Miami Dolphins 2015 player rankings
By Brian Miller
Cornerbacks
1: Brent Grimes – the list could stop right here. Despite his worst season as a Miami Dolphins player, inconsistent would be a better word, Grimes is still head and shoulders above the rest of the cornerbacks. He had 4 interceptions on the season and 49 tackles from the corner spot.
2: Brice McCain – McCain gets the two spot for his one interception and 39 tackles compared to rookie Bobby McCain’s 28 tackles. McCain played the first month of the season on the edge, where isn’t really comfortable at. Once moved back into the slot corner position he did much better.
3: Bobby McCain – listed as three is only because the rest of the cornerbacks were absurdly horrible. McCain didn’t do a bad job, he just didn’t really do a good job. He had moments but nothing that resonated with the fan base as a solution to the outside.
4: Tony Lippett – after a poor showing by Jamar Taylor most of the season, Dan Campbell finally sat Taylor and let Lippett play. He really didn’t do too bad. He showed enough to believe that with more experience and coaching he could have value to the team.
5: Jamar Taylor – He is on this list only to point out how bad his season was. He started the season as the slot corner because Brice McCain was better on the edge, which is out of position for him. Then with McCain struggling they moved Taylor back outside, and Taylor struggled. Eventually being benched and finally inactive for the last three games of the year.
Safeties
1: Reshad Jones – Honestly, I don’t know if any other safety played well enough to warrant a spot on a top list. Jones stood out as the best defensive player of the year and it was a runaway. He led the team in tackles with 135, two sacks, and five interceptions.
2: Michael Thomas – Thomas had 85 tackles on the year and started playing better towards the end of the season. As my predicted break-out player of the year, Thomas fell very short of my lofty expectations and ony narrowly beat out Walt Aikens for the number two spot…out of a possible three.
3: Walt Aikens – the Dolphins didn’t get a lot of production by any safety not named Jones. Statistically Thomas had a lot of tackles but how many of them were impactful? The same can be said about Aikens who registered 29 total on the season.
Next: Special Teams & top five