The countdown to the start of the 2024 regular season has begun, with less than 100 days to go, so each day we will be honoring the best players to wear the number for the Dolphins.
Today we are at number 25.
The best players with the respective numbers so far were DE Jason Taylor with 99, DT Jared Odrick with 98, DE Phillip Merling with 97, DT Paul Soliai with 96, DT Tim Bowens with 95, DT Randy Starks with 94, DE Trace Armstrong with 93, LS John Denney with 92, DE Cameron Wake with 91, DE/OLB Marco Coleman with 90, WR Nat Moore with 89, TE Keith Jackson with 88, TE Andre Tillman with 87, WR Oronde Gadsden with 86, LB Nick Buoniconti with 85, DE Bill Stanfill with 84, WR Mark Clayton with 83, WR Brian Hartline with 82, WR OJ McDuffie with 81, WR Irving Fryar with 80, T Jon Giesler with 79, T Richmond Webb with 78, LB AJ Duhe 77, T Branden Albert 76, DT Manny Fernandez 75, T Mark Dennis 74, NT Bob Baumhower 73, T Terron Armstead 72, T Todd Wade 71, DE Kendall Langford 70, G Keith Sims 69, G Robert Hunt 68, G Bob Kuechenberg 67, G Larry Little 66, OL Jeff Dellenbach 65, G Ed Newman 64, G Mark Dixon 63, C Jim Langer 62, C Tim Ruddy 61, G Bert Weidner 60, LB Doug Swift 59, LB Kim Bokamper 58, C Dwight Stephenson 57, LB John Offerdahl 56, LB Earnest Rhone 55, LB Zach Thomas 54, LB Bob Matheson 5 53, LB Channing Crowder with 52, LB Bryan Cox with 51, LB Larry Gordon with 50, CB William Judson with 49, CB Gerald Small with 48, S Glenn Blackwood with 47, S Don Bessilieu with 46, CB Curtis Johnson with 45, CB Paul Lankford with 44, LB Andrew Van Ginkel with 43, WR Paul Warfield with 42, FB. Keith Byars at 41, S Dick Anderson at 40, FB Larry Csonka at 39, CB Calvin Jackson at 38, CB JB Brown at 37, FB Don Nottingham at 36, DB Walt Aikens at 35, RB Ricky Williams at 34, RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar at 33, RB Kenyan Drake at 32, S Brock Marion at 31, RB Ron Davenport at 30, CB Sam Madison at 29, CB Don McNeal at 28, CB Terrell Buckley at 27, and S Jarvis Williams at 26.
As a reminder of the basic rules: The top three spots will be determined solely based on the players’ performance in this uniform for the Dolphins.
CB Dick Westmoreland (1966-69), DB Tim Foley (1970-80), DB Mike Smith (1985-87), S Louis Oliver (1989-93, 1995), DB Corey Harris (1995), CB Greg Jeffries (1999 -2000), CB Jimmy Wyrick (2003), CB Reggie Howard (2004-05), CB Will Allen (2006-11), DB Jimmy Wilson (2011), CB RJ Stanford (2012-13), S Louis Delmas (2014 -15), CB Xavien Howard (2016-23)
The Dolphins have had far fewer players wear 25 than other numbers in the 20s, but that’s an indication that there were multiple contributors with that number. Dick Westmoreland came through the expansion draft and had four picks in the Dolphins’ first season before leading the AFL with 10 picks in 1967 when he was voted an All-Star. He ultimately started 43 times in four seasons. Tim Foley was drafted in the third round in 1970 and started 110 games as a cornerback and safety. He was the starting cornerback on the Dolphins’ two Super Bowl-winning teams and made the Pro Bowl as a safety in 1979. Louis Oliver started 89 games in two periods for the Dolphins after being a first-round pick in 1989. He had four or five interceptions in each of his first four seasons, including a 103-yard pick-six in 1992 at Buffalo. Will Allen started 47 games in his first three seasons in Miami after arriving as a free agent before starting six games in each of his final two years. He had three picks in 2008, including one he returned for a touchdown. Howard started 99 games after coming out of Baylor as a second-round pick in 2016, was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was one of the NFL’s top five cornerbacks at the peak of his career, but injuries slowed him down before the Dolphins released him in the offseason.
1. Centre-back Xavien Howard
2. DB Tim Foley
3. S. Louis Oliver
Fred Biletnikoff is the only player of the modern era to wear number 25 and be in the Hall of Fame, and there’s a good argument that both Howard and Foley deserve top-10 status on the list. Other notable players wearing number 25 included CB Richard Sherman and Jamaal Charles, as well as old-school Hall of Famers Frank Kinard and Tommy McDonald.
