Number 1 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

It's Tua and Garo and the rest

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) takes to the field before the game against the Washington Commanders at Hard Rock Stadium. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The countdown to the start of the 2024 regular season is almost over as we continue to honor every day the best players to wear the corresponding number for the Dolphins.

Today, we're at number 1.

The top players at each number so far have been DE Jason Taylor at 99, DT Jared Odrick at 98, DE Phillip Merling at 97, DT Paul Soliai at 96, DT Tim Bowens at 95, DT Randy Starks at 94,  DE Trace Armstrong at 93, LS John Denney at 92, DE Cameron Wake at 91, DE/OLB Marco Coleman at 90,  WR Nat Moore at 89, TE Keith Jackson at 88, TE Andre Tillman at 87, WR Oronde Gadsden at 86, LB Nick Buoniconti at 85, DE Bill Stanfill at 84, WR Mark Clayton at 83, WR Brian Hartline at 82, WR O.J. McDuffie at 81, WR Irving Fryar at 80, T Jon Giesler at 79, T Richmond Webb at 78, LB A.J. Duhe at 77, T Branden Albert at 76, DT Manny Fernandez at 75, T Mark Dennis at 74, NT Bob Baumhower at 73, T Terron Armstead at 72, T Todd Wade at 71, DE Kendall Langford at 70, G Keith Sims at 69, G Robert Hunt at 68, G Bob Kuechenberg at 67, G Larry Little at 66, OL Jeff Dellenbach at 65, G Ed Newman at 64, G Mark Dixon at 63, C Jim Langer at 62, C Tim Ruddy at 61, G Bert Weidner at 60, LB Doug Swift at 59, LB Kim Bokamper at 58, C Dwight Stephenson at 57, LB John Offerdahl at 56, LB Earnest Rhone at 55, LB Zach Thomas at 54, LB Bob Matheson at 53, LB Channing Crowder at 52, LB Bryan Cox at 51, LB Larry Gordon at 50, CB William Judson at 49, CB Gerald Small at 48, S Glenn Blackwood at 47, S Don Bessilieu at 46, CB Curtis Johnson at 45, CB Paul Lankford at 44, LB Andrew Van Ginkel at 43, WR Paul Warfield at 42, FB. Keith Byars at 41, S Dick Anderson at 40, FB Larry Csonka at 39, CB Calvin Jackson at 38, CB J.B. Brown at 37, FB Don Nottingham at 36, DB Walt Aikens at 35, RB Ricky Williams at 34, RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar at 33, RB Kenyan Drake at 32, and S Brock Marion at 31, RB Ron Davenport at 30, CB Sam Madison at 29, CB Don McNeal at 28, CB Terrell Buckley at 27, S Jarvis Williams at 26, CB Xavien Howard at 25, RB Delvin Williams at 24, CB Patrick Surtain at 23, RB Tony Nathan at 22, RB Jim Kiick at 21, S Reshad Jones at 20, WR/KR Ted Ginn Jr., WR Rishard Matthews at 18, WR Jaylen Waddle at 17, QB David Woodley at 16, WR Davone Bess at 15, and WR Jarvis Landry at 14, QB Dan Marino at 13, QB Bob Griese at 12, QB/RB/TE Jim Jensen at 11, WR Tyreek Hill at 10, QB Jay Fiedler at 9, S Jevon Holland at 8, K Jason Sanders at 7, LB Melvin Ingram at 6, K Dan Carpenter at 5, P Reggie Roby at 4, K Andrew Franks at 3, and P Brandon Fields at 2.

As a reminder about the ground rules, the top three will be determined only by what the players did while wearing that uniform for the Dolphins.

Players who wore 1 for at least one regular season game:

K Garo Yepremian (1970-78), K Tony Franklin (1988), P Matt Turk (2000-01, 2003-04), K Cody Parkey (2017), QB Tua Tagovailoa (2020-23)

The breakdown of 1 with the Dolphins

There are only five options here, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's past two seasons have given him the nod for number 1 over 1970s kicker Garo Yepremian. Tua's impressive body of work in those two seasons include leading the NFL in passer rating in 2022 and leading the league in passing yards and earning his first Pro Bowl berth last season. Yepremian holds an important place in Dolphins lore. But beyond his game-winning field goal in the Christmas Day Classic of 1971 that launched the Dolphins dynasty and his Football Follies play in Super Bowl VII, Yepremian was good enough to be a two-time All-Pro for the Dolphins and the kicker on the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1970s.Barefooted kicker Tony Franklin closed out his 10-year NFL career with five games with the Dolphins in 1989, but during that time he made only 4 of 11 field goal attempts. Matt Turk had two two-year stints with the Dolphins and was steady, if unspectacular. He best average with Miami was 41.7 in 2004. Cody Parkey spent only one season with the Dolphins, but it was a very good one. Parkey tied the franchise single-season record for accuracy by making 21 of 23 field goal attempts. But he left when he got a lucrative free agent offer from the Chicago Bears, where his stay ended after he missed a potential game-winning field goal in a playoff loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. After appearing in three games for Tennessee in 2019 as an injury replacement, Parkey now is a member of the Cleveland Browns practice squad.

The top three Dolphins players with number 1

1. QB Tua Tagovailoa

2. K Garo Yepremian

3. K Cody Parkey

Dolphins 1's among the NFL's all-time best

Both Tua and Garo rank among the top 10 on Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value ranking for modern-era players who wore 1, a list topped by Warren Moon and Cam Newton. There are seven Hall of Famers who wore mostly 1, but Moon is the only one who played after the AFL-NFL merger of 1970.