Monday, June 18, 2007

The Miami Dolphins' All-Time Team

Back in 2002, Football Digest picked all-time teams for each NFL franchise. Check it out if you get a chance. Some of the teams need some updating but it's a good read. Here's their all-time Miami Dolphins team:

OFFENSE

QB Dan Marino
RB Larry Csonka
RB Mercury Morris
TE Jim Mandich
WR Paul Warfield
WR Mark Clayton
OT Richmond Webb
OT Norm Evans
OG Larry Little
OG Bob Kuechenberg
C Dwight Stephenson

DEFENSE

DE Jason Taylor
DE Bill Stanfill
OT Manny Fernandez
OT Vern Den Herder
LB Zach Thomas
LB Nick Buoniconti
LB John Offerdahl
CB Tim Foley
CB Sam Madison
FS Dick Anderson
SS Louis Oliver

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Olindo Mare
P Reggie Roby

Football Digest did a pretty good job. No problems with the offense except for Tight End. Mandich was a good player but Keith Jackson caught more balls in his 3 years with the Dolphins than Mandich had for his whole career. Jackson made 5 Pro Bowls and was tremendous in 4 playoff games for the Dolphins.

The defense needs some work. Fernandez and Den Herder were fine players for an undefeated squad, but Bob Baumhower was an All-Pro (and 4-time All-Pro second team) and Doug Betters was the 1983 NFL Defensive Player of the year. Those Killer B's deserve to be on the team. As for the secondary, Louis Oliver over Jake Scott? C'mon, Scott was a 3-time All Pro and a Super Bowl MVP. And Patrick Surtain has a lot more picks than Tim Foley as well as a huge speed advantage (I'm pretty sure). Don McNeal should be ahead of Foley for consideration but Surtain's the man here.

The special team choices are correct. So the true all-time Miami Dolphins team is:

OFFENSE

QB Dan Marino
RB Larry Csonka
RB Mercury Morris
TE Keith Jackson
WR Paul Warfield
WR Mark Clayton
OT Richmond Webb
OT Norm Evans
OG Larry Little
OG Bob Kuechenberg
C Dwight Stephenson

DEFENSE

DE Jason Taylor
DE Bill Stanfill
OT Bob Baumhower
OT Doug Betters
LB Zach Thomas
LB Nick Buoniconti
LB John Offerdahl
CB Patrick Surtain
CB Sam Madison
FS Dick Anderson
SS Jake Scott

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Olindo Mare
P Reggie Roby

Next: A Battle for the Ages

2 comments:

Mike said...

No Pete Stoyanovich? He ricocheted one off of a blimp, REMEMBER???

Rob said...

I considered Stoyo but Mare has a higher lifetime FG percentage. Plus Petey missed a last second FG vs. the Chargers that cost MIA a trip to the 1994 AFC Championship game and wasted Marino's last-second heroics. Choker!