The Top 25 Dolphins of the past 25 years | Honorable Mentions

As we get closer to the 2025 Dolphins season, I decided to rank the best 25 Dolphins players since the year 2000. Today, I’ll unveil those who just missed the cut.

The Honorable mentions:

• Ryan Tannehill

As everyone knows, the most important and discussed position in football is the Quarterback. For seven years, Miami fans and media members debated whether the 2012 first-round pick was the solution for the team at the position. I’m not here to

re-litigate the Tannehill debate; I’ll simply present the following. He ranks first in the franchise since 2000 in passing yards and passing touchdowns. However, he had a mediocre 42-46 record as the Dolphins’ starter before being traded to Tennessee, where he eventually won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award and reached the AFC Championship Game.

• DeVante Parker

Another controversial player among Dolphin fans is the 2015 first-round selection. Parker came out of Louisville and unfortunately got hurt immediately in his rookie season, something that would later become a trend in his career. When he was healthy, his talent was evident, and by the time he finally figured out how to take care of his body, his athleticism wasn’t the same as it was coming into the NFL.

Perhaps nothing represents Parker’s career better than 2019, where he finally broke out and became the receiver he was projected to be coming out of college, posting over 1200 yards and nine touchdowns during a season in which Miami was trying to lose games. He would never reach those figures again, and Miami ended up trading him to the Patriots, where he had two mediocre seasons as his athleticism had clearly declined. In spite of all the negatives, he still remains amongst the most talented receivers Miami has had this millennium and ranks second in total receiving yards since 2000.

• Tim Bowens

The Dolphins have had their fair share of talented defensive linemen play for the team this millennium, and the 1994 first-round pick missed a spot on the list through no fault of his own. Had the list included the ’90s, he would’ve been a no-doubt inclusion, unfortunately one of his two Pro Bowl seasons occurred before 2000 and so did his defensive rookie of the year award. Even then, he managed 61 games, starting with 23 TFLs and a Pro Bowl berth in 2002. Unfortunately, his career ended in 2005 after failing a physical due to a back injury. Despite missing out on the Top 25, he did earn a spot in the Dolphins ring of honor.

• Chris Chambers

If I had a nickel for every time I added a talented but frustrating receiver to the honorable mentions, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

If you’d simply see Chambers’ highlight reel, you’d assume he was Miami’s version of Randy Moss, a freak athlete with incredible footwork capable of making any catch.

Some of that is true, but the fact that he caught only 47% of his targets shows the kind of player he really was. In spite of this, saying he played with subpar QB help is being friendly to the quarterbacks, and Chambers still leads the Dolphins in receiving yards since 2000.