Number 90 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

Three Miami Dolphins ended up wearing that number for the team but none became a star

Miami Dolphins defensive end Charles Harris sacks Jameis Winston during a preseason game in 2019. / Douglas DeFelice-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 90.

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, and Cameron Wake at 91.

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

TE Bill Cronin (1966), LB Andy Hendel (1986), DE/LB Eric Kumerow (1988-90), DE/LB Marco Coleman (1992-95), DE Adewale Ogunleye (2001), DE Rob Burnett (2002-03), DT Jeff Zgonina (2004-06), DT Rodrique Wright (2007), DT Ryan Baker (2009-12), DE Andre Fluellen (2012), DT Vaughn Martin (2013), DT Earl Mitchell (2014-16), DE Charles Harris (2017-19), DE Shaq Lawson (2020), DT John Jenkins (2021), DT Ben Stille (2022), LB Trey Flowers (2022), OLB Jason Pierre-Paul (2023)

The debate on the best 90 on the Dolphins

After going through a lot of good players when we examined number 91, we come to a number that hasn't produced great results for the Dolphins. And that's despite the fact that three of the players who have worn that number joined Miami as first-round picks — Eric Kumerow, Marco Coleman and Charles Harris. Of those three, Coleman was the only who had any measure of success as he averaged six sacks in his four seasons before leaving as a free agent. Zgonina played his last three of four seasons with the Dolphins wearing 90 after switching from 92 and started 14 games in 2004. Mitchell started 21 games in three seasons, including 12 in 2015. Rob Burnett was a very good NFL player for a long time, but the Dolphins got him at the end of his career and his contributions in Miami were minimal.

The top three Dolphins players with number 90

1. Marco Coleman

2. Earl Mitchell

3. Jeff Zgonina

Where No. 1 ranks among the NFL's all-time best

Burnett and Pierre-Paul are among the most productive players to have worn 90, but their glory were with other teams, and Coleman wouldn't rank among the top 20 players with that number. The best ever to wear 90 probably was newly elected Hall of Famer Julius Peppers, with a hat tip for longtime Chiefs defensive end Neil Smith.