Number 87 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

We're now 87 days away from the start of the NFL regular season, so we honor the best players who have worn that number for the Miami Dolphins

Jasen Vinlove-USA Today Sports

The countdown to the start of the 2022 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 87.

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

WR John Roderick (1966-67), TE Jim Mertens (1969), WR Willie Richardson (1970), TE Andre Tillman (1975-78), TE Dan Johnson (1983-87), TE Rich Siler (1987), TE David Lewis (1987), WR James Pruitt (1990), TE Charles Henry (1991), WR Mike Williams (1991-95), WR Kirby Dar Dar (1996), WR Yatil Green (1999), WR Bert Emanuel (2000), WR Dedric Ward (2001-02), TE Lorenzo Diamond (2005), TE Justin Peelle (2006-07), WR Anthony Armstrong (2012), TE Ryan Spadola (2013), WR Rashawn Scott (2016-17), TE Clive Walford (2019), WR Isaiah Ford (2021)

The breakdown of 87 with the Dolphins

There's no way to put this politely: The Dolphins have gotten next to nothing in terms of production from the number 87. The 21 players who have worn the number in a regular season for the Dolphins consist mostly of backups or journeymen, though the one guy who stands out is Yatil Green, who was the 15th overall pick in the 1997 draft but saw his career derailed by knee injuries before it even started. Andre Tillman joined the Dolphins as a second-round pick in 1975 and started 52 games over the next four seasons. He had a career-high 31 catches in 1978. Dan Johnson was a seventh-round pick in 1983 and he started all 32 games his first two seasons before taking on a backup role. He had 16 touchdowns in five seasons.  Mike Williams appeared in 59 games in five seasons, but was mostly a special teams player. He had 32 catches in 1994, but only nine in his other four seasons. Dedric Ward had 40 catches in two seasons with the Dolphins after having 54 for the Jets in 2000. Justin Peelle started 20 games at tight end in his two seasons. It's honestly tough to come up with three candidates worthy of accolades here.

Worth noting

Willie Richardson had eight touchdown catches for Baltimore in 1967 and 1968, but he had only seven catches total for the Dolphins in 1970. He went back to Baltimore in 1971 for one more year to finish his career. ... David Lewis joined the Dolphins in 1987, three years after being a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions. He caught six passes in five games for Miami. ... James Pruitt wore three different numbers in three stints with the Dolphins. ... Kirby Dar Dar also had three different numbers for the Dolphins. ... Anthony Armstrong first signed with the Dolphins practice squad out of the Arena Football League in 2009 but didn't play a game for Miami until 2012.

The top three Dolphins players with number 87

1. TE Andre Tillman

2. TE Dan Johnson

3. TE Justin Peelle