With one preseason game in the books and another just days away, the depth chart is starting to come a little bit more into focus. So I figured it's time to update the "depth chart bubble watch" to reflect what we saw on the field on Monday night.
Again, just incase you haven't seen this before, the idea behind it is simple - to put together a projected 53-man roster and to highlight which players I feel are on pace to just barely make the team and which just miss the cut. And it's important to note that this is not how I predict the roster will look once the preseason comes to a close. Instead, it's simply a snapshot that examines how Miami's 53-man roster might look if the cuts were to be done at this very moment.
The depth chart and some notes can be found below right after the jump...
| 1st Team | 2nd Team | 3rd Team | |
| QB | Chad Pennington | Chad Henne | Pat White |
| RB | Ronnie Brown | Ricky Williams | Patrick Cobbs |
| FB | Lousaka Polite | ||
| WR | Ted Ginn | Patrick Turner | |
| WR | Davone Bess |
Greg Camarillo | Brian Hartline |
| TE | Anthony Fasano | David Martin | John Nalbone |
| LT | Jake Long | ||
| LG | Justin Smiley | Andy Alleman |
|
| C | Jake Grove | Joe Berger | |
| RG | Donald Thomas |
Shawn Murphy | |
| RT | Vernon Carey | Nate Garner | |
| 1st Team | 2nd Team | 3rd Team | |
| DE | Kendall Langford | Tony McDaniel |
|
| NT | Jason Ferguson | Paul Soliai | |
| DE | Randy Starks |
Phillip Merling |
Lionel Dotson |
| SOLB | Jason Taylor |
Quentin Moses |
Erik Walden |
| ILB | Channing Crowder | Reggie Torbor |
|
| ILB | Akin Ayodele | ||
| WOLB | Joey Porter | Cameron Wake |
Charlie Anderson |
| CB | Will Allen | Vontae Davis | Jason Allen |
| CB | Sean Smith |
Nathan Jones |
|
| S | Yeremiah Bell | Chris Clemons | |
| S | Gibril Wilson | Tyrone Culver | Courtney Bryan |
| 1st Team | 2nd Team | 3rd Team | |
| K | Dan Carpenter | ||
| P | Brandon Fields | ||
| LS | John Denney |
PUP: Matt Roth
Last 5 On: Jason Allen, Courtney Bryan, Nate Garner, John Nalbone, Erik Walden
First 5 Off: Brandon London, Andrew Gardner, Chris Williams, Ernest Wilford, Anthony Armstrong
Next 5 Off: Ike Ndukwe, Joey Haynos, William Kershaw, Brandon Frye, Connor Barth
Some quick notes on this:
- The release of Eric Green made room for me to keep Courtney Bryan. The coaches like the kid a lot. He can play either safety spot and is a solid special teams player. But the Dolphins could go with six receivers instead of a fifth safety. Or they could actually bring in a free agent cornerback - there are some veterans with lots of experience currently available.
- I can't say I have any real idea how the outside linebacker position will shake out. At this point, we know Taylor, Porter, and Wake will make this team. Roth will as well - but could start the year on the PUP list if he doesn't practice soon or is unable to consistently practice. As for the others, it's anyone's guess. None of the 2nd or 3rd stringers outside of Wake really "flashed" on Monday.
- You can't help but wonder what happens if Chris Williams continues to get better as a return man. Could he be the 6th receiver on the roster despite only having one real role? If London or Armstrong don't show something during preseason games, I wouldn't be shocked.
- I like Andrew Gardner but he didn't play much on Monday. It makes you wonder if the Dolphins are trying to hide him from other teams so they can sneak him onto their practice squad. As I have it now, Vernon Carey would swap to LT if, heaven forbid, Jake Long went down.
- Ernest Wilford may have made a play on Monday night - but anyone could have really made that play. It was broken coverage and Wilford took advantage. But I was really impressed with John Nalbone's blocking while working with the second-team offense. And he's reportedly been much more consistent catching the ball in practice. Right now, I think he's got the inside track for the final TE spot.