Miami Dolphins Week 16 Stock Report

For a while, the Miami Dolphins had us convinced they would always be mediocre. On Sunday, they showed us they have the potential to be something different: bad.

The Dolphins have endured back-to-back losses three times since Dan Campbell took over as interim head coach, and their latest embarrassing 30-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers put a cap on their ninth loss of the season. This marks the seventh straight season in which the Dolphins will finish at or below .500 and out of the playoffs.

But this wasn't just another loss in another subpar season; this was one of the more embarrassing losses the Dolphins have suffered in recent memory.

They fell behind 23-0 before finally getting on the board in the third quarter, only to fall behind again 30-7. Thus, once again, the final score was not indicative of the kind of game that was played Sunday. But as usual, it wasn't all bad for the Dolphins even in defeat, so here are some of the players who are up (or down) after Sunday's loss.

Stock Down: Lamar Miller

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Dolphins running back Lamar Miller couldn't get the coaches to give him a good look on offense if he gave his coaches glasses. OK, that was a bad joke, but Miller's role in the offense has been no laughing matter, either.

On Sunday, Miller rushed nine times for 12 yards and also caught two passes for 12 more yards.

When the Dolphins let Miller carry the ball 13 times or more, they are a perfect 5-0 this season. When he carries the ball 12 times or fewer, though, the Dolphins are a winless 0-9 on the season. Now, it's hard to continue to give Miller the ball when he's not making the most of the opportunities that he's getting.

That being said, this is still an indication that the Dolphins need to revamp their rushing attack to become more effective and to run the ball more consistently than they have over the past couple of years.

Stock Up: DeVante Parker

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The Dolphins have finally started to get their money's worth out of their first-round draft pick.

Wide receiver DeVante Parker caught four of the five passes thrown his way on Sunday for 87 yards and caused three missed tackles while running with the ball in the open field, according to Pro Football Focus. Over the past four games, he has seen 23 passes thrown his way and has tallied 13 receptions for 246 yards and two touchdowns.

There haven't been a whole lot of bright spots for the Dolphins this year, but Parker is giving fans something to look forward to and also giving the franchise something to build around on offense.

The Dolphins drafted Parker with the hope he could become a deep threat to help open up the rest of the offense and to help maximize Ryan Tannehill's abilities as a deep passer—and that he could also offer a big-bodied physical presence in the red zone. Those things are still taking shape, but games like Sunday show that he is at least making progress.

Stock Down: Mike Pouncey

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The Dolphins are definitely a better team with Mike Pouncey in the lineup than without.

That being said, Sunday was not Pouncey's finest hour even before he was taken out of the game with a foot injury. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Pouncey is likely done for the year, but the Dolphins offensive line once again failed to get any push off the ball in the running game even with him in the game, which forced the offense to once again play a one-dimensional style of offense.

Things didn't get any better when rookie Jamil Douglas took over at center after Pouncey went down.

The Dolphins can't expect to get a fair and honest evaluation of their players unless their best players are on the field. With Pouncey out of action, it gets difficult to evaluate the interior offensive lineman as well as the running game. However, both of those areas had struggled for the first 13 games of the season, so it's safe to say the Dolphins could already have filed their evaluation for the season.

Stock Up: Olivier Vernon

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All you can do is watch in amazement.

Defensive end Olivier Vernon has been playing out of his mind over the past two months now, but he might have had one of his best days in a Dolphins uniform Sunday against the Chargers. Individually, Vernon was responsible for 11 pressures of Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (eight hurries, two hits, one sack), according to Pro Football Focus.

With 11 total pressures, Vernon had his second-most productive day of the year overall, behind only his 12-pressure game against the Baltimore Ravens (six hurries, three hits, three sacks) in Week 13.

This is a contract year for the fourth-year defensive end-linebacker hybrid. The former Hurricane will surely be paid handsomely this offseason, by the Dolphins or some other team. Pass-rushers are at a premium, and Vernon is proving to be a good one.

Stock Down: Reshad Jones

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Sunday was not the finest hour for many people wearing Dolphins uniforms, but safety Reshad Jones might have had the most embarrassing highlight package of them all.

Jones was targeted four times in coverage and allowed four receptions, 37 yards and a touchdown, according to Pro Football Focus. Those numbers were far from the lowlight of the day for Jones, though. The veteran strong safety did have an interception and ran it back 42 yards, but offensive lineman Orlando Franklin stripped the ball, and Rivers recovered it.

That's the Dolphins' season in a nutshell: a glimmer of hope followed by a hard, fast crash back down to earth.

Jones is one of the Dolphins best defensive backs, but Sunday was simply not his day.