The countdown to the start of the 2024 regular season has begun now that we're under 100 days away, so we'll honor every day the best players to wear the corresponding number for the Dolphins.
Today, we're at number 20.
The top players at each number so far have beenDE Jason Taylor at 99,DT Jared Odrick at 98,DE Phillip Merling at 97,DT Paul Soliai at 96,DT Tim Bowens at 95,DT Randy Starks at 94, DE Trace Armstrong at 93,LS John Denney at 92,DE Cameron Wake at 91,DE/OLB Marco Coleman at 90, WR Nat Moore at 89,TE Keith Jackson at 88,TE Andre Tillman at 87,WR Oronde Gadsden at 86,LB Nick Buoniconti at 85,DE Bill Stanfill at 84,WR Mark Clayton at 83,WR Brian Hartline at 82, WR O.J. McDuffie at 81,WR Irving Fryar at 80,T Jon Giesler at 79,T Richmond Webb at 78,LB A.J. Duhe at 77,T Branden Albert at 76, DT Manny Fernandez at 75, T Mark Dennis at 74, NT Bob Baumhower at 73, T Terron Armstead at 72, T Todd Wade at 71, DE Kendall Langford at 70, G Keith Sims at 69, G Robert Hunt at 68, G Bob Kuechenberg at 67, G Larry Little at 66, OL Jeff Dellenbach at 65, G Ed Newman at 64, G Mark Dixon at 63, C Jim Langer at 62, C Tim Ruddy at 61, G Bert Weidner at 60, LB Doug Swift at 59, LB Kim Bokamper at 58, C Dwight Stephenson at 57, LB John Offerdahl at 56, LB Earnest Rhone at 55, LB Zach Thomas at 54, LB Bob Matheson at 53, LB Channing Crowder at 52, LB Bryan Cox at 51, LB Larry Gordon at 50, CB William Judson at 49, CB Gerald Small at 48, S Glenn Blackwood at 47, S Don Bessilieu at 46, CB Curtis Johnson at 45, CB Paul Lankford at 44, LB Andrew Van Ginkel at 43, WR Paul Warfield at 42, FB. Keith Byars at 41, S Dick Anderson at 40, FB Larry Csonka at 39, CB Calvin Jackson at 38, CB J.B. 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, and RB Jim Kiick at 21.
As a reminder about the ground rules, the top three will be determined only by what the players did while wearing that uniform for the Dolphins.
P-TE Larry Seiple (1967-77), S Neal Colzie (1979), RB David Overstreet (1983), RB Rickey Isom (1987), RB Joe Cribbs (1988), RB Marc Logan (1989-91), CB Muhammad Oliver (1994), RB Ray Nealy (1997), RB John Avery (1998-99), CB Ben Kelly (2001), S Lloyd Harrison (2002), S Arturo Freeman (2003-04), CB Kiwaukee Thomas (2005), CB Eddie Jackson (2006), RB Lorenzo Booker (2007), S Chris Crocker (2008), S Reshad Jones (2010-19), S Sheldrick Redwine (2021), CB Justin Bethel (2022-23)
The breakdown of 20 with the Dolphins
As we get to 20, there are two players who clearly stand out, that being Larry Seiple and Reshad Jones. Beyond them, there's a free-for-all for the third spot. Before he became an assistant coach with the Dolphins. Seiple spent 11 season as the team's punter while also sporadically playing tight end. His best season at tight end came in 1969 when he started eight games and had 44 catches. As a punter, his career highlight came in the 1972 AFC Championship Game with a long run off a fake punt that set up a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Reshad Jones came as a fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft and arguably was the Dolphins' best player of the past decade outside of Cameron Wake. Before he was released this offseason, Jones started 113 of the 128 games he played, made the Pro Bowl twice and had six defensive touchdowns (the second-highest total in team history behind only Jason Taylor's nine). Neal Colzie, who came out of Coral Gables High, played only one season with the Dolphins but he made it count as he started all 16 games and had five interceptions in 1979. Arturo Freeman played his last two of five seasons with the Dolphins wearing 20 after being number 27. His best season with Miami came as number 20 in 2004 when he started nine games and had four interceptions, including his game-clincher in the Dolphins' huge 29-28 Monday night upset of the Patriots. David Overstreet was the Dolphins' first-round pick in 1981, but a contract dispute led him to sign with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL and he played in Canada for two seasons. After rushing for 392 yards as a backup for the Dolphins in 1983, Overstreet was killed in a car accident the following June. John Avery was first-round pick of the Dolphins in 1998 who after rushing for 503 yards and a 3.5 average as a rookie was traded to Denver after one game the following year. The selection of Avery was even more disappointing because it came after the Dolphins traded down from 19th to 29th in the first round and the Vikings then took Randy Moss with the 21st pick.
1. S Reshad Jones
2. P-TE Larry Seiple
3. S Arturo Freeman
Dolphins 20's among the NFL's all-time best
Barry Sanders, Ed Reed and Ronde Barber stand out the all-time best players with this number, and Jalen Ramsey deserves mention for his production wearing 20 in his first five NFL seasons before he switched to his current 5. But no Dolphins player would rank in the top 20 here.
