What if the Miami Dolphins were actually Homegrown Miamians?

I came across an interesting article that took a look at all teams based on players that grew up in that area. In this article from Andrew Powell-Morse, he looked at all hometown rosters for every NFL franchise. A grueling task, this invloved geographically separating all areas of the United States by their vicinity to the closest NFL stadium. The author used this map, which showed that in order for players to be considered part of the Hometown Miami roster, they could be from as north as Palm Bay, as west as Cape Coral and as south as Key West.

While the author did a heck of a job, I wanted to dive a bit deeper and update the 2014 roster for TEAM MIAMI, to find the complete up-to-date depth chart with current NFL players (or free agents). I only added players who were born or spent their youth (up through high school) in any of the areas. I know none of this is cut and dry, so if you have an addendum or find any discrepancies to this list please let me know in the comments below.

TEAM MIAMI-

OFFENSE

• QB- Teddy Bridgewater, Geno Smith, Thad Lewis
• RB- Frank Gore, Lamar Miller, Kevin Smith
• WR- Antonio Brown, Pierre Garcon, Andre Johnson, Dwayne Bowe, T.Y. Hilton, Allen Hurns, Travis Benjamin, Santonio Holmes, Leonard Hankerson, Santana Moss, Chad Johnson.
• OL- Davin Joseph, Gosder Cherilus, Chris Myers, Josh Sitton, Brandon Linder, Kevin Pamphile.

DEFENSE

• DE- Elvis Dumervil, Jason Pierre Paul, Vince Wilfork, Olivier Vernon, Terrence Cody, Leger Douzable, Jabaal Sheard, Jonathan Freeny
• LB- Jonathan Vilma, Tamba Hali, Steven Tulloch
• CB- Patrick Peterson, Brandon Flowers, Janoris Jenkins, Darius Butler, Josh Robinson, Dimitri Patterson, Asante Samuel, Patrick Robinson, Cary Williams
• S- Louis Delmas, Antrel Rolle, Jonathan Cyprien, Cortez Allen, Major Wright, Kehmal Ishmael

SPECIAL TEAMS

• K- Blair Walsh, Phil Dawson, Matt Prater
• KR/PR- Devin Hester

Roster Outlook-

That looks like a solid NFL team right there! The first glaring weakness is lack of a legitimate, proven QB, however Teddy Bridgewater has looked like he might be able to fit the role of NFL starting quarterback. Our running backs are thin, but qualified. It must be the heat...Miami may have the deepest receiving core out of every hometown. Brown, Garcon, Andre Johnson, Bowe and Hilton seems more like a roster you would create on Madden than anything else! I can't find any current tight ends who are from south Florida so Team Miami will just have to run 5 wideouts on passing plays... oh well. There is plenty of talent on the offensive line but a few players may have to try out new positions. Either way, they look to field atleast 5 capable starters, which is more than I can say for some other towns!

Defense is equally stout and it is apparent by a talented defensive line. More speed than size, Miami still can play players like Wilfork and Cody inside and have plenty of playmakers at DE between Pierre-Paul, Dumervil, Vernon and Douzable. Like our RB's, our LB's are talented... but thin with little depth. However, cornerback is most likely Miami's deepest and most talented position. Led by Flowers and Peterson, there is more than enough depth here to shut down the most capable receivers. A handful of solid safeties are from Miami as well, led by Dolphins starting FS Louis Delmas.

I couldn't find any serviceable punters, however Prater, Walsh and Dawson are three solid kickers that can possibly fill in. Team Miami's top returner is none other than the NFL's All-Time return touchdown leader, Devin Hester.

Many of the players on this list stayed in the state of Florida to play college ball.

Most noticeably, the University of Miami recruited most of the south Florida NFL stars, including Frank Gore, Lamar Miller, Andre Johnson, Allen Hurns, Travis Benjamin, Leonard Hankerson, Santana Moss, Chris Myers, Brandon Linder, Vince Wilfork, Olivier Vernon, Jonathan Vilma, Antrel Rolle and Devin Hester.

Players from the University of Central Florida include Kevin Smith, Josh Sitton, Leger Douzable, Josh Robinson, Asante Samuel, Kehmal Ishmael and Matt Prater.

Janoris Jenkins and Major Wright played at the University of Florida.

T.Y. Hilton and Jonathan Cyprien played at Florida International University.

Patrick Robinson played for Florida State University.

Jason Pierre-Paul played at the University of South Florida.

Of all the hometown players on TEAM MIAMI, only four are currently on the Dolphins roster: Lamar Miller, Jonathan Freeny, Olivier Vernon and Louis Delmas.