Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Jets have a chance for revenge with the Dolphins coming to town on Sunday. Although we broke down their roster before last month’s game, a lot has changed since then. Incredibly, the Dolphins have nobody listed on the injury report this week, although to some extent that’s because so many of their injured players have already been placed on injured reserve.
Quarterbacks
One position where nothing has changed has been at quarterback, where Ryan Fitzpatrick continues to keep Josh Rosen at bay.
Fitzpatrick has won three of his last five starts, starting with the previous meeting with the Jets. Two of these starts were 300-yard games, including a 365-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Eagles in last week’s win.
With the Jets down several players in the secondary, Fitzpatrick will be hoping to put up some big numbers against his former team.
Offensive Line
The Dolphins have been experimenting with their offensive line over the past few weeks, with veterans J’Marcus Webb and Evan Boehm relegated to the bench. Julién Davenport is in at left tackle with the undrafted rookie Shaq Calhoun at right guard, even though both have really struggled so far.
The Dolphins’ best lineman is Daniel Kilgore, who was injured when the Jets played Miami back in November. He provides them with solid pass protection at center.
Right tackle Jesse Davis is the only holdover from last year’s offensive line. The versatile ex-Jet is a below average lineman, but still probably the second best player on Miami’s line.
The other starter is third round rookie Michael Deiter, who has started every game and leads the Dolphins in total offensive snaps but has struggled all year.
Apart from Boehm and Webb, Miami has another rookie, Keaton Sutherland, on their bench. They also have Evan Brown, who was just activated off the practice squad. Chris Reed, who started against the Jets last month, has since been cut.
Running Backs
The running back position has changed completely with Mark Walton having been suspended and then cut and Kalen Ballage now on injured reserve. The current number one back is undrafted rookie Patrick Laird, with seventh-round rookie Myles Gaskin backing him up.
Despite being off the team, Walton still leads the Dolphins in rushing with just 201 yards on the season. Laird is off to a slow start as the starter with just 36 yards on 16 carries. He’s made some plays in the passing game though.
Miami claimed veteran Zach Zenner off waivers and activated De’Lance Turner from their practice squad to bolster their depth.
Chandler Cox, another seventh-round rookie, remains on the team as a blocking back.
Receivers
The Dolphins’ receiver group took a big hit when rookie Preston Williams tore his ACL in the previous game against the Jets. Jakeem Grant has also joined him on injured reserve, as has Gary Jennings, who had been claimed off waivers to replace Williams.
Miami has since claimed two players who already faced the Jets with their previous team - Trevor Davis from Oakland and Mack Hollins from Philadelphia - and activated Isaiah Ford from their practice squad.
DeVante Parker leads the Dolphins with 53 catches, six touchdowns and an average of over 16 yards per catch. He needs 146 more yards to achieve a thousand-yard season for the first time in his career.
Veterans Albert Wilson and Allen Hurns get the majority of the rest of the reps, although neither is having a particularly productive season so far.
Mike Gesicki’s performance in the win over the Jets has been his best game of the season so far. He had six catches for 95 yards. Over the past two weeks, Gesicki has scored two touchdowns having entered week 12 without one.
Durham Smythe and former Jet Clive Walford have just four catches between them as Gesicki’s back-ups.
Defensive Line
The Dolphins continue to use John Jenkins, Davon Godchaux and Christian Wilkins most of the time as their interior linemen. Of the three, Jenkins has been the standout, both against the run and as a pass rusher.
In terms of reserves, the Dolphins gave up on the Robert Nkemdiche experiement but added Gerald Willis from the practice squad and claimed Zach Siegler off waivers.
Charles Harris, Taco Charlton and Avery Moss are the primary edge defenders. Charlton leads the team with five sacks.
Linebackers
The only change to the linebacker group is that fifth-round rookie Andrew Van Ginkel has been activated from injured reserve.
The Dolphins have been getting a lot of guys reps at linebacker with Jerome Baker and Raekwon McMillan seeing the most playing time. Baker leads the team with 84 tackles.
Sam Eguavoen and Vince Biegel have been getting plenty of reps at the outside linebacker positions with Biegel having been one of their most productive pass rushers. He leads the team with 11 quarterback hits and Eguavoen leads them in tackles for loss.
Van Ginkle, Deon Lacey and Trent Harris are all available to provide depth off the bench.
Defensive Backs
Since they hosted the Jets, Miami has placed cornerback Ken Crawley and safeties Bobby McCain and Reshad Jones on injured reserve.
The Dolphins’ best cornerback is probably Eric Rowe, who recently earned a contract extension. However, he’s been forced to move to safety although he has done well there.
This leaves rookies Nik Needham and Ken Webster as the starters on the outside. Needham was undrafted and Webster was a seventh-round pick for New England. Jomal Wiltz has been manning the slot.
The other starting defensive back is listed as Steven Parker, but recent practice squad call-up Adrian Colbert got the start last week.
Veteran Marcus Sherels was signed to add some depth off the bench. Ryan Lewis and the versatile Walt Aikens are also available.
Special Teams
The Dolphins’ kicker Jason Sanders and punter Matt Haack hooked up for a touchdown pass on a gadget play last week, but otherwise they’ve had underwhelming seasons. Sanders has missed four field goals and also missed his first extra point of the year on Sunday.
With Grant and Williams on injured reserve, Sherels has been handling return duties since his arrival. Another recent addition, Davis, is another option.
In coverage, Aikens, Lacey, Smythe and Wiltz have been productive. The Dolphins gave up a kick-off return touchdown a few weeks ago, though, albeit on a botched onside kick.
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