Will Dolphins Get Shut Out on NFL Honors Night?
The NFL will honor its best of 2020 during the "NFL Honors" show Saturday night along with revealing the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
The Miami Dolphins have legitimate contenders in several different categories honoring the best of 2020, including Xavien Howard, Brian Flores and Josh Boyer, as well as legendary linebacker Zach Thomas being among the Hall of Fame finalists.
While The Associated Press will vote for these particular awards, the awards given out by the Pro Football Writers Association can serve as a good gauge for who will be honored Saturday night — and it doesn't look good for the Dolphins.
Howard is considered among the leading candidates for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, it was Aaron Donald of the Rams who won the PFWA Award.
Flores has a good case for Coach of the Year, but it was Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns who won the PFWA Award.
Likewise, Boyer deserves mention for his work as defensive coordinator in 2020, but Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll earned the PFWA award.
The Dolphins have a two-year streak of winning the Bridgestone Clutch Performance Play of the Year — with the Miracle in Miami in 2018 and "Mountaineer Shot" in 2019 — but they just didn't have that kind of signature play in 2020.
We'd suggest their nominee for that award would be the "Facemask Pass," the improbable completion from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Mack Hollins at Las Vegas while he was getting his facemask yanked from the side.
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Kyle Van Noy is the Dolphins nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award presented by Nationwide.
Finally, we get to the Hall of Fame announcement.
The Class of 2021 could feature as many as eight inductees, though no more than five modern-era finalists.
The actual election took place virtually Jan. 19, though the results have been kept under wraps.
Thomas is among the finalists for the second consecutive year, though he's part of a loaded 2021 class that includes first-time-eligible candidates Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson.
Hall of Fame voter Gary Myers said on the Ross Tucker Podcast on Friday that his five modern-era votes went to Manning, Woodson, Alan Faneca, Richard Seymour and John Lynch.
But what he said before unveiling his vote should be encouraging news for Zach Thomas fans.
"I really believe that anybody who makes it to the final 15 will eventually get in," Myers said. "That's kind of been the history of it. The numbers bear that out. So any of the 10 who did not get in this year, I'm fairly certain that at some point you will and you just have to wait your turn. That's how it goes."
Of course, Dolphins fans might be skeptical considering Bob Kuechenberg still has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame despite being a finalist eight times.
Thomas is hoping to become the 11th member of the Dolphins — not counting those who had only brief stints in Miami — to make it to the Hall of Fame.
