Chris Perkins: Dolphins players tell the stories behind their jersey numbers

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jersey numbers are often personal to players, and the Dolphins are no different. One rookie linebacker’s number was inspired by former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, another player would prefer to wear No. 13 but he can’t because it’s retired by the Dolphins, and another player, who can’t get his desired number, associates his new number with the type of Mercedes-Benz he desires.

Here are some of the stories behind the jersey numbers for the 2026 Miami Dolphins.

No. 10, LB Jacob Rodriguez

Rodriguez, the rookie third-round pick from Texas Tech, loves wearing No. 10.

“I got lucky,” he said of getting that number with the Dolphins. “It’s just a number I’ve been wearing my whole life. Just my favorite number growing up and I was lucky enough to be in it my whole childhood and through middle school, high school, college. So yeah, it works out.”

Rodriguez, you might recall, wasn’t always a linebacker.

“I played quarterback, and (back) then it looked good,” Rodriguez said of the No. 10 jersey he wore during his days at Wichita Falls (Texas) Rider and his first college season at Virginia.

Rodriguez was also a fan of a certain New York Giants quarterback.

“I was like, ‘I’m an Eli Manning fan,’ ” Rodriguez said, “so that happened. It was good.”

No. 74, LG Kadyn Proctor

Proctor, the rookie first-round pick from Alabama, was assigned No. 74 in high school.

“I was brought up to varsity my freshman year of high school and that was the only open number so I kind of just stuck with it and kind of just made it my own,” he said. “And I’m blessed to have it at all levels. That’s definitely so cool to me.”

Proctor said if he had to select another number it’d probably be 77.

“I like No. 77,” he said.

But he said he feels special when he puts on that No. 74 jersey.

“It’s like Venom,” Proctor said of the Marvel Comics superhero. “When he gets his suit on, when he turns all black, that’s kind of how I feel when I put No. 74 on. I wear it with great pride, and like I said, just made it to be my number, so I rep it well.”

No. 6, Malik Washington

Washington, the 2024 sixth-round pick, chose his number for family reasons.

“When I was growing up my brother played football as well, and he had worn No. 6, and I just like to stay connected to him in any way I can,” said Washington, who wore No. 83 as a rookie but switched last season.

“He doesn’t play football anymore, but it’s just kind of carrying that on. So I wore it a little bit in college for a couple years, and so now I wanted to get back to that.”

No. 52, LT Patrick Paul

Paul, the 2024 second-round pick, wore No. 76 in college but that was taken when he got to the Dolphins. So, being the No. 55 pick of the draft, he figured out his NFL number.

“Five and two, if you turn the two backwards it’s another five, so, five-two,” Paul reasoned. “So that was the closest number to 55. You turn the two upside down, that’s another five. That’s where I got my number from.”

Paul, whose brother, Chris, is a guard for the Washington Commanders, never considered wearing the same number as his older brother.

“No, he’s always been No. 75,” Patrick Paul said. “He lucked out with the Commanders, always keeping his number. Me, I could get No. 76 right now, but it’s too late. I’m 5-2 forever.”

No. 7, WR Caleb Douglas

Douglas, the rookie third-round pick, has made the best of an undesirable situation with his jersey number.

“If you want me to be honest with you, it was the only single digit at the moment, so I grabbed it,” he said with a laugh.

And if he had his choice?

“I would say I’ll stay with seven,” the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Douglas said. “I feel like seven has got a lot of meaning behind it. It really depends on how you look at it, so I like seven. And then I feel like it’s a slender, tight number. I’m a slender guy.”

No. 48, P Bradley Pinion

The real story for Pinion, the 2015 fifth-round pick by San Francisco, is the number he prefers. But he’ll wear his No. 48 proudly.

“I got my number, and I’m just happy to have a number and be on the team,” he said.

Pinion has worn Nos. 5, 8 and 13 in the NFL. His preferred number? It’s the number that belonged to Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and it’s retired by the franchise (along with running back Larry Csonka’s No. 39 and quarterback Bob Griese’s No. 12).

“If I could choose my number it would be 13,” Pinion said. “But 13 is definitely not going to be worn ever again here.”

Pinion, who played varsity football as a high school freshman, got to choose his number in his junior season. He chose No. 92.

“I picked 92 because both of my great grandparents, who I was very close to, passed away at the age of 92,” he said. “So I picked 92 in high school and I kept 92 in college.”

No. 0, RB Ollie Gordon II

Gordon, the 2025 sixth-round pick, chose zero at Oklahoma State as a fallback position.

“It ain’t really nothing special to it,” said Gordon, who wore No. 31 as a rookie because veteran backup quarterback Zach Wilson wore No. 0. “It’s just in high school I wore No. 4, or actually in middle school I wore No. 4. In high school I wore No. 2. And then I tried to get that when I went to Oklahoma State, but they had given it to somebody else that committed in my class.

“So my coach is like, ‘We’ve got zero.’ I figured I might as well try something new ... so that’s really why I got zero.”

Gordon, whose first name begins with the letter ‘O,’ thinks the zero pairing was meant to be.

“I love zero,” he said. “You know, zero, Ollie, it all goes together.”

No. 63, G D.J. Campbell

Campbell, the rookie sixth-round pick from Texas, had to settle for No. 63

“I ain’t gonna lie, 63 was the only number available,” Campbell said. “I had from 61 to 65 to choose from. So I really just chose it because eventually I want to get a Mercedes-Benz. The AMG 63 is kind of what I like to look at so I was just like, ‘I’m gonna change my own little phrase, ‘AMG D63,’ so that’s kind of just been my motivation to keep it a number. Still got love for that 52, though.”

Campbell, who grew up in Arlington, Texas, which is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, picked No. 52 for two reasons — it was the year his grandmother was born, and because he played for the DFW Ravens and he wanted to be a “baby Ray Lewis,” referring to the Hall of Fame linebacker.

Campbell said he thinks No. 52 became part of his persona and a reason for his success.

“I want to say it did play a part for sure just knowing that one quote, ‘You look good, you feel good, you play good,’ ” he said. “So me knowing that I look good in that 52 just gave me motivation to play even better. And just having that number with me and just knowing that it’s representing me and my family at the same time was definitely like a good motivation to really keep the number for sure.”

And if No. 52 becomes available?

“As soon as it gets available, I’m switching back,” Campbell said. “As soon as it gets available.”