Ranking Dolphins Top 25 Players: A Comeback Player of The Year Candidate

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. 8: Jaelan Phillips, Edge Rusher

If you read our ranking of Bradley Chubb, then this might seem a bit repetitive, but Phillips’ and Chubb’s situations are incredibly similar.

Both have enough talent to rank higher on this list, but have gotten incredibly unlucky with injuries. In Phillips’ case, he’s suffered a significant season-ending injury in back-to-back seasons, including a torn Achilles in 2023 and a torn ACL in 2024.

Phillips’ injury history goes all the way back to his time in college, as he medically retired at UCLA before making a comeback with the University of Miami.

Phillips’ resilience and determination are incredibly impressive, and so is his play when he’s healthy. He was on a torrid start in 2023, recording 6.5 sacks and 17 pressures in just eight games before his injury.

He’s been productive in every season he’s played a solid number of snaps, racking up 8.5 sacks as a rookie and seven the following season.

Of Miami’s edge rushers, Phillips might have the best blend of power and speed. Although Chop Robinson is more explosive in a vacuum, Phillips’ athletic ability at his size (6-5, 263) makes him harder to deal with.

The former first-round pick is under extra pressure this season, as he’s playing on his fifth-year option. The option is worth $13.3 million, which could be a bargain if Phillips returns to his 2023 form this season.

However, the important question is how well Phillips has to play to earn a long-term deal from Miami. He’s only 26, and the idea of pairing a healthy Phillips and Robinson together for years to come has to be incredibly appealing to the Dolphins.

That would set the Dolphins up for long-term success at one of the game’s most important positions. Still, as mentioned above, Phillips’ injury history goes past his most recent setbacks. Even if he played all of last season, giving him an extension would be a risk.

Miami likely has an idea of how many games and what production Phillips needs to have before they offer him a new deal, so assuming Phillips has a good season, they’ll likely make a push to keep him around.

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