Now that we are about halfway through the regular season, it is time to start considering which players are most deserving of a Pro Bowl selection. For this series, we will look at three candidates for each team. Obviously, some teams will have more or less than three players selected to represent their team in Hawaii, but for simplicity purposes, we will discuss the top three either way.
We continue this series here with our focus on the Miami Dolphins
Top Midseason Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl Candidates
Jarvis Landry
Whether or not Landry ultimately ends up getting a Pro Bowl invite remains to be seen. What is fairly certain, however, is that he has been the Dolphins go-to guy when it comes to big plays this season. Perhaps no bigger example was his 50-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of Miami’s dominating 44-26 win over the Houston Texans in week seven.
The second-year man out of LSU currently has the fourth-highest rating in the league among wide receivers according to Pro Football Focus. His 60 receptions is eighth in the NFL and accounts for 28.2 percent of quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s total completed passes. He also ranks in the top ten in catch percentage (73.2%, seventh), yards after catch (332, fourth), and total number of broken tackles (12, t-fourth).
While it is true that fellow Dolphins wideout Rishard Matthews has more receiving yards and touchdowns on the season, Landry brings an added dimension to the table with his shiftiness, acceleration, elusiveness and playmaking ability. As such, he appears to be a much more likely Pro Bowl candidate.
Ndamukong Suh
Much was expected out of Suh in his first year with the Dolphins after signing a gargantuan contract with the team in the offseason. Up to this point in 2015, though, he’s unlikely the best player on the team’s front four, a distinction that belongs to defensive end Cameron Wake. So why is he not in the running for Pro Bowl consideration? Unfortunately, Wake suffered a torn Achilles in Miami’s week eight loss to the New England Patriots and is done for the year.
That means Wake’s replacement in the starting lineup, Derrick Shelby, as well as Suh himself will have to step up. If Sunday’s 20-19 road win over the Philadelphia Eagles was any indication, it appears that both are indeed committed to doing so. Both picked up a sack on the day and Suh had a season high seven solo tackles.
Suh has always been known as one of the better defensive tackles in the league at getting pressure on the quarterback from the interior and this season is no different. The four-time Pro Bowler gets the second best pass rushing rating among players at his position by PFF. His 22 quarterback hurries ranks third among nose tackles and he also is tied for the league lead in batted passes with four.
Reshad Jones
It should be fairly obvious if you look at the numbers and also watch him move around the field that Jones is having a career year up to this point. The sixth-year defensive back out of Georgia already has 83 tackles on the season which leads all strong safeties and is fourth overall in the league. That would put him on pace to finish with 147, shattering his previous career best of 107 set in 2013.
While his sky high work rate is clearly on display in his tackling numbers, he has also shown his exceptional ability to read the quarterback and not only force turnovers, but also turn those turnovers into points. Jones has three interceptions on the year which is tied for eighth in the league, but what really makes them stand out is the fact he took two of them the other way for scores.
The first one came in Miami’s 38-10 rout of Tennessee which incidentally was interim coach Dan Campbell’s first game in charge after Joe Philbin was fired. One week later against Houston, Jones was at it again with a second quarter pick six that made the score 35-0 in a game where the Dolphins set a franchise record for most points scored in a half with 41. Only two other players, Josh Norman of Carolina and Aqib Talib of Denver, have two interception returns for touchdowns this season.
If he can continue on such a torrid pace, he may yet earn the first Pro Bowl invite of his career.
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