Predicting the Dolphins 2017 53-man roster

The Miami Dolphins completed their 2017 preseason schedule on Thursday night, beating the Minnesota Vikings 30-9. Now, all attention turns from the field to the coaches and front office as the calendar approaches the roster limit change from the preseason 90-man limit to the regular season 53-man limit. Ahead of those roster cuts, we make our final roster prediction.

There are some updates to the list below from our previous version of this prediction, with players making impacts in the Vikings game and playing themselves onto the roster.

Offense (23)

Quarterbacks (2)

Jay Cutler
Matt Moore

Changes: None.

Running backs (4)

Jay Ajayi
Kenyan Drake
Damien Williams
Senorise Perry

Changes: None.

Wide receivers (5)

Jarvis Landry
DeVante Parker
Kenny Stills
Leonte Carroo
Jakeem Grant

Changes: Stringfellow falls off the roster and onto the practice squad; he has been impressive at times this year, but the Dolphins need to keep some players in other places on the roster, and Stringfellow could use development time.

Tight ends (3)

Julius Thomas
Anthony Fasano
MarQueis Gray

Changes: None.

Offensive linemen (9)

Laremy Tunsil
Anthony Steen
Mike Pouncey
Jermon Bushrod
Ja’Wuan James
Sam Young
Jesse Davis
Eric Smith
Isaac Asiata

Changes: None.

Defense (26)

Defensive ends (5)

Cameron Wake
Andre Branch
William Hayes
Charles Harris
Terrence Fede

Changes: None.

Defensive tackles (5)

Ndamukong Suh
Davon Godchaux
Jordan Phillips
Vincent Taylor
Nick Williams

Changes: Julius Warmsley falls off the roster; Nick Williams moves on to it.

Linebackers (7)

Kiko Alonso
Lawrence Timmons
Mike Hull
Rey Maualuga
Trevor Reilly
Chase Allen
Deon Lacey

Changes: Hewitt falls off the roster due to his injury and the possibility he could be on the injured reserve list; Lacey jumps up from practice squad to the roster with Hewitt out.

Cornerbacks (5)

Byron Maxwell
Xavien Howard
Bobby McCain
Cordrea Tankersley
Alterraun Verner

Changes: None to the 53-man roster; Tory McTyer makes the practice squad.

Safeties (5)

Reshad Jones
Nate Allen
Michael Thomas
Walt Aikens
Maurice Smith

Changes: Smith is added to the 53-man roster off the practice squad; he is probably a future practice squad addition, but he is playing well right now and the Dolphins could look to protect him from potential poaching by keeping him on the roster early in the season; I really wanted to add Hendy to the roster as well, but 11 defensive backs seems too much, so Hendy is on the practice squad.

Special Teams (3)

Punter (1)

Matt Haack

Kicker (1)

Andrew Franks

Long Snapper (1)

John Denney

Change: Matt Haack replaces Matt Darr at punter; Haack appears to have won the job as Darr and Haack seem about equal, but Haack is the cheaper option.

Practice Squad (10)

Brandon Doughty, quarterback
Thomas Duarte, tight end
Drew Morgan, wide receiver
Damore’ea Stringfellow, wide receiver
Avery Young, tackle
Jake Brendel, center
Praise Martin-Oguike, defensive end
Tory McTyer, cornerback
Lafayette Pitts, cornerback
A.J. Hendy, safety