Jay Ajayi, Jarvis Landry, Cameron Wake among Dolphins who can reach milestones in Week 15

The Miami Dolphins will face the New York Jets in a Saturday night AFC East showdown. There are several Dolphins players who come into this game approaching individual milestones, as well as the team approaching some. One particular team milestone involves wins in a season and something the team has not done since 2008, but we are not going to jinx that one. If Miami were to win Saturday night, it would be the 30th time the franchise reached that specific milestone in the club’s 51 year history.

A win would also mark the first time Miami had swept the Jets in the annual two-game division rivalry wince 2009.

Turning to the individual milestones, running back Jay Ajayi is just 44 yards from reaching the 1,000-yard mark on the year. It would be the 14th time a running back has hit that mark in team history, and Ajayi would be the 10th player to do it. He would join Larry Csonka (1971, 1972, 1973), Mercury Morris (1972), Delvin Williams (1978), Karim Abdul-Jabbar (1996), Lamar Smith (2000), Ricky Williams (2002, 2003, 2009), Ronnie Brown (2006), Reggie Bush (2011), and Lamar Miller (2014).

Tight end Dion Sims has 215 receiving yards this season, 70 shy of setting a new career high.

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Wide receiver Jarvis Landry continues to build upon his NFL record of most receptions in a player’s first three seasons. He currently has 273 catches, seven more than New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr., who is also currently in his third-season. Landry is also just 77 yards from 1,000-yards receiving this season, which would make him the first back-to-back 1,000-yard receiver since Brian Hartline in 2012 and 2013.

Landry needs 162 yards to reach 3,000 yards in his career.

Wide receiver Kenny Stills has six receiving touchdowns this season, a career high. He is three touchdown catches away from 20 for his career.

Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images

Defensive end Cameron Wake has 79.5 career sacks, 1.5 sacks shy of surpassing Jason Taylor for the most sacks in team history for a player in his first eight seasons.He is also just 2.5 sacks from surpassing James Harrison for the second-most sacks for an undrafted player in NFL history. A three-sack performance would tie Wake with Taylor for the most three-sack performances in a career with the Dolphins.

Defensive end Mario Williams is one tackle short of reaching the 400 career tackles mark. He is three sacks shy of reaching 100 in his career.

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is three sacks shy of hitting the 50 sacks for his career mark. He has 57 tackles this year, 10 short of a career high for a season.

Linebacker Kiko Alonso has 97 tackles on the season and could reach 100 for just the second time in his career. He is also just one tackle shy of 300 for his career. He has four fumble recoveries this season, one shy of tying the franchise record for recoveries in a season.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Cornerback Byron Maxwell has 15 passes defensed this year, a career high; he is seven shy of breaking the Dolphins’ franchise single-season record. His 53 tackles is 12 shy of setting a new personal career high. He has set the franchise record for most forced fumbles by a defensive back in a season with four.

On a note of a milestone that likely will not be reached this year belongs to quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who sprained the ACL and MCL in his left knee last week and will miss at least this game and (most likely) next week’s game against the Buffalo Bills. He could, theoretically, return for Week 17 or the playoffs, but those are long shots. Tannehill is 968 passing yards shy of surpassing Dan Marino (19,422 yards) for the most passing yards by a Dolphins quarterback in his first five seasons in the league, a milestone that would have also moved him into second place all time in the league behind just Peyton Manning (20,618). If Tannehill had thrown for 1,005 more yards this season, he would have reached the 4,000 yard mark for the third consecutive season, marking the first time that had occurred since Marino did it from 1984 through 1986.