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Multiple Dolphins Named to Top Players List

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Multiple Dolphins Named to Top Players List


The Miami Dolphins finished last season with an 11-6 record and a playoff berth, while owning the league’s top-ranked offense in 2023. That kind of success can’t be achieved without laying claim to some of the best players the NFL has to offer.

In his annual recent list of the Top 100 players in the league, CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco ranked players based on his evaluations “as well as some conversations with some league personnel.”

Five players still in South Florida made the list, as well as three former Dolphins players. So, where do they all fall?

In what should not come as a surprise to anyone who has watched football in the last few seasons, wide receiver Tyreek Hill was the highest-ranked player at his position, slotting in at No. 4 on the list. The only players ahead of him were Patrick Mahomes, Myles Garrett and Trent Williams.

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Hill was nothing short of dominant in 2023, finishing with 1,799 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 119 receptions. He averaged 15.1 yards per reception. Hill was named an Associated Press first-team All-Pro for the fifth time in his career, and he finished sixth in NFL MVP voting.

Without Hill, the Dolphins likely do not have the No. 1 offense in the league last season. The 30-year-old is still a cut above the rest in a league full of young stars at the position, like Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, Cincinnati’s Jamarr Chase, and Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown, to name a few.

Hill’s mere presence forces opposing defenses to play two safeties high, opening up the field for the rest of his offense.

Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is the next Dolphins player on the list, at No. 42. Waddle climbed 20 spots from his ranking in last year’s list.

“Waddle caught 72 passes for a 14.1 average and four touchdowns last season, all numbers that were down form some previous years,” Prisco wrote. “But coach Mike McDaniel said he was better last season. He did battle through some injuries that kept him out of three games.”

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Waddle had 1,014 yards last season in 14 games, averaging 72.4 yards per game. That’s still higher than his rookie season in 2021, and just 7.4 yards short of his average in 2022. Waddle only had three fewer receptions than he did 2022, despite playing three less games.

Below Waddle at No. 43 is his teammate, cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey missed seven games to start the season because of a knee injury, and Prisco writes that “he wasn’t happy with the way he was used in Vic Fangio’s scheme.” That is not an unfounded take.

Per Pro Football Focus, Ramsey still allowed just a 53 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks. His reception percentage allowed was his lowest in three seasons, at 55.6.

The next Dolphins player on the list after Ramsey comes in 20 spots later. Safety Jevon Holland was ranked No. 63, ahead of former Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and New Orleans’ Tyrann Mathieu.

Again, Fangio’s departure helps Holland’s case the eyes of Prisco.

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“He battled through some injuries last season and never looked comfortable in the Vic Fangio scheme,” Prisco wrote. “But this is a talented player who will play a feature role under new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver.”

Last season, Holland started in all 12 games he played, registering 74 tackles and an interception he took 99 yards for a score. Holland also had a forced fumble and four pass break-ups.

Two spots below Holland was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa led the league with 4,624 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns. He owned a 101.1 passer rating, finishing fifth in the league.

The question with Tagovailoa is his big-game ability, and he could not escape that criticism from Prisco.

“He has to be better in the big games going forward to ease some of the questions about him,” Prisco wrote.

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Tagovailoa was the 1th QB on the list behind Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, C.J. Stroud, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts and Trevor Lawrence, and ahead of Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love and Kirk Cousins.

Notably, there were three players on the list with Dolphins lineage. The highest-ranked was offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil at No. 57. Tunsil was the Dolphins’ 13th overall pick in 2016. He started in 44 games across three seasons in South Florida before being dealt to Houston before the start of the 2019 season. Since the trade, Tunsil has been named to four Pro Bowls.

Former Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick fell 30 spots from the previous year to No. 71.

Fitzpatrick was the Dolphins’ 11th overall pick in 2018. Fitzpatrick was with the team for just one full season before he was dealt to Pittsburgh early on in Year 2. There, he was named to the first of four consecutive first-team selections as an All-Pro. Fitzpatrick was named to a fifth All-Pro team in 2022.

The trade gave the Dolphins the 18th overall pick in 2020, which was used to select offensive lineman Austin Jackson. Jackson’s first three seasons had plenty of struggles, but last season he was solid, earning a 68.4 player grade from Pro Football Focus.

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The most recent big-name Dolphins departure, defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, was No. 78 on the list. Wilkins was the 13th overall pick in 2019, and had nine sacks in his last season with the Dolphins. This offseason, Wilkins signed a four-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders that was worth $110 million, with just over $84 million guaranteed.



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Miami, FL

Dulac Reveals One Reason Steelers ‘Like’ Miami QB Carson Beck

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Dulac Reveals One Reason Steelers ‘Like’ Miami QB Carson Beck


It’s easy to fall in love with college quarterbacks with just a handful of strong starts under their belt, but more often than not that leads to incomplete evaluations and regret. That’s why Ty Simpson, who at one point looked like the best quarterback in college football last year, is tough to justify a first-round pick on. If experience is something the Pittsburgh Steelers place a high value on, Miami’s Carson Beck checks a lot of boxes.

“The Steelers have little intention of taking a quarterback with their No. 1 pick because they don’t believe there is a first-round quarterback after [Fernando] Mendoza,” Gerry Dulac wrote via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But one of the reasons they like Miami’s Carson Beck is he has started 43 games, counting his time when he won a national title at Georgia.”

None of those 43 starts came during the Bulldogs’ two National Championship runs, but he still managed to lead the SEC in completions and yards during his first season as a starter in 2023. And he finished with an impressive 37-6 record as a starting quarterback.

Bill Parcells famously laid out a list of rules aimed at maximizing the chances of hitting on a quarterback in the draft. Among some of the statistical goals, 30 or more starts and 23 or more wins were two of his requirements. Beck, who the Steelers had in for a pre-draft visit, easily checks those two off the list.

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Parcells’ rules aren’t bulletproof. Three of the best quarterbacks in the league at the moment wouldn’t have made the cut if it were up to him. Patrick Mahomes had 29 starts, Joe Burrow 28, and Josh Allen 25. But for every one of them, there are two or three Anthony Richardsons, Zach Wilsons, J.J. McCarthys and Trey Lances as a counterpoint.

Experience isn’t the end-all, but it cuts out a lot of the guesswork. And leaving anything up to chance and gambling with a first-round pick is not a winning strategy. Some teams will hit the jackpot, but most will find themselves set back a few years and looking for a quarterback once again.

Beck is one of the only options in this class that meet all of Parcells’ criteria.

– Senior and three-year starter? Yep.

– College graduate? Yes.

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– 30 or more starts and 23 or more wins? Easily.

– 60 percent completion rate and 2:1 TD-INT ratio? Check (69.5%, 88:32).

If you subscribe to the Parcells method, Beck covers all the bases. Keep in mind that Mike McCarthy is one of the oldest head coaches in the league. He was very much around when this rule was popularized. Amazingly, this is his first time with a chance to draft a quarterback for a team in need. Should it really be a surprise if he leans on a framework he came up around?

Beyond the experience and stats, Beck offers some of what the Steelers look for at the position. Omar Khan has repeatedly stated the need to find an “AFC North QB.” At 6046, 233 pounds, with 10-inch hands, he resembles what the Steelers are looking for.

Don’t get me wrong, Beck has plenty of flaws. That’s why he’s unlikely to go in the first few rounds of the draft. But the Steelers could do worse than following their process to land a Day 3 developmental quarterback. That’s one of the main reasons McCarthy was hired as the head coach.

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Instead of putting every egg in the Will Howard basket, why not add another young, high-pedigree quarterback to the mix? Carson Beck may just be that guy come the end of April.



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Nu Stadium party! Inter Miami host epic home opener | MLSSoccer.com

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Nu Stadium party! Inter Miami host epic home opener | MLSSoccer.com


MIAMI – Fans, celebrities and media flocked to Nu Stadium on Saturday to experience opening night at Inter Miami CF’s brand new, soccer-specific venue.

The Herons were up for the occasion, throwing an epic housewarming party capped by a 2-2 comeback draw against Austin FC. 

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Club legends Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez provided the goals that paced Miami to a dramatic start to life in their new home. 

“Today, it’s clear that for the last 20 to 25 minutes, we took a lot of risks,” head coach Javier Mascherano told reporters post-match.

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“But we’re at home. We’re MLS [Cup] champions, and we have to show it.”

Electric atmosphere

The Herons went all out to make Nu Stadium’s opening match one to remember, christening their state-of-the-art Downtown Miami digs with fireworks and rousing pre-game speeches from co-owners Jorge Mas and David Beckham. 

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Famed Miami resident and four-time Grammy Award winner Marc Anthony then belted out a stirring rendition of the national anthem, setting the stage for 90-plus minutes of non-stop chanting, cheering, and drumming from the sellout crowd of 26,700. 

“It was beautiful. A sold-out crowd of people who made the effort to come and see us. And honestly, they cheered us from beginning to end,” said defender Maxi Falcón. 

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“For them to welcome us like that, with today’s spectacle, it was beautiful for us.”

That electric atmosphere helped the Herons recover quickly from Guilherme Biro’s sixth-minute opener for Austin, with Messi responding four minutes later to score Miami’s first-ever goal at their new home with a precise header.

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A similar scenario played out in the second half, with fans spurring the Herons on as Suárez came off the bench to cancel out Jayden Nelson’s go-ahead strike by rifling home from close range in the 82nd minute. 

Nu Stadium briefly erupted in pandemonium after Suárez appeared to score a last-gasp winner, only for the goal to be called off. 

“On the field, you could definitely feel the atmosphere – especially when you score a goal to tie it up late,” said goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.

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“We pushed for the winner as well, and we felt that the crowd was really with us and pushing and kind of suffocating them.”

World-class venue

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While Saturday’s draw wasn’t the result they wanted, Inter Miami can take pride in boasting one of the best sporting venues in the world, according to MLS Commissioner Don Garber. 

“They’ve done the unthinkable. The stadium is spectacular, it’s breathtaking,” Garber said. “Jose and Jorge [Mas] spoke to me this morning and they said, ‘I wish I could be with you when you walk in because it will take your breath away.’ And it did. It’s absolutely spectacular.”

“It feels to me like a building that can rival any sports facility anywhere in the world. Not just soccer stadiums, but any sports building. I’m very proud of them.”

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For Mas, the venue that anchors the broader Miami Freedom Park project could launch the club to transformative heights. 

“Today we’re home,” Mas told the crowd during his pre-game speech. “I think this is a personification of what’s possible. I think it’s an amazing stadium, an amazing environment. 

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“And, listen, our goal is to lift trophies and win championships, and I think this will be a proper home to do that with and for our fans.”

Made in Miami 

Saturday’s match carried extra meaning for Miami beyond the outcome. 

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After six years playing 30 miles to the north in Fort Lauderdale, the Herons are now officially setting roots in Miami proper. 

“[For the] fans to be able to have a permanent home where they know they’ll be here,” said St. Clair. “So I think for us, you just want to be able to reward the fans and give them wins and show them the effort. And be willing to do everything for the badge and for the club.” 

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Beckham, who helped plant the seeds of Inter Miami over a decade ago, was especially proud. 

“To see this stadium come to life after years and years of trying to get this stadium up and running in Miami is something very special,” said the England and LA Galaxy legend. “I came to America and the MLS 20 years ago and I made a lot of promises. And 13 years ago, I made a lot of promises again, announcing that I was coming to Miami. 

“And today is just a dream come true for us.”

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In with the Nu

With Nu Stadium’s first match in the books, Inter Miami are looking to build on the legacy they’ve already created with MLS Cup 2025, 2024 Supporters’ Shield and Leagues Cup 2023 titles. 

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“I think the favorite part is still to come,” said Mas. “Everything to now has been frankly extremely stressful, the last few months. But I think the culmination of lifting an MLS Cup, us together here in December, would be a great shining cap off to an amazing year.” 

Miami’s players, meanwhile, are more focused on the short-term. 

“We’re a little bitter about not taking all three points because we know we’re a strong team,” said Falcón.

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“…. We showed it last year, especially towards the end of the season. We have to get back to that, get our heads together and prepare well for our next game.”





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Driver detained after striking deputy’s cruiser during fatal crash investigation in NW Miami-Dade

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Driver detained after striking deputy’s cruiser during fatal crash investigation in NW Miami-Dade


A driver was detained in Northwest Miami-Dade on Saturday after being accused of striking a deputy’s vehicle during a fatal crash investigation, authorities said

According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, at around 11:55 p.m. on Friday, a vehicle crashed into a tree on Northwest 135th Street and 57th Avenue, where it caught on fire.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, extinguished the flames, and the driver was pronounced dead.

Their identity was not released.

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During the investigation, deputies blocked the intersection when a vehicle went through the intersection and struck a cruiser.

MDSO said the cruiser sustained damage, and the deputy had minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

The driver was then detained.

No arrests have been made as the investigation remains active.

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