Madden 19: Miami Dolphins Player Ratings, Roster, Depth Chart & Playbooks

The Miami Dolphins have had two golden eras, which is more than some teams can ever dream of. In the 1970's Don Shula led them to three consecutive AFC championships. While they lost the Super Bowl in 1971 they triumphed in both 1972 & 1973. In '72 they were unbeaten, the only team to ever go a full NFL season without suffering a defeat, and they only lost six games through those three seasons. Shula got the team back to the Super Bowl in 1982 where they fell short, but the next season they drafted Dan Marino and were once again an indomitable force in the NFL. In 1984 they made their last trip to the Super Bowl and once again lost. In recent years the Dolphins have been trapped under the boot of the New England Patriots. They last won a division title in 2008 and before that in 2000. While they made the playoffs in 2016 they were quickly sent home and the team has been stuck in the middle of the NFL for a generation. Can you return the Dolphins to the top of the mountain?

*All stats correct at time of writing

Team Rating

The Dolphins have a 77 overall rating in Madden 19. This puts them in the lower range of teams, with only 7 franchises having an equal or lower rating. The strength of the Dolphins roster is on offense, where they get an 81 rating. This puts them better than 7 teams and tied with 5 more, placing their offense right in the middle of the NFL. Defensively the Dolphins are not as good, getting just a 79 rating. This puts them ahead of just 4 teams. This is the part of the team that will really need work in Franchise Mode.

Cameron Wake, Defensive End (OVR 89)

Age: 36

Development Trait: Star

Contract: 1 year/$7.93 million

2018 Cap Hit: $7.93 million

Best Stats: Play Recognition (92), Awareness (92), Power Moves (90), Acceleration (87), Hit Power (87), Pursuit (86), Strength (85), Agility (84)

Cameron Wake went undrafted in 2005 and ended up in the Canadian Football League, where he moved to defensive end and was a star for two years before the NFL finally came calling. Wake signed with the Dolphins in 2009 and never looked back. In his first year with Miami he registered 5.5 sacks as a rotational player, but in 2010 he started every game and rewarded the team with 14 sacks. He has become one of the most reliable pass rushers in the NFL and enters the 2018 season with 92 sacks to his name. Even at 36 he has the athletic edge on a lot of players and the technical ability to be a menace to almost every offensive lineman in the league. 

Kenny Stills, Wide Receiver (OVR 84)

Age: 26

Development Trait: Quick

Contract: 3 years/$19.06 million

2018 Cap Hit: $5.84 million

Best Stats: Speed (92), Acceleration (92), Agility (91), Catching (88), Deep Route (88), Spectacular Catch (86), Jumping (86)

Kenny Stills entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick for the New Orleans Saints in 2013. He made a splash as a big-play specialists as a rookie, making 32 catches and averaging 20 yards a grab while scoring 5 touchdowns. With defenses ready for him, that average came down in 2014 but he was still an effective player, putting up 931 yards. Before the start of the 2015 season he was traded to Miami, and away from Drew Brees. That had an impact on his production, but Stills has continued to be a big play threat for the Dolphins and has racked up 127 catches for 2,013 yards and 18 touchdowns in his three years with the team.

Xavien Howard, Cornerback (OVR 83)

Age: 25

Development Trait: Normal

Contract: 2 years/$3.20 million

2018 Cap Hit: $1.44 million

Best Stats: Speed (92), Acceleration (92), Jumping (89), Agility (88), Play Recognition (84), Press (83), Zone Coverage (83), Man Coverage (79)

Xavien Howard was a second-round pick for the Dolphins in 2016 out of Baylor. He played only 7 games as a rookie, which somewhat stunted his development but in 2017 he started every game for the Dolphins and made 4 interceptions. Throughout 2017 he flashed his sensational talents, shutting down some of the NFL's best receivers and often being given difficult one-on-one assignments. Coming into Madden 19 he is one of the most promising players on the roster and a potential star moving forward.

Ryan Tannehill, Quarterback (OVR 77)

Age: 30

Development Trait: Quick

Contract: 3 years/$39 million

2018 Cap Hit: $12.6 million

Best Stats: Throw Power (93), Short Accuracy (85), Acceleration (85), Throw On Run (84), Speed (82), Throw Under Pressure (81)

The Dolphins took a risk when they selected Ryan Tannehill 8th overall in the 2012 draft. He moved between wide receiver and quarterback in college, only getting one year as the starter for Texas A&M. Still, the talent was there and Miami rolled the dice. The results have been underwhelming. The Dolphins have had a winning record just once, in 2017, under Tannehill, and he hasn't thrown for more than 27 touchdowns in a season. He has been good enough to avoid serious questions about his job security, but he has been unable to push the Dolphins into the realm of wildcard challengers, nevermind make them a threat to the Patriots within the division. Tannehill comes into 2018 with a 37-40 record and averaging under 4,000 yards per season.

Full Roster & Depth Chart

The Miami Dolphins roster is not loaded with talent, but there are some good players that can become the core of a winning team. Ryan Tannehill (93 throw power, 85 short accuracy) is fine under center for now but he is someone you'll want to improve on soon in Franchise Mode. At running back you have the ageless veteran Frank gore (91 carrying, 88 agility) as well as the potentially impactful Kenyan Drake (91 speed, 89 juke move). The wide receiver role is full of solid but unspectacular players, with Kenny Stills (92 speed, 88 catching), Danny Amendola (92 catching, 90 agility), and DeVante Parker (91 speed, 90 jumping) able to make catches but they will struggle to beat good coverage. Rookie tight end Mike Gesicki (88 agility, 82 catching) is an interesting weapon that could develop into a game-changer for you.

The offensive line is solid thanks to left tackle Laremy Tunsil (88 strength, 85 pass block) and veteran guard Josh Sitton (91 strength, 87 run block), but again there are spots that could use improving.

Defensively the Dolphins have some talent. They have three good defensive ends in Cameron Wake (90 power moves, 84 agility), William Hayes (93 power moves, 89 block shedding), and Robert Quinn (84 agility, 83 power moves), but at defensive tackle there is less to boast about. Jerome Baker (89 speed, 84 pursuit) and Kiko Alonso (87 tackle, 85 hit power) are tackle machines at linebacker but there is little depth behind them. Things are better in the secondary where Xavien Howard (92 speed, 83 zone coverage) leads the corners, including rookie swiss army knife Minkah Fitzpatrick (93 acceleration, 81 man coverage) and they also have a very good strong safety in Reshad Jones (89 acceleration, 83 zone coverage).

Miami Dolphins Playbook - Offense

I Form Pro

I Form Tight

Weak I Wing

Singleback Ace

Singleback Ace Pair

Singleback Ace Slot

Singleback Bunch

Singleback Deuce Close

Singleback Dice Slot

Singleback Wing Pair

Singleback Wing Slot

Singleback Wing Stack

Singleback Wing Tight

Singleback Wing Tight Z

Singleback Y Deep Trips

Singleback Y Trips

Pistol Open Slot

Shotgun Bunch

Shotgun Bunch Open Offset

Shotgun Bunch TE

Shotgun Double Stack

Shotgun Doubles HB Wk

Shotgun Doubles Y Off Wk

Shotgun Empty Trey

Shotgun Empty Trey Stack

Shotgun Empty Y Slot

Shotgun Split Panther

Shotgun Spread Y-Slot Wk

Shotgun Tight Slot Open

Shotgun Trey Open

Shotgun Trips TE Flex

Shotgun Trips TE Offset

Shotgun Trips Y Iso

Shotgun Y Off Trips Wk

Shotgun Y Trips Wk

The Miami Dolphins offensive playbook is extremely shotgun heavy. You only have a handful of I formation sets and one from the Pistol, but 18 from shotgun. Within that are a number of powerful formations like Bunch and Split Panther, but you also get a couple of stack formations that can help free up lesser wide receivers. There are three empty formations if you really want to spread the defense out and also Trips Y Iso which can help identify coverage and get a talented tight end matched up in space with a smaller player.

Miami Dolphins Playbook - Defense

4-3 Normal

4-3 Over

4-3 Over Plus

4-3 Under

4-3 Wide 9

46 Bear Under

Nickel Normal

Nickel Wide 9

Nickel Double A Gap

Big Nickel Over G

Dime Normal

Quarter Normal

Quarter 3 Deep

Dollar 3-2-6

Goal Line Defense 5-3-3

Goal Line Defense 5-4-2

The Miami Dolphins defensive playbook is a pretty standard 4-3 one. You get your normal five 4-3 formations, but also the strong 46 Bear Under to really stack the box. You don't get as many nickel formations as some other 4-3 playbooks, but you do still have Big Nickel Over G which is a stellar formation this year. You can get the most out of the Dolphins roster if you play in the nickel as it will let you get three good defensive ends on and take a linebacker off the field.