P Jake Bailey
The Dolphins obviously don’t have any all-time highs for the No. 16 pick, which features three Hall of Famers – Joe Montana, Len Dawson and George Blanda.
