Ranking Dolphins Top 25 Players: Westbrook-Ikhine Brings a New Skill Set

The Miami Dolphins signed Nick Westbrook-Ikhine to provide better size and blocking in the wide receiver room.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Harold Landry III (58), wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) and quarterback Will Levis (8) prepare to hit the field before the game against the Houston Texans. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins are entering a critical season in 2025. After missing the playoffs last season and not making any blockbuster moves this offseason, the team is under a lot of pressure to finally get over the hump in the playoffs. 

With that in mind, it seems like an excellent time to rank the Dolphins’ top 25 players heading into the 2025 season. This list was voted on by site publisher Alain Poupart (@PoupartNFL), deputy editor Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) and contributor Jake Mendel (@JMendel94).

The rankings were compiled separately based on a points system. That system awarded 25 points to the first player in each writer’s top 25, 24 to the second player, 23 to the third player, and so on. 

No. 20: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Wide Receiver

The Dolphins handled the 2025 offseason much differently than in previous years under Coach Mike McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier. 

One of the biggest indicators of that was Miami’s signing of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, a player whose skill set is much different than the Dolphins’ other receiver. We believe that skill set can be a major asset for the Dolphins this season, and that Westbrook-Ikhine is one of the team’s top-20 players. 

He should help the Dolphins in a few key areas: run blocking and redzone efficiency. 

He’s an aggressive and solid blocker from the slot, something the Dolphins have missed during the McDaniel era. NWI took 153 of his 728 snaps from the slot last season, which isn’t an overwhelming number, but it’s enough to confirm his versatility.

The Dolphins spent most of the last few years asking smaller players to make key blocks on the perimeter and near the line of scrimmage. While that went well enough in previous seasons, it fell apart in 2024. 

The size and physicality NWI  brings to the running game also helps him in the redzone. He was targeted nine times in the red area last season and converted those into six touchdowns.

The Dolphins finished 16th in the NFL in the percentage of red zone drives they converted into touchdowns, so NWI could help push them toward being a top-10 red zone unit.

Although NWI profiles as a thoroughly useful player in several facets, it’ll be interesting to see just how big his role on the offense ends up. 

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle will demand more targets at receiver, and other playmakers like De’Von Achane and Jonnu Smith are much more dynamic with the ball in their hands. 

Smith could still get traded, which would open up a lot of targets for NWI, but the Dolphins and Smith have both said they want to work something out. 

There’s a chance NWI doesn’t make a significant impact on the box score this season, and it would be foolish to expect him to maintain his touchdown-catching pace from last season. Still, he can help alleviate so many of the problems Miami’s offense had last season. 

Full Rankings

No. 25: Malik Washington | No. 24: Willie Gay Jr. | No.23: Benito Jones | No. 22: Patrick Paul | No. 21: Jonah Savaiinaea | No. 20: Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | No. 19: Ifeatu Melifonwu | No. 18: Tyrel Dodson | No. 17 Kenneth Grant | No. 16: Alec Ingold | No. 15: Kader Kohou | No. 14: Austin Jackson | No. 13: Jason Sanders | No. 12: Chop Robinson | No. 11: Aaron Brewer

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