Dolphins roster 2019: Predicting the 53-man roster pre-minicamp

The Miami Dolphins complete their final Organized Team Activity (OTA) today, with their mandatory minicamp coming next week. While a lot will change during the summer, with players playing themselves into roster positions, players playing their way off the roster, and injuries all factoring into the final cuts the franchise will have to make, we can get a good idea of where the Dolphins’ 2019 roster stands heading into minicamp.

For today’s 53-man roster projection, I am not breaking the roster down by position. Instead, I am going to take the 53 players I believe should be on the roster. From there, we will make (hopefully) minor adjustments to make sure we have enough players at the key positions. Basically, the higher up on my list a player is named, the more confident I am he will make the roster.

Here we go:

1. Xavien Howard, cornerback

2. Laremy Tunsil, left tackle

3. Minkah Fitzpatrick, safety

4. Christian Wilkins, defensive tackle

5. Jerome Baker, linebacker

6. Raekwon McMillan, linebacker

7. Charles Harris, defensive end/linebacker

8. Kenyan Drake, running back

9. Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback

10. John Denney, long snapper

11. Josh Rosen, quarterback

12. Reshad Jones, safety

13. DeVante Parker, wide receiver

14. Eric Rowe, cornerback

15. Bobby McCain, cornerback

16. Kenny Stills, wide receiver

17. Jakeem Grant, wide receiver

18. Davon Godchaux, defensive tackle

19. Jason Sanders, kicker

20. Kalen Ballage, running back

21. Mike Gesicki, tight end

22. Michael Deiter, guard

23. Dwayne Allen, tight end

24. Jesse Davis, guard

25. Kiko Alonso, linebacker

26. T.J. McDonald, safety

27. Vincent Taylor, defensive tackle

28. Chandler Cox, fullback

29. Daniel Kilgore, center

30. Albert Wilson, wide receiver

31. Matt Haack, punter

32. Chase Allen, linebacker

33. Andrew Van Ginkel, linebacker

34. Isaiah Prince, tackle

35. Nick O’Leary, tight end

36. Jordan Mills, tackle

37. Akeem Spence, defensive tackle

38. Cordrea Tankersley, cornerback

39. Zach Sterup, tackle

40. Walt Aikens, cornerback/safety

41. Tank Carradine, defensive end

42. Maurice Smith, safety

43. Jonathan Woodard, defensive end

44. Torry McTyer, cornerback

45. Brice Butler, wide receiver

46. Jayrone Elliott, linebacker

47. Michael Dunn, guard

48. Myles Gaskin, running back

49. Nate Orchard, linebacker

50. Mike Hull, linebacker

51. Durham Smythe, tight end

52. Adolphus Washington, defensive tackle

53. Preston Williams, wide receiver

Now, breaking down what I selected by position, we have:

Quarterback: 2
Running back: 3
Fullback: 1
Wide receiver: 6
Tight end: 4
Offensive line: 8
Defensive end: 3
Defensive tackle: 5
Linebacker: 8
Cornerback: 6
Safety: 4
Kicker: 1
Punter: 1
Long snapper: 1

I feel like it is really, really light on defensive linemen, even considering some of the linebackers are rush linebackers that bolster the defensive ends. I would also like to pick up another offensive lineman. Cornerback with six players on the roster includes Walt Aikens, who I would consider a safety - and Bobby McCain who is playing both positions, while safety includes Minkah Fitzpatrick who also plays cornerback. That all said, I am going to drop Maurice Smith (42) to pick up a roster spot, which I can give to Kyle Fuller, adding a center/guard depth player.

That gives me nine offensive linemen now, and three safeties - plus Aikens and McCain.

As for the defensive line addition, I would like to add Jamiyus Pittmann to the rotation, which would bring me to six defensive tackle and is not exactly helping the pass rush, but I will be relying on those linebackers (e.g., Van Ginkel, Elliott, Orchard) to add to the group. To make the roster space, I went back and forth between losing either linebacekr Mike Hull (50) or wide receiver Preston Williams (53). Ultimately, I lost Williams because I can put him on the practice squad and I feel more comfortable with five receivers on the roster than I do with seven linebackers in a 3-4 system.

That leaves me looking like:

Dolphins Projected 53-man roster (pre-minicamp 2019)

Offense (24)

Quarterback (2)

Ryan Fitzpatrick
Josh Rosen

Running back (3)

Kenyan Drake
Kalen Ballage
Myles Gaskin

Fullback (1)

Chandler Cox

Wide receiver (5)

DeVante Parker
Kenny Stills
Jakeem Grant
Albert Wilson
Brice Butler

Tight end (4)

Mike Gesicki
Dwayne Allen
Nick O’Leary
Durham Smythe

Offensive linemen (9)

Laremy Tunsil
Jesse Davis
Michael Deiter
Daniel Kilgore
Isaiah Prince
Jordan Mills
Zach Sterup
Michael Dunn
Kyle Fuller

Defense (26)

Defensive end (3)

Charles Harris
Tank Carradine
Jonathan Woodard

Defensive tackle (6)

Christian Wilkins
Davon Godchaux
Vincent Taylor
Akeem Spence
Adolphus Washington
Jamiyus Pittmann

Linebacker (8)

Jerome Baker
Raekwon McMillan
Kiko Alonso
Chase Allen
Andrew Van Ginkel
Jayrone Elliott
Nate Orchard
Mike Hull

Cornerback (6)

Xavien Howard
Eric Rowe
Bobby McCain
Cordrea Tankersley
Torry McTyer
Walt Aikens

Safety (3)

Minkah Fitzpatrick
Reshad Jones
T.J. McDonald

Special Teams (3)

Punter (1)

Matt Haack

Kicker (1)

Jason Sanders

Long snapper (1)

John Denney