Miami Dolphins 53-Man Roster Early Prediction

As I was looking over the current Dolphins roster, it occurred to me how intense this training camp will be. In my opinion, Dennis Hickey and Mike Tannenbaum have done a stellar job at acquiring talent. 

That is good news for the Dolphins as they do appear to have a very competitive team to field this season. However, it will make for some very difficult cuts during the preseason. Here is my early prediction on the roster shaping up.

1. Ryan Tannehill – Starting QB

2. Matt Moore - Backup QB

3. Jarvis Landry - Starting WR

4. Kenny Stills – Starting WR

5. Greg Jennings – Starting WR

6. DeVante Parker - #4 WR

7. Matt Hazel - #5 WR

8. Lamar Miller – Starting RB

9. Damien Williams - Backup RB

10. Jay Ajayi - #3 RB

11. LaMichael James – KR/Backup RB

12. Jordan Cameron – Starting 1a TE

13. Dion Sims – Starting 1b TE

14. Arthur Lynch – Backup TE

15. Branden Albert – Starting OT

16. Ja’Wuan James – Starting OT

17. Jason Fox – Backup OT

18. Jeff Linkenbach – Backup OT/OG 

19. Jamil Douglas – Starting OG

20. Billy Turner – Starting OG

21. Dallas Thomas - Backup Guard

22. J.D. Walton – Backup Center/Guard

23. Mike Pouncey – Starting Center

24. Cameron Wake – Starting DE

25. Olivier Vernon – Starting DE

26. Derrick Shelby – Backup DE

27. Terrence Fede – Backup DE

28. Ndamukong Suh – Starting DT

29. Earl Mitchell – Starting DT

30. Jordan Phillips – Backup DT

31. C.J. Mosely – Backup DT

32. Anthony Johnson - Backup DT

33. Koa Misi – Starting Middle Linebacker

34. Jelani Jenkins – Starting WLB

35. Chris McCain – Starting SLB

36. Spencer Paysinger – Backup SLB/MLB

37. Jordan Tripp – Backup WLB

38. Mike Hull - Backup WLB/Special Teams

39. Zach Vigil – Backup MLB

40. Reshad Jones – Starting SS

41. Louis Delmas – Starting FS

42. Walt Aikens – Backup FS

43. Michael Thomas – Backup SS

44. Brent Grimes – Starting CB

45. Jamar Taylor – Starting CB

46. Brice McCain – Nickle CB

47. Zack Bowman – Nickle CB

48. Bobby McCain – Backup CB

49. Will Davis – Backup CB

50. Tony Lippett – Backup CB/WR/S

51. Brandon Fields – Punter

52. John Denney – Long Snapper

53. Kicker - ( Not Sure Who)

My Thoughts

• Some of the players are going to likely make it due to the position depth and talent. Dallas Thomas is paid peanuts and is not near as bad of a guard as he is a tackle. He will likely be kept for depth at guard based on what he is paid. If they were to sign someone like Evan Mathis that would change, but as of now I would expect him to make it do to the lack of depth at guard.

• I did not name Caleb Sturgis the kicker. I think he is going to end up going against a veteran like Jay Feely

• LB is a hard one for me – I kept Mike Hull and Zach Vigil over Kelvin Sheppard and Jeff Luc. I feel like Hull and Vigil offer more on special teams and the team may try to use Paysinger as the back-up MLB to Misi if needed.  

• I kept Matt Hazel as my #5 WR. Rishard Matthews is probably a better WR currently. However, the Dolphins took steps to keep Hazel protected. Hazel will be around for years if he shows something. Matthews is almost certainly in his last year with Miami. I would not be shocked if the team only goes with 4 WR’s to open up another roster spot if needed. My thinking is the team can slide Jordan Cameron to WR in 4 WR sets. They will be doing this with motion a lot anyway. Also, I think Tony Lippett can serve as an emergency wide receiver 

• Miami is completely stacked at DT – I kept AJ Johnson as a # 5 DT but that could easily go to AJ Francis or even Deandre Coleman as well. They may end up working out a trade during the preseason.

• I like to keep a lot of CBs.  It is a passing league now and you simply get torn apart by guys like Tom Brady when you have a bad cornerback. So I tend to leave other spots thin to make sure I have plenty of DBs. It probably will be hard to keep both Will Davis and Bobby McCain but that is the direction I went.

There you have it, my 53 man prediction. The final 10 roster spots look very competitive to me. I would love to hear what other Dolphins fan predict the 53 will be.

This column was written by Chad Ronnebaum. Follow him on Twitter: @Gofins4SB