Dolphins Rookie Report Card: Week 14

DE Dion Jordan (1st Round Pick, 3rd overall). Grade: B

Jordan played 25 rather uneventful snaps on defense, recording two tackles and one quarterback hurry. He didn't make much noise on the stat sheet, but as I chronicled earlier this week his size and speed were utilized in some creative ways to make an impact against the Steelers.

Perhaps Jordan's coolest play of the day was on special teams, when he weaponized Steelers safety Cortez Allen on a kickoff by using his body to tackle kick returner Emmanuel Sanders, then discarding him like a spent pistol.

It may take couple times through to pick up on it, but here's the play in GIF form:

Season GPA: 2.58 Team Rank: 3rd

CB Jamar Taylor (2nd Round Pick, 54th overall). Grade: I (Incomplete)

Taylor was inactive as he continues nursing the injuries that he sustained not playing in games.

Season GPA: 1.57 Team Rank: 9th

OL Dallas Thomas (3rd Round Pick, 77th overall). Grade: I (Incomplete)

Active, but didn't play. With Sam Brenner and Nate Garner doing solid work rotating into the lineup, it's unlikely we'll see Thomas again barring more injuries (or bullying scandals).

Season GPA: 2.00 Team Rank: 4th

CB Will Davis (3rd Round Pick, 93rd overall). Grade: I (Incomplete)

The Dolphins needed cornerback depth, but Davis was a scratch. Discouraging.

Season GPA: 1.70 Team Rank: 7th

LB Jelani Jenkins (4th Round Pick, 104th overall). Grade: D

Jenkins exclusively played special teams this week, and after re-watching every kicking play the only impact I noticed from him was a second half holding penalty that pinned the Dolphins offense deep in its own territory.

Season GPA: 1.69 Team Rank: 8th

Dion Sims (4th Round Pick, 106th overall). Grade: C

The backup tight end was targeted twice, catching one pass for seven yards. It was only the second time that Ryan Tannehill has looked his way more than once in a single game. His target total is up to eight on the season. Sims could also be seen making some solid blocks on the kickoff return team, which is more than could be said about his run blocking work on offense.

Season GPA: 1.90 Team Rank: 6th

RB Mike Gillislee (5th Round Pick, 164th overall). Grade: C+

Despite Lamar Miller's departure with a concussion, Gillislee was not given any reps on offense. He was, however, very active in his (relatively) new special teams role, where he logged a third quarter tackle.

Season GPA: 2.65 Team Rank: 2nd

K Caleb Sturgis (5th Round Pick, 166th overall). Grade: B

I can't, in good conscience, fault Sturgis for missing a long field goal in the worst stadium for placekicking in just about the worst possible conditions. The broadcast put up a graphic saying that only one kick longer than 50 yards has ever been made going into that end of the stadium in any weather, much less the snowy conditions that were present on Sunday.

The kick of course fell short and was returned by the Steelers, leading to a crazy lateral ending to the first half that nearly led to a touchdown. Which turned out to be valuable practice for the crazy lateral play at the end of the game that VERY nearly led to a touchdown. Bad, bad decision by the coaches.

Season GPA: 3.03 Team Rank: 1st

DB Don Jones (7th Round Pick, 250th overall). Grade: C-

Jones' return to full-time punt coverage duties this week was an adventure. He made an impressive tackle that limited punt returner Antonio Brown to just one yard when there was ample space for a much bigger return, but also, as he is wont to do, took a miserable angle on another punt and missed a tackle that would have stopped a return. Instead, Brown gained decent yardage.

Two other plays that fell into the bad column was a boneheaded false start and another instance where, from his outside gunner spot, he got blocked so far into the backfield that when he finally got away he was next to the punter.

Season GPA: 1.95 Team Rank: 5th

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All player data is courtesy of Pro Football Focus and all contract info is courtesy of OverTheCap.com.