The Five Biggest Takeaways from Dolphins Roster Cutdown Day

The Miami Dolphins got down to the 53-player roster limit Sunday with a series of moves highlighted by the trade for quarterback Kyle McCord, the release of nine vested veterans and most painfully by placing two key defensive players on injury lists.

In addition to the trade for McCord, the Dolphins announced Sunday they had waived T Gottlieb Ayedze, CB Miles Battle, S Major Burns, TE Jeremiah Franklin, QB Mark Gronowski, RB Jarquez Hunter, WR Donaven McCulley, EDGE Rodney McGraw, CB Jai'Onte' McMillan, QB Cam Miller, DL Fatorma Mulbah, ILB Cam Riley and RB Carlos Washington Jr.

The team also released DL Matthew Butler, ILB Tyrel Dodson, EDGE Cameron Goode, T Charlie Heck, S Lonnie Johnson Jr., WR Terrace Marshall Jr., WR Jalen Reagor and CB Marco Wilson; moved CBs Storm Duck and Darrell Baker Jr. to the Reserve/PUP list; and put DT Kenneth Grant and LB Trey Moore on IR with a designation to return.

The initial 53-man roster now consists of:

QB (2) — Malik Willis, Kyle McCord

RB (4) — De'Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, Ollie Gordon II, FB D.J. Herman

WR (7) — Malik Washington, Chris Bell, Caleb Douglas, Kevin Coleman Jr., Jalen Tolbert, Ryan Miller, A.J. Henning

TE (4) — Greg Dulcich, Will Kacmarek, Seydou Traore, Ben Sims

OL (10) — Aaron Brewer, Patrick Paul, Austin Jackson, Jonah Savaiinaea, Kadyn Proctor, Josh Priebe, Andrew Meyer, Caedan Wallace, Marques Cox, D.J. Campbell

DL (4) — Zach Sieler, Zeek Biggers, Jordan Phillips, Keith Cooper Jr.

EDGE (5) — Chop Robinson, Josh Uche, Robert Beal Jr., Clelin Ferrell, Max Llewellyn

LB (6) — Jordyn Brooks, Jacob Rodriguez, Willie Gay Jr., Jackson Woodard, Ronnie Harrison Jr., Kyle Louis

CB (5) — Chris Johnson, JuJu Brents, Jason Marshall Jr., Ethan Bonner, A.J. Green III

S (3) — Zayne Anderson Dante Trader Jr., Michael Taaffe

SP (3) — K Riley Patterson, P Bradley Pinion, LS Tucker Addington

THE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CUTDOWN MOVES

Big numbers at certain positions

The first thing that jumps out as we evaluate the initial 53-man roster is that there is an inordinate number of both wide receivers and offensive linemen. Teams these days simply don't keep seven wide receivers or 10 offensive linemen, barring rare exceptions, yet here we are. This obviously figures to change over the next couple of days after the Dolphins tweak their roster via waiver claims or trades.

The never-mind running back

We praised the trade of Tutu Atwell to the L.A. Rams in exchange for running back Jarquez Hunter no matter the outcome for the 53, though it is a bit surprising that the Dolphins ended up waiving Hunter after only a couple of days with no practice and no game action. For the record, we still like the trade because it benefited the Dolphins financially (albeit moderately) and Atwell wasn't making the 53 anyway — even with seven kept. And the possibility does still exist that Hunter could be back, whether on the practice squad or the 53.

Where's the safety help?

The safety position was the biggest concern heading into camp and it remained that way to the end, and the proof came with the 53 when the Dolphins didn't keep anybody beyond their veteran free agent pick-up, their one returning player and their draft pick. Louis Moore, Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Major Burns all had a chance to make an impression and yet the Dolphins chose to carry only three, not counting multi-position player Kyle Louis. And, yes, safety remains the biggest position of concern.

Perfect slate for the draft picks

The Dolphins' draft class went 13-for-13 in terms of making the team, counting Moore starting the season on IR. Barring a change between now and the regular season opener, this will mark the highest number of draft picks to make the roster in team history, even surpassing those years when the draft lasted 17 rounds. When the Dolphins had 14 picks in 1997, 10 wound up making the team. The only question marks heading into cutdown weekend were the last two selections, guard D.J. Campbell and edge Max Llewelly. It's possible Campbell could be in danger still because the Dolphins will probably look to the offensive line to make room when they add another player.

The biggest surprise cuts

Because the Dolphins built their offseason roster with so many young and/or unproven players, there never were going to be many big-name cuts on this day, but it doesn't mean there weren't a couple of interesting moves nonetheless. The one that sticks out, of course, involves Tyrel Dodson and his release. And the other one we found interesting involved tackle Charlie Heck, signed as a free agent from the Tampa Bay Buccanners in the offseason. Heck played better in the latter stages of training camp after a really rough start and the thought was the Dolphins would keep him to have some experience at tackle. Instead, the Dolphins went with trade acquisition Caedan Wallace and Marques Cox, who have a combined 10 NFL games of experience between them (all of them belonging to Wallace).