5 Dolphins defensive players fans must watch in the preseason opener

Ethan Bonner

According to reports, Ethan Bonner has been having a great camp so far, and if that is the case, he should see plenty of playing time on Friday night. This will give fans an opportunity to see what all the talk has been about. Bonner lacked confidence in his ability last year, but that doesn't seem to be the case this summer.

Throughout camp, Bonner has consistently been mentioned as one of the up-and-coming players. The Dolphins need him to develop to provide depth to a unit that has good players on the second level, but not much on the deeper side. Bonner is looking more and more like a 53-man roster candidate, and preseason games should give him a chance to show what he can do under more realistic conditions.

Bonner will be competing with guys like Storm Duck, who should also see plenty of time on Friday night, and the aforementioned Smith. It will be interesting to see if Bonner has taken a higher position than Smith, and it will be even more interesting to see how the two match up statistically after the game.