Number 16 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

Former Super Bowl starting QB stands out in forgettable crop

Miami Dolphins quarterback David Woodley (16) runs with the ball against the Washington Redskins during Super Bowl XVII at the Rose Bowl. / Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

The countdown to the start of the 2024 regular season has begun now that we're under 100 days away, so we'll honor every day the best players to wear the corresponding number for the Dolphins.

Today, we're at number 16.

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, and WR Jaylen Waddle at 17.

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 16 for at least one regular season game:

QB Archie Roberts (1967), WR Tom Boutwell (1969), QB David Woodley (1980-83), QB-WR Marcus Vick (2006), QB Tyler Thigpen (2009-10), K Shayne Graham (2011), P Matt Haack (2017), Tanner McEvoy (2018), WR Gary Jennings Jr. (2019), WR Marcus Kemp (2020), WR Antonio Callaway (2020)

The breakdown of 16 with the Dolphins

Twelve players have played a regular season game wearing 16 for the Dolphins, but only two of them did it for more than one season. It makes picking a top three rather difficult. Roberts appeared in one game in 1967 as a backup and completed 5 of 10 passes for 11 with one interception. Boutwell played in five games, all as a backup, and caught four passes. David Woodley was an eighth-round pick who started 11 games as a rookie after Bob Griese was injured and went on to compile a 27-12-1 record as a starter. Woodley also was effective as a scrambler. He was replaced by Don Strock in the 1981 playoff game classic against the San Diego Chargers and a 4-for-14 performance in the 1982 Super Bowl against Washington after being almost flawless in earlier playoff victories that year against New England and San Diego. Woodley also has the distinction of being the Dolphins' starting quarterback before Dan Marino took over. Marcus Vick, the brother of Michael Vick, played his one NFL game with the Dolphins on Christmas night 2006 against the Jets, but didn't record any statistics. Thigpen appeared in six games with one start over two seasons, and that one start ended in a 16-0 shutout loss against the Chicago Bears in a Thursday night game. Graham played two games in 2011 to fill in for injured kicker Dan Carpenter and was 4-for-5 on field goals and 6-for-6 on extra points. Before he switched to his current number 2, Haack wore 16 as a rookie in 2017 when he averaged 44.5 yards and failed to connect on his first NFL pass attempt. McEvoy played two games for the Dolphins in 2016 and his action consisted of 37 special teams snaps. Jennings was claimed off waivers from the Seahawks in 2019 and he played only one game for Miami before suffering a season-ending injury on the opening kickoff. Callaway and Kemp each had brief stints in 2020. Bailey had a decent, if uninspiring, 2023 season as the new punter.

The top three Dolphins players with number 16

1. QB David Woodley

2. P Matt Haack

3. P Jake Bailey

Dolphins 16's among the NFL's all-time best

The Dolphins clearly don't have any all-timers for number 16, which features three Hall of Famers — Joe Montana, Len Dawson and George Blanda.