The Miami Dolphins will soon be faced with tough roster decisions

The Miami Dolphins woke up Monday morning with a spot on their 53-man roster, and it seems like a pretty safe assumption that it will go to wide receiver River Cracraft.

But with other players on the mend and ready to return soon, decisions will become more complicated when it comes to roster management, as obviously any player returning to the 53-man squad will need an opening.

While there will be some decisions to be made for the Dolphins due to the subsequent injuries, it still looks like they will have to make some tough decisions sooner or later.

There are five positions that come to mind.

The Dolphins currently have two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster in Tua Tagovailoa and Skylar Thompson and no one at the position on the practice squad, but Tyler “Snoop” Huntley is two weeks away from being able to return from injured reserve.

Based on comments from both head coach Mike McDaniel and QB coach Darrell Bevell last week, it sounds like taking three quarterbacks at the 53 is certainly possible once Huntley returns.

And that’s not even getting into who the No. 2 would be after Huntley started the last three games that Tagovailoa missed due to his time on IR.

“That would be something that we just let those guys come in and compete for,” Bevell said. “That’s not what it’s about right now. So right now Skylar is number two. But if Snoop comes back, that’s a decision we’ll make at that time.”

If the Dolphins decide to go with two QBs, there’s a good chance that whoever gets cut will be re-signed to the practice squad once that player clears waivers – we don’t expect Thompson or Huntley to go on waivers, especially at this stage of the season.

The (expected) addition of Cracraft will give the Dolphins six wide receivers to the 53, which is two more than they had at the start of the season when they simply pulled someone from the practice squad for each game while Odell Beckham Jr. PUP is recovering from his knee problem.

Do the Dolphins really need six wide receivers at the 53?

The last to be added to the group before Cracraft was Dee Eskridge, who missed practice on Friday and Saturday due to a personal issue, did not travel to LA with his teammates, but will be available for Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

However, Eskridge now serves as the key kickoff player, while Braxton Berrios was lost for the season with a knee injury.

If the Dolphins decide six is ​​too many, the only two logical options available at this point are Eskridge or even Beckham, if the team decides he isn’t enough of a role to keep him around – and before you sign him dismisses that idea because of his credentials, remember he has played eleven offensive snaps in three of his four games and twelve in the other.

The Dolphins clearly like sixth-round pick Patrick McMorris, which is why they made sure to keep him at the original 53 before placing him on IR at the start of the season.

And now his practice window opened last week.

“Very few rookies can transition super quickly,” McDaniel said. “We thought he did a really good job of learning the responsibilities and really improving during training camp. So he stood out in that way, and I think that’s as much because of his ability as his professionalism. I think it might be a hair this week, but I’m looking forward to him stepping up and being part of what we’re doing because he’s about the right things and has talent to contribute.

However, the Dolphins already have four safeties on the 53-man roster in Jevon Holland, Jordan Poyer, Marcus Maye and Elijah Campbell and eleven defensive backs in total.

Making those numbers five and twelve would mean a sacrifice at another spot, and logic would dictate that another DB would be removed to make room for McMorris, who should be ready by the next game against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11.

The Dolphins like Blake Ferguson enough that they signed him to a contract extension last year, and both McDaniel and special teams coordinator Danny Crossman spoke highly of him last week, making it sound almost a certainty that he’ll be back at 53 as soon as he will sit out one more game on the reserve/non-football illness list.

“The details of whether it’s next week, the week after or the week after that, time will tell, but I love Blake,” McDaniel said Saturday. “When he’s ready, you’ll see him because the team is best when he’s ready.” the turning.”

Crossman added last week that he didn’t want to be in a situation where the team simply signs a long snapper to the practice squad every three weeks while using up that player’s maximum three raises.

However, the Dolphins will need to find someone at another position outside of the 53-man roster once they activate Ferguson, as they currently do not have a long snapper on the roster.

This isn’t as definitive as the other four spots we mentioned due to Bradley Chubb’s still-uncertain status.

The two-time Pro Bowl selection continues to work his way back from his ACL injury in Week 17 and McDaniel continues to produce positive results on a regular basis, but the reality is that we simply don’t know when Chubb could be back – or even if he will at any moment in 2024.

If he returns, the Dolphins would have six defensemen, with Chubb joining Emmanuel Ogbah, Chop Robinson, Mohamed Kamara, Tyus Bowser and Quinton Bell. Six edge defenders is an awfully high number on a 53-man roster, but this would be a trick decision just like all the others.