Key Takeaways
- Dan Marino is the greatest player in Miami Dolphins history and the best quarterback never to win a Super Bowl.
- Larry Csonka was one of the most punishing rushers in NFL history.
- Four-time All-Pro Jason Taylor was a bright spot for the Dolphins following Marino’s retirement.
The Miami Dolphins are the pride of South Florida and the NFL franchise that has one thing that no other one does: an undefeated season that culminated in a Super Bowl title. And as we look at the five best Dolphins players of all time, we’ll hit on a few of the players who helped make that happen.
After repeating in 1973 following the undefeated campaign in ’72, the Dolphins haven’t been able to recreate anything near that success. Despite having some great players through the years, they’ve failed to win another championship, and have only returned to the title game twice.
This list isn’t about team success, though; it’s about individual greatness. And with that in mind, we start with the player who defined the post-undefeated era in Miami both in terms of individual greatness and always falling short.
1 Dan Marino
The best quarterback of all time to never win a Super Bowl, Dan Marino gets his due here as the best player in Dolphins’ history
Dan Marino is unquestionably on the short list of best players never to win a Super Bowl, and there is an argument that he tops that group. At the very least, he’s the best QB never to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Marino came into the league in the famed 1983 NFL Draft. He was the second-to-last pick of the first round behind QBs John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, and Ken O’Brien.
Despite being seen as the second-most well-rounded signal-caller in that group behind Elway, Marino fell due to rumors about partying and drug use at Pitt. Those rumors were never confirmed, nor did they seem to have any effect on him in the NFL, so all they did was gift the Dolphins a Hall of Fame QB.
Once the cannon-armed passer showed up in South Florida, he excelled right away, finishing second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting (to Eric Dickerson) and third in MVP and Offensive Player of the Year to Joe Theismann and Dickerson, respectively, despite only starting nine games.
The next season, Marino started all 16 games, led the Dolphins to a 14-2 record, and won OPOY and MVP while leading the league — and setting single-season records — in completions (564), passing yards (5,084), and 48 touchdowns. He also led Miami to Super Bowl 19, where they were soundly defeated by Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers.
While that was Marino’s only MVP Award, he would go on to play 17 total seasons in Miami, making nine Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro teams. He also led the league in passing yards five times, attempts six times, completions five times, and passing touchdowns three times.
Unfortunately for Marino and Dolphins fans, the QB played in a golden age of signal-callers and in the same division as Kelly and the Buffalo Bills. While Miami held its own against their rivals to the north in the regular season, Marino’s Dolphins just weren’t built to beat the Bills or other hard-nosed teams in the playoffs, dooming the QB’s Super Bowl hopes.
Nevertheless, Marino finished his career with 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdown passes.
2 Larry Csonka
Some may know him as the announcer from ‘American Gladiators’, but before that, Larry Csonka was one of the toughest runners to bring down in NFL history
Marino absolutely deserves the honor of topping the list of greatest Dolphins players of all time, but after that, it’s time to turn our attention to the two-time Super Bowl-winning and undefeated squad of the 1970s.
We’ll get to that team’s quarterback momentarily, but first, we have to talk about the Dolphins’ motor during those years, fullback Larry Csonka. The 1968 first-round pick out of Syracuse excelled as a battering ram in Miami and was part of several excellent two-headed backfields with halfbacks like Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris.
“Zonk” played seven seasons in Miami, racking up all five of his Pro Bowl teams and both of his First-Team All-Pro seasons. When it was all said and done, Csonka rushed for 6,737 yards down on South Beach with 53 rushing touchdowns.
In the undefeated ’72 campaign, Csonka led the team in rushing with 1,117 yards and six touchdowns, just slightly ahead and behind Morris’ 1,000 yards and 12 TDs. A year later, Csonka again crested 1,000 yards for the third straight season and was named MVP of Super Bowl 8.
Csonka had a weird end to his Miami career, leaving for a then-massive $1.4 million contract from the fledgling World Football League, which lasted less than two full seasons. Still, he walked away as — and still is — the Dolphins’ all-time leading rusher.
3 Bob Griese
Bob Griese helped the Dolphins to three straight Super Bowl appearances
Like Marino, Bob Griese played his entire career with the Dolphins, starting after the 1967 NFL Draft and ending following the 1980 season. In those 14 seasons, Griese compiled 25,092 passing yards, 192 touchdowns, and 172 interceptions. He made eight Pro Bowls and earned two First-Team All-Pro selections.
Griese had some excellent individual seasons, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting in ’67, losing out to Detroit Lions running back Mel Farr. He also finished fourth in the NFL MVP voting in 1971 and second (to Walter Payton) in 1977.
The reason Griese is third on this list, though, is because he is a consummate leader and winner. He was the perfect extension of his brilliant head coach, Don Shula.
The former Purdue Boilermaker was tough as nails, too, which was a good thing, as he led the league as the most-sacked quarterback twice and took 25 or more sacks eight times.
While he wasn’t on his back, though, Griese was winning games, putting up a 92-56-3 regular-season record as a starter. He was the first QB to take his team to three straight Super Bowls and is still one of just 13 NFL QBs with two or more Big Game wins.
4 Jason Taylor
No Dolphins player ever struck more fear in the hearts of quarterbacks than Jason Taylor
After the Marino years, the Dolphins went through a bit of a dry spell, making the playoffs just three times in the first 15 years of the 2000s. However, a bright spot at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s was defensive end Jason Taylor.
Taylor was a third-round pick out of Akron in 1997, coming to Miami with little fanfare. However, after starting his career with a respectable 16.5 sacks in his first three years, he broke out in 2000, putting up 14.5 sacks.
Two seasons later, the pass-rusher led the league with 18.5 sacks and posted double-digit sack totals in four of his next five seasons.
The best season for Taylor in Miami came in 2006, when he had 13.5 sacks, 12 tackles for a loss, and led the league with nine forced fumbles and two defensive touchdowns. He won Defensive Player of the Year that season, earning one of his six Pro Bowl selections and three First-Team All-Pro nods.
Taylor played a few seasons at the end of his career for the New York Jets and the team now known as the Washington Commanders, but he went into the Hall of Fame on the strength of his career in Miami, where he is still the team’s all-time leading sacker with 131.0.
5 Zach Thomas
It was a long shot for Zach Thomas to make the team as a rookie, let alone become one of the Dolphins’ greatest players
There were several other Dolphins considered here across previous generations, specifically ’70s guard Larry Little and ’90s tackle Richmond Webb. However, the final spot on the Dolphins’ best players of all-time list goes to Jason Taylor’s late 90s and early 2000s running mate, Zach Thomas.
While Taylor showed up in Miami without expectations, Thomas was a bit of a long shot to even make the team as a fifth-round pick out of Texas Tech in 1996.
However, Thomas won the starting middle linebacker job as a rookie, starting all 16 games and making 154 tackles with two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 2.0 sacks, and three interceptions. That got him second place (to Simeon Rice) for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.
After that, Thomas went on to make seven Pro Bowls and five First-Team All-Pro squads in his 12-year Dolphins career. He led the league in tackles twice (2002, 2006) and is Miami’s all-time leading tackler with over 1,600 takedowns in his career.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.