The Miami Dolphins saw their 2022 season come to a close with a loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round, keeping them from their first playoff win in over 20 years.
Still, making the postseason in their first year under head coach Mike McDaniel is an accomplishment after failing to do so in the previous six.
With the season in the rearview, it’s a great time to look back at the year and evaluate how different positional groups played in 2022.
We’ve already hit on the:
- Quarterbacks
- Running backs
- Wide Receivers
- Tight ends
- Offensive linemen
- Defensive linemen
- Linebackers
- Cornerbacks
- Safeties
Today, we’ll round out the roster with the specialists.
K Jason Sanders: C-
Statistically, Sanders improved from his 2021 season, which saw him hit field goals at a career-low 74.2% rate. This year, that jumped back up to 81.3%, but that’s still lower than it should be.
However, the kicker seemed to redeem himself at the end of the season, making a game-winning kick against the New York Jets to send the Dolphins to playoffs. Sanders then proceeded to hit all three of his attempts in the wild-card round against the Buffalo Bills.
Ending the season on a positive note may be a good sign for his future success.
P Thomas Morstead: B+
Miami had struggled to find consistency prior to 2022 at the position, as Michael Palardy wasn’t getting the job down day-in and day-out.
They opted to sign Morstead to a one-year deal in the offseason, and it paid off.
In his 14th season, he played in all 17 regular season games, averaging 46.4 yards per punt (sixth in team history), 40.5 net yards per punt (eighth) and 45.9% of his boots downed inside the 20-yard-line (first).
It would be wise if the Dolphins looked to retain his services in 2023.
LS Blake Ferguson: A-
It’s hard to really assess the play of a long snapper, but Ferguson didn’t have many memorable poor snaps that affected misses in the kicking or punting games. That’s really all you can ask for from someone at the position.
