All Dolphins

Dolphins Lead NFL in Unfortunate Category

The Miami Dolphins' standing as the No. 1 team in this category might not last for long, and that would be a good thing

Alain Poupart

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws the football against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws the football against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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The start of the 2024 regular season has been a forgettable one for the Miami Dolphins, with one of the lowlights being that they're last in the NFL in scoring.

The Dolphins do lead the league in one category, but as things are going right now of course it's an undesirable category: players on reserve lists or PUP.

According to research done by FOX Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman, the Dolphins stand at the top with 14 players currently on a reserve list or PUP, one player more than the Detroit Lions and two more than the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, with the Washington Commanders coming in last with only four players on a reserve list or PUP.

The breakdown is nine players currently on injured reserve, four on PUP, and one of the Reserve/Retired list.

The nine on IR (in alphabetical order): LB Cam Brown, WR River Cracraft, WR Grant DuBose, S Patrick McMorris, OLB Grayson Murphy, CB Cam Smith, T Kion Smith, QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tahj Washington.

The four on PUP: WR Odell Beckham Jr., OLB Bradley Chubb, OLB Cameron Goode, OL Isaiah Wynn.

The one on the Reserve/Retired list is OLB Shaquil Barrett.

POTENTIAL GOOD NEWS AHEAD FOR THE DOLPHINS

If there's any silver lining (forgive the cliche) here for the Dolphins is that their list of 14 players could be cut by as much as half by next week.

The four PUP players all are eligible to return to practice next week, and the same goes for the three players placed on IR before the start of the regular season: Cracraft, McMorris and Smith.

Once any of the four PUP players return to practice, they will have a three-week window, after which the Dolphins will have to decide whether to activate them to the 53-man roster, keep them on PUP for the rest of the season or release them.

Tagovailoa and DuBose both will be eligible to come off IR after the Week 7 game against the Indianapolis Colts following the bye, while Murphy, Smith and Washington are out for the season because they were placed on IR before the cuts down to the 53-man roster — though technically, they could be released with an injury settlement and get re-signed after a few weeks.

The Dolphins are the only team with its starting quarterback on IR, though the Green Bay Packers also have had to play with their backup. With Jordan Love nursing a knee injury, the Packers are 2-0 with Malik Willis starting, with victories against the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans, the Dolphins' Week 4 opponents.

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Alain Poupart

ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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