Hey, it’s your resident blogger Daniel Eliesen here on Phins Phocus. I am very excited about this new series we just kicked off at Phins Phocus on the All Time Dolphins Roster. Yesterday, my Co- Blogger Cody did a great job on letting you guys know who he thinks are the top 3 QB’s in Dolphins history.  I don’t think there is much debate with who are the top 2 Qb’s in Dolphins history (Marino and Griese) but his 3rd choice Chad Pennington might have raised a few eye brows. As much as I love Chad, I am a Jay Fiedler guy.  Perhaps the biggest problem with the Dolphins organization is that they haven’t been able to find a 3^rd guy to go on that list, but here’s to hoping. Today it’s my job to turn back the time machine and carefully explore which 3 running backs I deem suitable for the All -Time Miami Dolphins Roster.

Before I fill you on my choices, I thought I should let all of you know that this list for the top 3 RBs to make the roster recognizes any Full back as a Running Back, meaning Larry Csonka will be on this list. Some might say I’m taking the easy way out calling Csonka a RB/FB but the guy ran the ball an awful lot for a FB. So without further ado, these are your top 3 Running backs that made the squad.

1)     Larry Csonka (1968–1974)

Csonka a 237 pound, 6 foot 3 bowling ball was able to run over any defender that tried to take him down. Csonka is widely believed to be the top back in Dolphins history. Despite some question on whether he is a running back or fullback due to his size and Jim Kiick’s presence as the lead back, Csonka had no trouble leaving his mark in Dolphins history.

Csonka a two time super bowl champion was one of the more critical pieces on the Dolphins 72’ perfect season squad and help lead an offense that was made to pound the football into the hearts of opposing defenses. In addition to his two super bowl rings, Csonka has some extra bling in his closet after he was named Super Bowl VIII MVP. Csonka is also a 5 time Pro Bowler the most of any Dolphin at the position.

In his 8 years in Miami, Csonka piled up 6737 yards and 53 touchdowns. Csonka was an old school bulldozing back that you don’t see around much anymore but certainly will always be remember by Dolphins fans.

2)     Ricky Williams (2002–2005, 2007–present)

Okay now let the debating begin! I know that this selection of Ricky as the second best back in Dolphins history won’t go without some criticism. Many Dolphins fans still haven’t forgiven Ricky for betraying the team and quite frankly just quitting on us. While Ricky has left a bitter taste in many Dolphans mouths I’m willing to put that to the side and remember all the positives Ricky has gone through in his career as a Dolphin. In 2002, the Dolphins fan base was taken for a spin when they had been informed that Ricky Williams was traded to the Miami Dolphins on March 8, 2002 for four draft picks, including two first-round picks. The trade came with lots of praise and speculation but for my money was a good deal when all was said and done.

Ricky holds Dolphins rushing records including Most Rushing TDs in a Season (16), Most Rushing Yards in a Season (1853) and Most Rushing yards in a game (228). In his tenure as a Dolphins running back Ricky also has 17 100 yard rushing games which leads the franchise. Stats don’t lie and the stats say that clearly Ricky can run and that he ran well for us.

The 2002 season was clearly Ricky’s best and was also the best rushing year any player has ever had in the Aqua and Orange. In addition to his stats Ricky was also selected to the Pro Bowl where he won Pro Bowl MVP and was the NFL rushing leader that season. When Ricky was able to take the joints out of his mouth he was probably the most effective back in Dolphins history.

3)     Mercury Morris (1969-1975)

For those of you who were expecting Karim Abdul Jabar well sorry, wrong league this isn’t the NBA it’s the NFL and Karim was no Hall of famer for the Dolphins. Mercury Morris was one of the longest tenured running back in Dolphins history (which doesn’t say much) and is also considered one of the most annoying Dolphins ever by most non Phin fans. Morris has been very public about his thoughts on the 72 Dolphins and to be quite honest with you it even annoys me sometimes. Like Ricky, I decided to put aside Morris’s off the field issues with the law and simply value Morris as a member of the Dolphins on the field.

Morris didn’t really get the attempts and starts to qualify him as an all time back but also played a strong role in Miami’s special teams in the 70’s. Morris made the most of his opportunities at running back though, gaining 315 rushing yards on 57 carries for a 5.5 yard average, an average that would have led the NFL had he enough carries to qualify. That season, Morris was selected for the Pro Bowl for the first time as a kick returner, although he also was used as a running back in the game.

Morris was on both Dolphins Super Bowl winning teams as a backup running back. Now you might argue how can I have Morris as number 3 on my list when he was a backup. Well Morris despite not being on the field as much as Kiick received more rushing attempts and was clearly the main focus in the backfield. Morris was also selected to the Pro Bowl both of the Dolphins Super Bowl winning years. Morris ran for exactly 1000 yards in 72 which made him and Csonka the first ever tandem in the NFL to both rush over 1000 yards. That record today might seem trivial but at the time was very impressive. Although Morris' Super Bowl statistics don’t compare to Csonka, he excelled in several playoff games leading up to Miami's two Super Bowl championships. In 1972 he led the Dolphins in rushing in both the divisional playoff game against Cleveland and the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh and was a key element of the perfect season.

A couple of guys left off the list : Jim Kiick, Ronnie Brown

Let me know if you guys agree with my selection at Running Back for the All Time Dolphins Roster!

The NFL has seen better days. With the lockout preventing free agency and trades, combined with the fact that this is typically the dullest time of the year anyhow, life can be difficult for us bloggers. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t have any fun.

Daniel Eliesen and I collaborated on a new series to help pass the time between now and whenever these owners and players decide to stop putting the 2011 season in jeopardy. Our idea? Put together an all-time Miami Dolphins team.

It will be constructed like a normal 53-man roster, but will feature the greatest players to ever don the ol’ aqua and orange. We are going to ignore the fact that players are typically bigger and faster these days. This team will be put together with the mindset that players that were great in the 70’s would be just as dominate in today’s game. Obviously, that is probably far from the truth, but that is the most precise way to honor the greatest and most influential players of this proud franchise.

Daniel and I are going to split up the roster and each take half of the positions. It should be interesting to see how our different viewpoints balance out and what this team ends up looking like.

Today, we kick this thing off with none other than quarterback. A difficult task to say the least. So much room for debate here. There’s just no clear cut number one quarterback in Dolphins’ history. Hopefully, you sense my sarcasm.

As always, feel free to chime in with your two cents in the comments. If you disagree with who we have here at number one, though, you probably should just quit reading now and stop watching sports all together for the rest of your life.

1) Dan Marino (1983-1999): As the greatest player in franchise history and one of the most prolific passers the league has ever seen, Dan Marino shattered nearly every statistical passing record when it was all said and done.

He exploded onto the scene in 1984 by throwing for what was an NFL record 48 touchdown passes and what still is 5,084 passing yards, in a year I still argue was the greatest single season any quarterback has ever had. At the time, most offenses were still heavily predicated on the run-first scheme. Marino was a revolutionary and was truly ahead of his time. Unfortunately, the Dolphins were beaten decisively by the 49ers in the Super Bowl that year 38-16.

But Marino was far from done, going on to lead the Dolphins to winning season after winning season and breaking records left and right while he was at it. When it was over, Marino had thrown for more yards (61,361) and more touchdown passes (420) than any other quarterback. Brett Favre has since went on to top those marks. Not taking anything away from Favre, but to put things in perspective, he had 1,811 more pass attempts in his career.

Marino gave this franchise some of the best years and most meaningful memories it’s had. But when talking about his legacy and the impact he had here in Miami, it’s always somewhat bittersweet. The biggest on-field tragedy in Dolphins’ history and arguably one of the biggest in sport’s history is that Marino never won a Super Bowl. It gives guys like Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady the edge when discussing the all-time great quarterbacks. But as far as Miami Dolphins’ history is concerned, Marino stands alone and is undoubtedly the number one quarterback on our depth chart.

In an effort to try and create reading material and discussion in dull times, I thought I would highlight which Dolphins I feel are a bit underappreciated by the fan base.

To make myself clear, these aren’t the top five Dolphins that are underrated on the national scale. For example, Davone Bess and Cameron Wake may be a couple of the most underrated players in the entire league, but here in South Florida, knowledgeable fans are well aware of how valuable both are to this franchise.

These are the five players that many Dolphin fans and some Miami media alike underestimate and undervalue, in my opinion.

As with any top five list, there is plenty of room for debate. Feel free to tell us which Dolphins you feel get the shaft in the comments.

5. Kendall Langford, DE: 3-4 defensive ends are some of the most underappreciated players in the game. They don’t have the appeal 4-3 DE’s do because they typically don’t get to the quarterback often as predominant run stuffers. And they don’t get the credit nose tackles do, which serve as the anchor of the 3-4 defensive line.

Regardless of appropriate recognition or not, the Dolphins are blessed to have arguably one of the best 3-4 DE tandems in the league and without a doubt one of the deepest rotations at the position. Langford may never be a household name nationwide, and probably won’t even grab many headlines locally here in Miami, but he’s becoming one of the best in the business. 2010 was his best season yet, racking up 47 tackles and 3 sacks.

It certainly wasn’t something we planned, but it looks like this week has turned into player interview week here at Phins Phocus. A day after our first ever player interview, when Daniel Eliesen kicked off his second week with the site by sitting down with sixth-round pick Charles Clay, I had the opportunity to ask Dolphins’ running back Kory Sheets a few questions.

There has been a lot of talk in South Florida regarding which veteran running backs could be on the Dolphins’ radar once free agency begins, but the speedy, homerun threat runner this offense is missing could already be in house. I’m referring, of course, to third year running back Kory Sheets.

Technically, there is no guarantee Sheets will be a Dolphin in 2011, as he was scheduled to be an exclusive rights free agent under the old CBA. But even in the event that the new CBA doesn’t permit exclusive rights or restricted free agents, it’s widely speculated that Sheets will remain in Miami in 2011. The Dolphins need depth at running back and Sheets will be cheap to resign.

Some may consider Sheets only a camp body with an outside shot at cracking the final-53. But looking at what Sheets could bring to the table for what was a boring and slow offense in 2010, you probably shouldn’t sleep on him as the dark horse candidate to split the majority of the carries with second-round selection Daniel Thomas.

Unfortunately for Kory, though, the Dolphins don’t exactly have a grasp on what they are getting with him. He went down early with an Achilles injury in last year’s training camp, a year after signing with the Dolphins mid-season off the 49ers’ practice squad. Camp and the preseason is when roster fringe players like Sheets get the most reps and the biggest opportunity to make an impression. Kory has yet to have either with the Dolphins.

That’s the biggest reason why I doubt Jeff Ireland will forgo acquiring a veteran back once the lockout is over. But hey, you never know. An outstanding camp and preseason or an injury to one of the projected starters, and Sheets could be right there getting an opportunity to be a playmaker for Brian Daboll’s offense.

So let’s check in with Kory to see how the Achilles is progressing, what his goals for 2011 are, and more. He was a bit brief with his responses, but minimal reading material is better than nothing at all, especially in the midst of a lockout. The interview can be seen after the jump.

no comments

Recently, I got in touch with Dolphins 6th Round Draft Pick Charles Clay from the University of Tulsa. For those of you who dont know much about Charles, he is a halfback/fullback/tight end. Charles started for the Tulsa Hurricanes for 3 years before declaring for the draft this year. His 31 career touchdowns in college is only eight shy of tying the school's all-time TD record set by Tarrion Adams (2005-08). Charles also pilled up 2,018 career receiving yards along with 21 TDs through the air. Charles fits a need that the Dolphins had this offseason as they were looking for a versitle player to fill the TE/FB position. Clay should help stretch the field with his pass catching abilities out of the backfield and tight end position. At 6'3, 235 this talented rookie from Tulsa is looking to make an immediate impact starting year one for the Dolphins.

Interview : Q + A with Charles Clay

1) Are there any current NFL players you model your game after?

I like to watch guys who kind of move around a lot like myself, guys like Dallas Clark, Chris Cooley, but Aaron Hernandez may be my favorite of them all I try and model myself after those guys.

2) Which Dolphins player you most looking forward to meeting up with?

I dont know where to start of course im looking forward to meeting Chad Henne. At the same time I watch so much football so im looking forward to meeting guys like Brandon Marshall, Anthony Fasano, Lousaka Polite and just getting acclimaited not only with offensive but defensive players as well.

3) Did the Dolphins show any interest in you before the draft?

They were one of the teams I had official meetings with at the scouting combine so I got a chance to meet the Jeff Ireland, Coach Sparano and the rest of the coaching staff there.

4) Have you spoke to Coach or Brian Daboll yet?

After I was drafted I had a chance to speak with Coach Sparano shortly but havent got a chance to talk with Coach Daboll yet, I'm looking forward to getting to talk to him though.

5) Any ideas on what number you want to wear ?

I think I will wear number 31 nothing is written in stone at this moment so at least temporarily that's the number i'll wear.

6) Do you have any interest in trying out the Wildcat?

I did it some at Tulsa, so I dont mind trying at all, if I can help the team that way than im all for it. My teammates at tulsa often made fun of me for being a little too stiff in my quarterback stance so I need to work on that a bit.

7) Any trash talking words for Rex Ryan or Tom Brady ?

Haha it may be a little too early for that. As a rookie coming in that's kind of a right you have to earn. Im focusing on making the team and contributing any way I can right now

8) What are your goals for your rookie year?

Like I said mainly just making the team and helping out whether it's just situational stuff or special teams starting out however I can help is what i'll do.

 9) Are you happy with where and when you were drafted?

The draft is all stuff that I cant control I put in the work to get drafted as high as possible but when it's all said and done and it's time to step on the field no matter where you get drafted its all about whether or not you can play so just being drafted and getting my foot in the door was the first step now it's on to doing all I can to put me in a position to play.