The return of football is always a welcome sight, perhaps now more than ever before. An arduous offseason is in the books and everyone's favorite time of year is on the precipice. August in Miami means heat, humidity, hitting and hard decisions made in order to trim the roster down to 53 in time for Week 1.
In this training camp preview, we're going position-by-position giving you a glimpse into every member of the Miami Dolphins roster. We'll cover all the angles including who the players are on the field and off of it.
On today's docket, the specialists, in order of jersey number.
Matt Haack – 3 accrued seasons (4th in MIA)
Jersey: 2
College: Arizona State
Opening Day Age: 26
At 44.7 yards per punt on 239 career kicks, Matt Haack is the Dolphins all-time leader in net punting average. Haack has three special teams tackles to his credit (two solo) and threw his first career touchdown pass in 2019. He's the only punter in team history with a touchdown pass.
Haack has 88 career punts downed inside the 20 (36.8 percent). On separate occasions in his career, Haack downed seven punts inside the 20 (November 4, 2018 vs. N.Y. Jets and December 3, 2017 vs. Denver).
Jason Sanders – 2 accrued seasons (3rd in MIA)
Jersey: 7
College: New Mexico
Opening Day Age: 24
Jason Sanders is 41 for 50 on field goals in his career. His 82 percent successful field goal rate is the best in Dolphins history. Sanders caught Haack's touchdown pass on The Mountaineer Shot against Philadelphia, making him the first placekicker in the NFL to score a touchdown since Jay Feeley in 2010, and the first of his position to catch a touchdown pass since 1977 (Jim Turner). The play won the NFL's Bridgestone Performance Play of the Year honors for the 2019 season.
Of Sander's nine career misses, only one has come from under 40 yards; he's also 64 for 66 on extra points. His touchback rate on 141 kickoffs is 73.8 percent and he has a career-long field goal of 54 yards.
Blake Ferguson – Rookie
Jersey: 50
College: LSU
Opening Day Age: 23
A four-year long snapper and team captain at LSU, Blake Ferguson showed off his athletic ability at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. He ran a 5.07 40-time and posted 31 inches on the vertical jump and 112 inches on the broad.
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein complimented Ferguson's ability to hit perfect, laces-out snaps with high frequency.
"Exceptional character for locker room or community events, able to hit perfect laces at frequent clips, rockets it to the holder or punter without much hitch, repeatable placement for field goal snaps."
