Number 9 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

Jay Fiedler clearly at the top, but who else makes the cut?

Miami Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler (9) throws the ball against the San Francisco 49ers at 3Com Park in 2001. / Peter Brouillet-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 9.

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, and WR Tyreek Hill at 10.

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 9 for at least one regular season game:

QB Scott Secules (1989-92), QB Jay Fiedler (2000-04), QB John Beck (2007-08), K Nate Kaeding (2012), K Caleb Sturgis (2013-14), QB David Fales (2017), CB Noah Igbinoghene (2021-22), CB Kelvin Joseph (2023), LB Melvin Ingram (2023)

The breakdown of 9 with the Dolphins

As we start with single-digit numbers, the options are very limited at 9 because only nine players have worn that number in a regular season game, and only five for more than one season.

• Scott Secules was the backup to Dan Marino for three seasons, but he never got the chance to start a game and attempted only 70 passes in those three years. He did get to start four games for New England in 1993, but went 0-4 in those games.

• Jay Fiedler has the distinction of being the quarterback who immediately followed Marino as the Dolphins starter after he arrived as an unrestricted free agent from Jacksonville. Fiedler had a very solid 36-23 record as a starter in his five seasons with Miami, and he was the quarterback for the team's last playoff win, the 23-17 overtime thriller against the Colts in the 2000 season. It also should be noted that Fiedler was 35-17 until the disaster that was the 2004 season. Fiedler also had an iconic moment with his game-winning touchdown run in the final seconds of an 18-15 victory against the Raiders on the NFL's first weekend back in action after the events of 9/11.

• John Beck was part of a forgettable run of second-round picks wasted on quarterbacks that began with trading the 2005 pick for A.J. Feeley, trading the 2006 pick for Daunte Culpepper, taking Beck in 2007, taking Chad Henne in 2008 and taking Pat White in 2009. Beck's Dolphins career consisted of five games in 2007 and four starts, all of which he lost. His only other NFL action came in 2011 with Washington.

• Nate Kaeding came to the Dolphins in 2012 after spending eight-plus seasons with the Chargers and was 1-for-3 on field goal attempts (all between 40-49 yards) in two games for Miami.

• Caleb Sturgis was one of those rare kickers who gets drafted, and the Dolphins took him in the fifth round in 2013 no less. But while he showed a strong leg, Sturgis made only 77.5 percent of his field goal attempts in his first two seasons (a poor percentage these days) and he lost a training camp competition to rookie free agent Andrew Franks in 2015. Sturgis did go on to have two good seasons with the Eagles but hasn't kicked in the NFL since 2018.

• David Fales was an Adam Gase favorite who followed him from Chicago to Miami and then rejoined him with the Jets. Fales' Dolphins career consisted of two games as a backup, though he played most of the 2017 season finale after Jay Cutler got the first snaps. Fales was 29-for-42 for 265 with one touchdown and one pick in a 22-16 loss against Bufalo.

• Noah Igbinoghene wore 9 for two seasons after donning 23 as a rookie in 2020, but he didn't have more success with that number before he was traded to Dallas last summer.

• Kelvin Joseph took Igbinoghene's old number after coming in over from the Cowboys in the trade for him, but he played only four games with Miami before he was released.

• Melvin Ingram played three games at the end of last season wearing number 9 after making a much more meaningful contribution as number 6 in 2022.

The top three Dolphins players with number 9

1. QB Jay Fiedler

2. K Caleb Sturgis

3. QB Scott Secules

Dolphins 9's among the NFL's all-time best

Sonny Jurgensen is the one Hall of Fame who wore 9, though he'll be joined by Drew Brees in a couple of years ago and maybe by Matthew Stafford down the road. Among other memorable number 9's were the late Steve McNair, along with Tony Romo and Jim McMahon. No Dolphins player would rank in the top 20 here.