The Miami Dolphins ended the 2019 season with a smile on their face. They traveled to Foxboro and defeated the New England Patriots. This capped a 5-4 finish to the season after starting 0-7. To make matters better, Miami holds the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and might have a chance to draft quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

What Miami learned in 2019 was that Brian Flores was not the wrong choice to be their head coach. Flores kept his team playing hard and competing until the end. The Dolphins are not in a great spot, but they are not the disaster that everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season. These three players are a reason why.

3. TE Mike Gesicki

A true pass-catching tight end is something valuable and rare in the NFL. Mike Gesicki took a huge step in his second season out of Penn State. He proved that he is a physical tight end that is capable of going up and making big plays.

Gesicki turned into one of Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s favorite targets. He finished second on the team in receptions (51), receiving yards (570), and receiving touchdowns (5). After a rookie season that was not productive, Gesicki put his name on the map as a valuable option at tight end.

2. DE Taco Charlton

This seems like an odd choice because he did not play a full season for Miami. He was limited to just 10 games, where he made five starts. Taco Charlton is on this list because during those games, he impressed. Charlton was more productive over 10 games for the Dolphins than he was in three years with the Dallas Cowboys.

Charlton finished with five sacks in 2019, which is one more than his entire time in Dallas. Charlton also forced two fumbles which were more than he did in a Cowboys' uniform. The former first-round draft pick that was being written off as a bust proved that he can play in this league. Now, he just has to stay healthy for a full season.

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Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier, head coach Mike McDaniel, and new draft pick Chop Robinson in front of Hard Rock Stadium.

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Miami Dolphins head coach MIke McDaniel next to Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Mike McDaniel has a speech bubble with iMessage three dots/ellipsis.

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Chris Grier on one side, Jaylen Waddle and Jaelen Phillips on the other side with the big eyes emoji over their faces

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1. WR DeVante Parker

Dolphins fans were sitting back and wondering when DeVante Parker was finally going to breakout. The Louisville product had high hopes coming into the league but scored just nine touchdowns over four years and never played a full season. That all changed in 2019.

Parker played all 16 games this season for the first time in his career. He matched his career total with nine touchdowns and caught 72 passes for 1,202 yards. Parker and Fitzpatrick had a strong connection down the stretch of the season. Parker finally emerged as a No. 1 receiver for Miami, which is something that they have been in desperate need of.