Dolphins Mailbag Spotlight: What's the Most Talented Post-'70s Miami Team?
From time to time, we'll pull out a question from our weekly mailbags that deserves more space than normal.
This question comes from Phinaholic (@dana_buice): I’ve been a Fins fan for more than 35 years. This Dolphins team is the greatest collection of talent I have ever seen the Dolphins assemble in my opinion. Please exclude the teams from the '70s. What team stands out to you?
THE TALENT ON THE 2022 DOLPHINS
There's definitely a lot to like about this 2022 Dolphins roster, which now has four former Pro Bowl selections (Tyreek Hill, Terron Armstead, Xavien Howard and Byron Jones), along with a handful of up-and-coming stars like Jevon Holland, Jaelan Phillips, Jaylen Waddle and Christian Wilkins, and other blue-chip players like Jerome Baker and Emmanuel Ogbah.
But, no, I would not put it at the top of post-1970s Dolphins teams in terms of talent.
This 2022 team has better balance on paper than a lot of Miami teams of the past four years because the Marino years were top-heavy on offense and the opposite was true during the years when Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt served as head coach.
The most impressive recent team in terms of balance on the roster heading into a season just might be the 2014 edition.
That team featured newcomer Branden Albert, Mike Pouncey, veteran Daryn Colledge and rookie first-round pick Ja'Wuan James on the offensive line to go along with rookie wide receiver Jarvis Landry and Mike Wallace. And then on defense, the roster featured Pro Bowl players like Cameron Wake, Randy Starks and Brent Grimes, along with 2010 first-round pick Jared Odrick and future Pro Bowl selection Reshad Jones.
THE DAN MARINO YEARS
During the Marino years, maybe the best collection of talent was the 1995 team, which featured Irving Fryar, Richmond Webb, Keith Sims, Tim Ruddy, tight end Eric Green, O.J. McDuffie and Keith Byars on offense, plus Jeff Cross, Bryan Cox, Tim Bowens and former first-round picks Marco Coleman and Troy Vincent on defense. All told, 15 former first-round picks started at least one game for the Dolphins that season — the 2022 Dolphins have 10 former first-round picks on their roster.
The most talented post-Marino team might have been the 2003 edition, which was led by Ricky Williams fresh off his 1,853-yard season, with Tim Ruddy anchoring the offensive line and a defense featuring seven Pro Bowl players — Tim Bowens, Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas, Junior Seau, Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison and Brock Marion.
The 2022 team is oozing with potential, but only if all the young players reach their full or expected level of play in the NFL.
As of now, it's a stretch from here to suggest it's the most talented collection since the 1970s.
At this point, the top choice has to come from either 1995, 2003 or even 2014.
