Dolphins 2020 Top 10: Top Perfomers
With the 2020 season now behind us, we'll take a regular look back at what the Miami Dolphins accomplished through a series of top 10 lists.
In this first installment, we'll rank our top 10 individual performers.
1. CB Xavien Howard
Not much debate for this one. Howard led the league in interceptions with 10, in the process tying the Dolphins single-season record first set 53 years ago. Howard was simply outstanding in coverage the entire season with few exceptions, making a remarkable comeback after his injury-shortened 2019 season. Howard might not end up winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors, but he did earn AP first-team All-Pro recognition and Dolphins team MVP honors.
RELATED: Second Pro Bowl More Special for Howard
2. K Jason Sanders
It's not often a kicker would deserve to rank this high, particularly on a 10-6 team, but Sanders was just that good in 2020. He finished 36-for-39 in field goal attempts, including the game-winner at Las Vegas, and more impressively was 8-for-9 from 50 yards and beyond. Like Howard, he earned first-team All-Pro honors and simply had the best season ever by a Dolphins kicker.
RELATED: Sanders, Howard Pick Up All-Pro Honors
3. DE Emmanuel Ogbah
An argument could be made that Ogbah deserved to have made the Pro Bowl (instead of K.C. defensive end Frank Clark), but regardless Ogbah made a huge impact in his first season with the Dolphins. Though his stats faded a bit down the stretch. Ogbah still finished with nine sacks, 21 quarterback hits and three forced fumbles, two of which produced defensive touchdowns.
4. LB Jerome Baker
Because he came on strong late, Baker kind of flew under the radar, but he ended up having a big season. In addition to leading the team in tackles with 111, Baker was second behind Ogbah in sacks with seven and also forced two fumbles. He was one of only two players (along with Devin White of the Bucs) in the NFL with at least 100 tackles and seven sacks.
5. LB Andrew Van Ginkel
Van Ginkel was the beneficiary of one of Ogbah's big plays when he returned a fumble for a touchdown against the Rams, but that just a small sample of the big plays he kept producing. Van Ginkel pretty much was a part-time player in 2020, but he just kept showing up game after game and he closed things out in style with three sacks in the final two games.
6. TE Mike Gesicki
There wasn't a lot of consistency on offense in 2020, but Gesicki was the most productive player from start to finish. Gesicki had his biggest game of the season in Week 2 (eight catches, 130 yards, touchdown against Buffalo) and closed out with a flurry with 23 of his 53 receptions in the final four games.
7. S Eric Rowe
From pretty much the entire season, Rowe did a tremendous job taking away or at least containing opposing tight ends in the passing game. While the end of his season wasn't quite as good, we shouldn't forget that his final month included facing the two best tight ends in the league, Travis Kelce and Darren Waller. But that shouldn't take away from his overall performance.
8. RB Myles Gaskin
The biggest surprise of the season was the emergence of Gaskin, who shot past newcomers Jordan Howard and Matt Breida in the pecking order and became the go-to guy at running back. While he didn't necessarily wow with flashy runs, Gaskin was effective more often than not. He ended the season as one of only eight NFL players with at least 500 yards rushing and 350 receiving.
9. PR Jakeem Grant
Grant was used in several different ways by the Dolphins, but it's as a punt returner that he really deserves recognition. Yes, we understand that Grant dropped some passes as a receiver, but he still was fourth on the team in receptions, had the team's longest running play most of the season, and he finished second in the AFC in punt return average with an 11.4 mark that featured his 88-yard touchdown against the Rams.
10. DT Zach Sieler
We could have gone a lot of different ways with the final spot on this list, but we chose Sieler because, like Van Ginkel, he made the most of his more limited playing time. Sieler led all Dolphins defenders in tackles for loss with 11, was involved in a couple of key fourth-down stops, and had 3.5 sacks to boot. It was strong work by the 2019 December pick-up.
