MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Miami Dolphins seventh-round pick and quarterback Brandon Doughty is hopeful and optimistic. But in the locker room Thursday night, Doughty made sure to say his goodbyes to teammates just in case.
The Dolphins must cut 22 players by Saturday to get down to the NFL-mandated 53-man roster to begin the regular season. Doughty, who is a South Florida native, grew up a Dolphins fan and was ecstatic to be drafted by his hometown team. However, Doughty and dozens of other Dolphins players are on the roster bubble.
“I’m going to sit and wait and pray that I don’t get a call,” Doughty said. “I’m kind of saying my goodbyes. ... It’s a dream of mine [to play for the Dolphins]. But in reality, we know this is a business and numbers don’t work your way sometimes.”
Doughty is correct. His spot on the roster will come down to numbers.
Starter Ryan Tannehill and No. 2 quarterback Matt Moore are obvious locks. But it remains to be seen if Dolphins coach Adam Gase and his offensive staff wants to keep three active quarterbacks. Some teams do and some prefer just two quarterbacks.
Doughty outperformed Zac Dysert in Thursday’s preseason final against the Tennessee Titans to give himself the inside track if that’s the case. Doughty and his family own Dolphins season tickets, and the quarterback aims to be on the sideline instead of the stands.
“It was a little surreal to look on the field and up at your season ticket [seats],” Doughty said. “Am I really doing this?”
A bubble player who has a strong chance of making the team is defensive tackle Julius Warmsley. He made consistent plays this preseason and has been impressive behind starting defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Jordan Phillips.
Warmsley’s chances could get a boost with the lingering calf injury to veteran defensive tackle Earl Mitchell, who has missed all of training camp and the preseason.
“That’s a decision for the coaches,” Warmsley said Thursday night. “I definitely could have done better. But I think I’ve made a hard decision for them.”
Dolphins backup offensive tackle Sam Young is entering his seventh season. He’s made his original team out of training camp four times and was cut twice.
This time, the South Florida native is one of the final offensive linemen up for consideration.
“I’ve been on four teams and I’ve had it happen both ways,” Young said. “I’ve gotten the good news and the bad news. So nothing too dramatic is going to catch me off guard at this point.”
