Number 75 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

It's a tough call between Manny Fernandez and Doug Betters for the top spot among those who wore 75 for the Miami Dolphins.

Defensive tackle Manny Fernandez (75) tackles Washington Redskins running back Larry Brown during his dominating performance in the Super Bowl VII victory against Washington at the Los Angeles Coliseum. / Darryl Norenberg-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 75.

The top players at each number so far have been Jason Taylor at 99, Jared Odrick at 98, Phillip Merling at 97, Paul Soliai at 96, Tim Bowens at 95, Randy Starks at 94,  Trace Armstrong at 93, John Denney at 92, Cameron Wake at 91, Marco Coleman at 90,  Nat Moore at 89, Keith Jackson at 88, Andre Tillman at 87, Oronde Gadsden at 86, Nick Buoniconti at 85, Bill Stanfill at 84, Mark Clayton at 83, Brian Hartline at 82, O.J. McDuffie at 81, Irving Fryar at 80, Jon Giesler at 79, Richmond Webb at 78, A.J. Duhe at 77, and Branden Albert at 76.

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 75 for at least one regular season game for the Dolphins:

G Ken Rice (1966-67), DT Manny Fernandez (1968-75), DL Rick Dvorak (1977), DE Doug Betters (1978-87), G-T Dave Zawatson (1991), DE Shane Burton (1996-98), G Todd Perry (2001-03), DT Josh Shaw (2004), DT Chidi Ahanotu (2004), DT Manuel Wright (2005), DE Derreck Robinson (2007), G-T Nate Garner (2008-14), G Jamil Douglas (2015-16), DT Nick Williams (2016), DE Cameron Malveaux (2017-18), G Ereck Flowers (2020), T Greg Little (2021)

The debate on the best 75 on the Dolphins

Like we've had for a couple of numbers, most recently 77, there are two players who stand far above the others in terms of their production with the Dolphins, and those two are Manny Fernandez and Doug Betters. Fernandez was a full-time starter for seven seasons and he had the magnificent performance in the Super Bowl VII victory against Washington that had many believing (still to this day) that he should have been the one named MVP. Betters also was a full-time starter for seven seasons and he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1983 when he had 16 sacks and four fumble recoveries. He followed that up with 14 sacks in 1984. Of the rest, it's tough to go against Todd Perry, who was a three-year starter at right guard, including the 2002 season when Ricky Williams set a franchise-record with an NFL-best 1,853 yards.

The top three Dolphins players with number 75

1. DT Manny Fernandez

2. DE Doug Betters

3. G Todd Perry

Dolphins 75's among the NFL's all-time best

There are five Hall of Famers who wore predominantly 75 — Jonathan Ogden, Forrest Gregg, Joe Greene, Deacon Jones and Howie Long — and the list of other noteworthy players with that number include Vince Wilfork and George Martin. Fernandez and Betters probably deserve consideration for a top 20 spot for the number 75, though top 10 might be pushing it.