Number 8 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

Jevon Holland and former backup QB Matt Moore stand out

Jevon Holland of Miami returned this interception for a 100 yard TD in the first half as the Miami Dolphins defeated the NY Jets 34-13 at MetLife Stadium on November 24, 2023 in East Rutherford, N.J., in the first Black Friday NFL game. / Chris Pedota / USA TODAY NETWORK

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 8.

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, and QB Jay Fiedler at 9.

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 8 for at least one regular season game:

P Klaus Wilmsmeyer (1998), QB Daunte Culpepper (2006), QB Matt Moore (2011-17), QB Brock Osweiler (2018), S Jevon Holland (2021-23)

The breakdown of 8 with the Dolphins

There wasn't much of a debate here before safety Jevon Holland arrived considering that Matt Moore had been the only one who played more than one season.

The four players to wear 8 before Holland included three of the post-Marino starting quarterbacks for the Dolphins, and none of them had a winning record. Moore was 8-9 as a starter with Miami, Osweiler was 2-3 and Culpepper was 1-3. Moore did help the Dolphins finish off their drive to the playoffs in 2016 after starting QB Ryan Tannehill was sidelined with a knee injury. Wilmsmeyer averaged a career-high 42.5 yards for the Dolphins in the final year of his six-year NFL career (it ranked 23rd in the NFL that season). Holland has been a starter throughout his Dolphins and has been a steady performer in the secondary.

The top three Dolphins players with number 8

1. S Jevon Holland

2. QB Matt Moore

3. P Klaus Wilmsmeyer

Dolphins 8's among the NFL's all-time best

Holland is off to a good start in his career and seems to have the ability to at some point merit top 20 or even top 10 consideration for players who wore 8, but he's not there yet. There are four Hall of Famers who mostly wore this number, and at the top of the list would have to be Steve Young (the others are Ray Guy, Larry Wilson and Troy Aikman). Among current players, Lamar Jackson would have to get the top spot.