Bucs vs Dolphins: 12 Players to Watch in Miami's First 2012 Preseason Game

The 2012 Miami Dolphins make their preseason debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night.

This game also features the debut of the Joe Philbin-and-Ryan Tannehill era, one that we can only hope lasts longer than the Dave Wannstedt-and-Jay Fiedler, Nick Saban-and-Daunte Culpepper, Cam Cameron-and-John Beck and Tony Sparano-and-Chad Henne eras.

Tomorrow won't give any indication of how successful this new era will be, but it will give us indications of where individual players are. 

Miami's roster has an uncanny number of players lurking under the radar who can become difference makers, and they also have a few starters with big questions to answer. 

Here are the 12 players you need to keep an eye on.  

Ryan Tannehill

Starters generally don't see much playing time in the first preseason game. David Garrard and the first-team offense will likely play approximately one quarter, as will Matt Moore.

Instead, Ryan Tannehill will take center stage on Friday night. 

He should be on the field for a majority of the second half with the second- and/or third-team offense, and all eyes—both local and nationwide—will be on him for obvious reasons. 

Tannehill has handled himself like a pro in training camp thus far. He made a seamless integration into camp despite holding out through the first two day's of practice, and he completed 10 of 13 passes and tossed a touchdown pass in the team scrimmage last weekend. 

Hype is quickly intensifying, but this game will be the first true indication of how far along Tannehill actually is. It'll be interesting to see how he responds to pressure, collapsing pockets and broken plays in his first encounter with a live NFL defense. 

Marcus Thigpen

Marcus Thigpen is competing with Steve Slaton for the No. 4 running back job. Thigpen is a CFL import whose biggest strength is versatility, which he'll have to put on display against the Bucs. 

In order for him to fend off Slaton and secure a roster spot, he needs to thrive at running back and, more importantly, as a return specialist. 

The competition for the kick-return job is wide open, and Thigpen is a leading and qualified candidate. In three seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, he averaged 8.9 yards per punt return (great), 19 yards per kickoff return (not as great) and tacked on two touchdowns. If he breaks some big returns, he can also challenge Davone Bess for the punt-return job. 

Thigpen offers more upside than Slaton, who has been in decline since he rushed for more than 1,200 yards as a rookie four years ago. However, Slaton can give the Phins a nice veteran backup whom they can trust with the ball. 

So while Thigpen's ticket to the roster is through special teams, he also has questions to answer at running back, namely regarding consistency and pass protection. 

Roberto Wallace

Roberto Wallace generated some serious buzz after a great minicamp, and it escalated when he caught Peter King's eye at training camp. Despite his outstanding offseason, Wallace is listed as a fourth-team wide receiver on Miami's first depth chart.

These tentative depth charts really don't mean anything, but it's puzzling nonetheless. It's even more puzzling when you consider Wallace, at 6'4", is two inches taller than every other wideout expected to make the 53-man roster (Jeff Fuller is also 6'4", but he'll most likely land on the practice squad).

Maybe Wallace isn't as talented as his offseason performance suggests, or maybe the coaching staff is trying to send him a message—or maybe I'm reading too far into this. Whatever the case may be, he'll have a chance to regenerate momentum with a strong performance tomorrow night. 

Julius Pruitt

Julius Pruitt is another unheralded Dolphins wide receiver who has turned heads this offseason.

But unlike Roberto Wallace, he's still trending upwards. Pruitt is listed as a second-team wideout on the tentative depth chart, an impressive achievement for a player with just nine NFL games under his belt. 

Pruitt is one of Miami's most valuable special-teams players, and that alone makes him a near-lock for the 53-man roster. I'm not looking forward to watching him on kick coverage tomorrow though—I'm looking forward to seeing him in action on offense.

He didn't record a reception in his nine-game stint with the Phins last season, but he appears ready to become a contributor—just ask his teammates. 

Clyde Gates

No Dolphins player has faced more scrutiny than Clyde Gates this summer.

John Jerry should be the main subject of our scorn considering he was drafted higher than Gates, showed up to camp overweight again and is basically a goner at this point. 

Anyway, Gates is in a delicate situation, even though he's only entering his second NFL season. He's not a fit for the West Coast offense, and he's struggled with drops and the mental demands of the game. 

The Dolphins have 12 wide receivers vying for six roster spots, and if the season started tomorrow, I don't think Gates makes it. Yes, he has special speed, but he needs to offer more. Brian Hartline, Julius Pruitt and Marlon Moore aren't as fast, but they still offer speed and a whole lot more. 

If Gates' recently injured hamstring allows it, he'll see the field often on Friday night. It's crucial that he capitalizes on every rep, or his chances of making the roster will continue to dwindle.

Les Brown

If you watched "Hard Knocks" this week, then I don't need to tell you to be on the lookout for Les Brown (and his girlfriend). 

For those of you unfamiliar with Brown, he's a college basketball player turned accountant turned Miami Dolphin. Yes, he hopped out of an office building directly into an NFL locker room. And if you were 6'4", 238 pounds, have 4.4 speed, a 39-inch vertical jump and can bench press 365 pounds, then you could too. 

Because he hasn't played football since high school, Brown is a very raw developmental project. He can run and catch like an NFL player, but he can't block like one—at least that's what "Hard Knocks" has led us to believe. 

We'll get an opportunity to judge him ourselves tomorrow night. Regardless of how well or poorly he plays tomorrow, remember that he'll most likely be stashed away on the practice squad for all of 2012. 

Jonathan Martin

When the Dolphins drafted Jonathan Martin in April, it only seemed logical that he would battle veteran Lydon Murtha for the starting right tackle job.

Instead, the Phins plugged Martin into the first-team offense at the outset of camp and haven't looked back. He's run exclusively with the starters throughout the entire offseason, which shows just how much confidence the coaching staff has in this rookie. 

But he's still a rookie. 

Martin can run with an All-Star team in practice for all I care. Until he shows his stuff against a live NFL defense, we should approach our expectations with caution. 

Artis Hicks

Are the Dolphins really prepared to start Artis Hicks at right guard?

It certainly appears that way. 

Even though this is his fourth team in four years, and even though he has only made 26 starts since 2006, the Phins seem to view him as a viable starting lineman.

Hicks' starting spot is far from secure though. Miami brought in Eric Steinbach to compete for the job, and a few more decent veterans are sure to hit the waiver wire before the regular season begins. 

For now, though, Hicks is the guy. 

Will he make Jeff Ireland look brilliant or flat-out bad?

Derrick Shelby

If you don't know who Derrick Shelby is yet, then take note. 

He's an undrafted free agent out of Utah who signed with the Dolphins following April's draft. Now, the 6'2", 266-pound defensive end isn't just making noise—he's running with the first-team defense. 

At least he ran with it during Wednesday's practice: 

"

Derrick Shelby just kills the right side of the offensive line on a bull rush. Playing with the first team.

—Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) August 8, 2012"

Shelby is quickly becoming the sweetheart of training camp, much like Jimmy Wilson was last year and Nolan Carroll the year before. So don't get too excited about these developments, but definitely keep an eye on him Friday night. 

Nolan Carroll

Nolan Carroll, like Derrick Shelby, once burst onto the scene as a rookie in training camp.

In 2010, he was an unassuming fifth-round pick from the University of Maryland, but he quickly demanded attention with a slew of outstanding practices. He showed NFL instincts and athleticism, but he ultimately failed to translate offseason success into regular-season success.

Carroll still hasn't amounted to anything more than a backup cornerback, but it's now time for him to take the next step and become a reliable player. The Dolphins' cornerback corps is extremely thin, and one injury to Vontae Davis, Sean Smith or Richard Marshall could be devastating. 

That's if Carroll doesn't make strides. 

If he doesn't play well tomorrow, then the Dolphins need to start to consider adding another cornerback through free agency or via trade. 

Reshad Jones

No defensive player on the roster has higher expectations to fulfill than Reshad Jones. 

He started 11 games for the Dolphins last season, but he struggled in both run and pass coverage. However, he steadily improved as the season wore on, and the Phins saw enough to hand him a starting job for 2012. 

The Dolphins are taking a huge leap of faith by starting Jones, especially considering he didn't face any legitimate competition for the job. 

He'll anchor a safety corps that is the single biggest question mark on the defense, and Josh Freeman, Vincent Jackson and the Bucs offense will target it and test it. 

Anderson Russell

Another undrafted free agent is quietly moving up Miami's defensive depth chart.

His name is Anderson Russell, a 6'0", 205-pound safety who spent last season with the practice squad. The Ohio State alum ran a 4.47 at his pro day two years ago, and he also has experience as a return specialist. Anderson is starting to make a name for himself at camp by utilizing that athleticism and his playmaking ability: 

"

The Dolphins need safeties who make plays. Right now, in my book, Anderson Russell is No. 1 in playmaking.

—Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) August 4, 2012"

If Russell's plays this well on Friday night, then he's going to start garnering consideration for an increased role.  

But approach your enthusiasm with skepticism. Russell can make the 53-man roster, but he can also be the next Nate Ness. It's way too early to start looking so far ahead. Let's see how he plays tomorrow first.