We're now less than one week away from the final round of cuts that will finalize, for the time being, the Dolphins' 53-man roster. That means a number of those "roster bubble players" have less than a week and just one preseason game to prove they belong on the roster come next week. Therefore, it's time to update the "bubble watch" for the final time this preseason.
While in past versions I've made it a point to talk about how this exercise wasn't a prediction of the 53-man roster, but rather a snapshot of just how the roster might look if cuts were to be made right now, this version is as close to a prediction as you can get. I plan on doing a predictions post following the final preseason game. But I'm not sure anything will even change between this version and my final predictions.
Below is the depth chart. Be sure to leave your thoughts on this as well...
| 1st Team | 2nd Team | 3rd Team | |
| QB | Chad Pennington | Chad Henne | Pat White |
| RB | Ronnie Brown | Ricky Williams | Patrick Cobbs/Lex Hilliard |
| FB | Lousaka Polite | ||
| WR | Ted Ginn | Greg Camarillo | |
| WR | Brian Hartline |
Davone Bess |
Patrick Turner |
| TE | Anthony Fasano | David Martin | John Nalbone |
| LT | Jake Long | Andrew Gardner |
|
| LG | Justin Smiley | Brandon Frye |
|
| C | Jake Grove | Joe Berger | |
| RG | Donald Thomas |
Shawn Murphy | |
| RT | Vernon Carey | ||
| 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 | |
| 1st Team | 2nd Team | 3rd Team | |
| K | Dan Carpenter | ||
| P | Brandon Fields | ||
| LS | John Denney |
PUP: Matt Roth
Last 5 On: Lex Hilliard, Andrew Gardner, John Nalbone, Erik Walden, Charlie Anderson
First 5 Off: Brandon London, Nate Garner, William Kershaw, Courtney Bryan, Joey Haynos
Next 5 Off: Joey Thomas, J.D. Folsom, Rod Wright, James Robinson, Ryan Baker
Some thoughts:
- At this point, I don't see any way Matt Roth starts the season on the active roster. He seems destined for the PUP, which will keep him out for the first six weeks. Depending on his progress, he could then be placed on Injured Reserve, ending his season.
- Truth be told, I'm fairly confident in the above chart. The only real decision I went back and forth on was the battle between Lex Hilliard and Brandon London. I don't think Hilliard would sneak through waivers, either, to make it onto Miami's practice squad. And even if he did, he could be poached at any time (a la Jalen Parmele last season). I think that there's no way both make the team and that this final week will play a major role in which one sticks and which one doesn't. I'm leaning towards Hilliard right now, but that could easily change between now and the conclusion of Thursday night's preseason finale.
- While you all know by now that I'm squarely on the John Nalbone bandwagon, I'm not 100% confident he beats out Joey Haynos. But I've been very impressed with Nalbone's blocking ability. However, he is certainly a practice squad candidate.
- J.D. Folsom had shown enough to be practice squad worthy - at least in my book. One year of practice and training could really go a long way towards Folsom becoming a capable reserve inside linebacker and solid special teams contributor.