Number 30 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

Is current fullback Alec Ingold already a top three player at his number?

Miami Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold runs with the ball during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at Hard Rock Stadium last season. / Jasen Vinlove-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 30.

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.

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 30 for at least one regular season game:

RB Sam Price (1966-68), DB Bryant Salter (1976), RB Ron Davenport (1985-89), RB Bernie Parmalee (1992-98), FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo (2003), RB Lamar Gordon (2004), S Lance Schulters (2005), CB Michael Lehan (2006), FB Casey Cramer (2008), S Chris Clemons (2009-13), RB Daniel Thomas (2014), CB Zack Bowman (2015), S Bacarri Rambo (2016), CB Cordrea Tankersley (2017), CB Chris Lammons (2019), CB Nate Brooks (2019), CB Tae Hayes (2020), DB Jason McCourty (2021), FB Alec Ingold (2022-23)

The breakdown of 30 with the Dolphins

Some decent candidates here, but not one Pro Bowl by a Dolphins player wearing 30. Sam Price played 36 games with eight starts after being an 11th-round pick and totaled 313 rushing yards with one touchdown. Ron Davenport played six seasons for the Dolphins after arriving as an eighth-round pick and his best season was his first, as he rushed for 11 touchdowns. Davenport also had two rushing touchdowns in the 24-21 comeback playoff victory against Cleveland in that 1985 season. He also averaged 25 receptions from 1986-88. Bernie Parmalee is one of the most inspiring success stories, as he went from working at UPS to leading the team in rushing twice (in 1994 and 1995) during his seven-year Dolphins career. Of Parmalee's 26 starts with Miami, 22 came during those two seasons when he also scored 15 rushing touchdowns. Chris Clemons — not to be confused with the defensive end of the same name who played in the NFL at the same time — started 48 games in five seasons after being a fifth-round out of Clemson. He had four career interceptions. Cordrea Tankersley wore 30 as a rookie third-round pick in 2017 and he started all 11 games he played that season. But his career went in the wrong direction after he switched to 23 in 2018 and he recently was waived by the Dolphins. Alec Ingold has been a contributor for the offense the past two seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl last season.

The top three Dolphins players with number 30

1. RB Bernie Parmalee

2. RB Ron Davenport

3. FB Alec Ingold

Dolphins 30's among the NFL's all-time best

The one Dolphins player who would rank among the top 10 (per the Pro Football Reference Approximate Value) is Jason McCourty, but most of his career was spent elsewhere. The top of a rather thin group of all-timers to wear 30 is Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis.