After a long, grueling training camp and preseason, some players will no longer be Miami Dolphins as of 4 pm eastern on Saturday. The Dolphins went into Thursday's preseason finale with 66 players on their roster. They must be down to 53 players by the 4 pm deadline.
Below is my final roster prediction. I've included some explanations after my prediction. Check it out and then tell us your final predictions.
| 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 | Greg Camarillo | Brandon London |
| WR | Davone Bess |
Brian Hartline |
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 |
Charlie Anderson |
Quentin Moses |
| ILB | Channing Crowder | Reggie Torbor |
|
| ILB | Akin Ayodele | ||
| WOLB | Joey Porter | Cameron Wake |
Erik Walden |
| 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: Brandon London, Erik Walden, John Nalbone, Brandon Frye, Quentin Moses
First 5 Off: Lex Hilliard, William Kershaw, Joey Haynos, Courtney Bryan, Nate Garner
Quick explanations:
- The final roster spot, for me, came down to Brandon London, Lex Hilliard, and William Kershaw. But I think Kershaw could still make the team if the Dolphins decide to only keep five outside linebackers as opposed to six - possibly in place of Erik Walden or Quentin Moses. I think they'll try to sneak Hilliard onto the practice squad. The bottom line is that London is more valuable in terms of the number of plays he sees on gameday because of special teams. Although, truth be told, regardless of if it's London or Hilliard, I'm not sure either is a lock to be active on gameday.
- I'm confident that the Dolphins will keep three tight ends. Some think David Martin could be a surprise cut, but he's still head and shoulders better than either John Nalbone or Joey Haynos. With the number of two TE sets Dan Henning uses, I don't see why the Dolphins would need to cut Martin. You could see the Dolphins keep Haynos over Nalbone, though - which would mean Nalbone is a prime practice squad candidate. But I also wouldn't be shocked to see another team (Kansas City or Cincinnati, for example) poach Nalbone off wiavers. Both teams have a need at tight end. I wouldn't even take the risk, if I were the Dolphins - which is why Nalbone is on my final 53.
- I think Dotson has shown enough to earn a roster spot. But barring injury, he's likely going to be inactive on most gamedays.
- I wouldn't be shocked if the Dolphins decided to waive Andrew Gardner in favor of Nate Garner. If that's the case, the Dolphins would obviously hope to get Gardner on the practice squad.
- If I had to come up with a list of possible practice squad candidates based on my 53-man roster prediction above, I'd say J.D. Folsom and Lex Hilliard would be locks. Mark Lewis and James Robinson would be other possibilities. And I'd expect the Dolphins to go outside the organization for other potential guys.