What’s fact is the Dolphins showing over the past four seasons, and it’s not pretty in terms of Pro Bowl recognition.
This is the first time the Dolphins have not had more than one Pro Bowl selection in four consecutive years, and the only stretch that looked like this was from 1996-98 when Richmond Webb was the only selection in 1996, nobody was picked in 1997, and Tim Bowens was it in 1998.
As a fun fact, the last Dolphins players not named Xavien Howard selected to the Pro Bowl were safety Reshad Jones and wide receiver Jarvis Landry in 2017.
Of course, having Pro Bowl players does not guarantee success, any more than not having Pro Bowl players doesn’t necessarily mean failure.
The Dolphins came actually pretty close to making the playoffs each of the last two years with only Howard as a Pro Bowl player, which could mean that either they got some good coaching, got lucky, maybe are not as close to being contenders as their record might suggest, their players didn’t get the recognition they deserved, or some combination of all those things.
This suggests the Dolphins either need an infusion of proven talent to take the next step as a team or need for some of their young players — and they have a lot those — to rise to that level.
The odds certainly appear good, based on the promise the rookies showed in 2021, that it won’t be Howard alone for much longer, and maybe it’s a necessary step for the Dolphins to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 — when they had four players selected to the Pro Bowl.
As for having only one Dolphins player in the Pro Bowl game itself, who cares? But it would be fun to have a game like the 2016 Pro Bowl (after the 2015 season) when they had four players play and five selected or the 2003 Pro Bowl when they had seven players involved.
That would be a refreshing change.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/3TV2CY4TUJBGDLDJELDAVF6ERA.jpg "Vehicle Used in AMBER alert out of Miami Found in Houlton ; Child Still Missing")