Miami Dolphins Stock Report (Practice 16): Prep For Jacksonville
The Miami Dolphins, and every other NFL team has a week to go before rosters must be trimmed down from 90 to 53, which means plenty of players are entering a critical week of practices, leading up to the final preseason game.
Dolphins players are not only competing for starting spots (left guard, safety, second tight end, third receiver, boundary cornerback), but they're battling it out to determine who gets the final 8-13 spots on the 53-man roster, and the 16 practice squad spots for developmental players.
That means every assignment blown, and every ball that gets dropped could lower a player's standing on the roster.
Here's a look at how Monday's practice played out.
And here is our latest stock report:
Stock Up
Strong Safety DeShon Elliott - Elliott, who has 35 NFL starters on his resume, has had a decent, but unspectacular camp. That explains why he hasn’t locked down the starting spot next to Jevon Holland. Plenty will be determined from now until the start of the regular season with that position, so it’s a good thing that Elliott had one of his better training camp practices, picking off a Tua Tagovailoa pass intended for Braxton Berrios. He was also extremely effective during Miami’s red zone work, but his short area work isn’t the issue. It’s his lack of range that’s left the door open for Elijah Campbell and Verone McKinley III. Elliott needs a strong week of practice and a solid game performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars to lock down the week one start.
Free safety Jevon Holland - Holland picked off Skylar Thompson on a pass intended for Cedrick Wilson that Xavien Howard knocked out of Wilson’s hands. It was one of a handful of interceptions Holland has pulled in this training camp as he's worked to adjust to a new scheme, which features him being used in numerous roles, handling various responsibilities on a play-by-play basis. Considering the Dolphins defense is built around Holland let’s hope that he’s capable of handling everything that’s put on his plate, and that the Dolphins find a safety who compliments him.
Defensive tackle Raekwon Davis - Davis has taken an extensive amount of snaps the past two weeks because of Christian Wilkins’ hold-in, and the 6-foot-7, 340 pound nose tackle has progressively gotten better at collapsing the pocket, producing quarterback pressures and sacks. During Monday’s red zone and goal line centric work Davis recorded two would-be sacks on Tagovailoa, and gave Connor Williams fits all practice. Does this mean Davis is ready to replace Wilkins? No. But it hints he might be able to handle a 30 snap per game workload without a massive drop off in effectiveness.
Stock Down
Tailback Myles Gaskin - Gaskin was sidelined for a week with an undisclosed injury and upon his return he wasn’t as sharp as he usually is. During goal line work Gaskin dropped what would have been rookie quarterback James Blackman’s first touchdown throw of training camp during 11-on-11 work. Gaskin quickly responded by catching a touchdown pass from Tagovailoa. Gaskin could be one of the last players on or off the Dolphins’ 53-man roster, which means having sharp, crisp practices until next Tuesday’s cuts are critical.
