Reggie Bush is out for the Miami Dolphins against the New York Jets on Sunday (Jan. 1), leading fantasy football owners to find someone to fill in. That answer has come in the form of running back Daniel Thomas, the guy that the Dolphins will rely on for most of the carries in Week 17. The knee injury to Bush had led to many fantasy owners dropping him as quickly as possible. At the same time, many owners are adding Thomas in the hopes that he will put up some nice numbers against the Jets.

Thomas got listed as probable for the game, so he isn’t exactly in perfect health as he tries to recover from his own knee injury. It looks like he will play though, and it could become a chance for him to post some big numbers. Last week he only had 2 rushes for 3 yards against the New England Patriots, but the week before he had 42 yards on 11 attempts against the Buffalo Bills. In 12 games this year, Thomas has 153 rushes for 553 yards and no touchdowns. He also has 10 catches for 60 yards and a receiving touchdown in those games.

After Bush finally passes the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for a season, this is a huge step back for the Dolphins lead running back. At the same time, it gives Thomas the chance to prove what he can do. Way back in Week 2, Thomas ran for 107 yards on 18 carries against the Houston Texans, possibly proving that he could put up big numbers again this week. He also played against the Jets already this year though, rushing for just 47 yards on 15 carries back in Week 6.

A lot of fantasy owners still playing in Week 17 think that Thomas is a good answer to go up against the Jets defense. I do not agree with that assessment though, as I think the Jets will shut him down just like they did back in Week 6. He averaged just 3.1 yards per carry in the first contest and I see no real reason to think that the re-match is going to go any differently. Sure, he has more experience after getting selected No. 30 in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Dolphins, but I don’t think he is ready to go against a really ticked off Jets defense. Start him at your own risk.

More From YCN:

Best_Week_16_Players

Best Fantasy Tight Ends

Best_Week_16_Defenses

Best_Five_Fantasy_Players

Tim_Tebow_Beats_Tom_Brady

Sources:

Week 16 NFL Scores

Defensive Team Leaders

Yahoo! Fantasy Football

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Read More: Jason Taylor (LB – MIA), Miami Dolphins

After 15 seasons as one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers, Miami Dolphins legend Jason Taylor is finally calling it quits. The Dolphins’ Week 17 encounter with their division rivals, the New York Jets. It’s been speculated for most of the season that this would be Taylor’s last, but he finally put the issue to rest with his quotes this week, confirming that he intends to walk away from the game. Via the Miami Herald:

“In the last few weeks, I thought about it more … I talked to some people about it. I kind of figured this is the right move to make and this is the right time to do it. It’s been a tough year, unfortunately. While we’ve had some good times, we’ve had a lot of bad times this year, too. This organization in the near future is going to make some changes. I think part of those changes is needing to address some personnel positions. This is the right time for me to go and allow this organization to improve.”

In his 15-year career, Taylor has recorded 139.5 sacks, made six Pro Bowls, and been named the Defensive Player of the Year once, in 2006.

For more on the Phins and Taylor’s retirement, check out Miami Dolphins blog The Phinsider.

DAVIE—

Miami Dolphins linebacker Jason Taylor began by saying the moment was unfortunate.

He then quickly corrected himself.

He considered Wednesday’s retirement announcement as a fortunate day in his personal life. After 15 seasons, 13 with the Dolphins, Taylor will play his final game Sunday against the New York Jets at Sun Life Stadium.

“This will be my last game as a Miami Dolphin as a professional football player,” Taylor said. “I look forward to enjoying this week and soaking it all in for the next few days. We have a game left to play. There will be time for thank yous and goodbyes. This is not the time for that.”

Taylor will end his career against the team he played for during the 2010 season. He spent another year with the Washington Redskins, but will always be remembered for his days with the Dolphins. He recorded most of his success in Miami, where he put up numbers worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.

“In my opinion, that’s a no-brainer Hall of Fame player,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “What a guy. He was a phenomenal teammate here. We only had him the one year, yet he affected the team so positively.”

Taylor ranks sixth in NFL history with 139.5 sacks. The league began counting the statistic in 1982. His 131 sacks with the Dolphins are the most in franchise history. Taylor was a six-time Pro Bowl selection, winning the Defensive Player of the Year in 2006.

He said he made the decision after consulting with friends, including former Dolphins teammates and brother-in-law Zach Thomas.

“I figured out this was the right move to make, the right time to do it,” Taylor said. “It’s been a tough year, unfortunately. We’ve had some good times, we’ve had a lot of bad times, too.”

Taylor said the lone regret of his career was never winning a championship with the Dolphins. Team owner Stephen Ross released a statement saying Taylor “will always remain an integral part of the Dolphin family.”

“We congratulate him for all he has done and we are looking forward to continuing to work with him as he begins the next chapter in his life,” Ross said.

Taylor compared his locker-room experiences with the Dolphins as a fraternity. He spent many days playing dominoes with teammates after practice, building a friendly rivalry with receiver Brandon Marshall.

Marshall jokingly said he let Taylor win a game Wednesday so that “he’s going out a winner.”

“I played dominoes with the guy every day,” Marshall said. “There are only a few guys that have that fire that loves to compete that hates to lose. The thing I noticed about J.T. when we’re playing dominoes is that it doesn’t matter, it’s a friendly game, there’s nothing on the line but he hates to lose.”

Taylor said his future plans are unknown, but they won’t involve returning to football.

“I’m not even going to leave the door open for any of that stuff,” Taylor said. “I might even change my cell phone number so they can’t get me.”

Here, like Christmas coal, were the Dolphins defense’s last five series against Tom Brady: field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown.

That was the second half.

That is the Titanic.

What really hurts is the defense is the stronger side of this Dolphins team. This is what to say the next time anyone talks about this roster’s being close and how they’re maybe just a great coach away.

No coach has a chance to win with this roster. Not Tony Sparano. Not Todd Bowles. Not Brian Billick. Not Jeff Fisher. Not the young Don Shula that Steve Ross wants. Nor the old Don Shula. Nor the middle-aged Don Shula.

In this sense, New England did the Dolphins a favor in their second-half beatdown for the 27-24 victory Saturday. There are no illusions now. No doubts. None of the wavering you sensed even at halftime, up 17-0, about Matt Moore’s upside or what a possible 7-2 record to finish the season might mean.

The Dolphins are last in the AFC East now. They’re a loss to the Jets from ending the year 5-11. And for all the obvious ways they’ve improved from their 0-7 start, there’s still this to consider: Brady whomped them just as badly in Saturday’s second half as he did in the season opener.

“There’s not many guys around the league like that, and he showed it again today,” Dolphins cornerback Will Allen said of Brady. “In the second half, he played like the elite player he is.”

How many players on this Dolphins roster are talked of in those terms? Jake Long at tackle when he’s healthy. Any more? Cameron Wake was great last season. Brandon Marshall would be if he dropped his case of dropsies. Karlos Dansby, sometimes.

Reggie Bush, for the last two months.

Vontae Davis, for the last five games.

Elite players don’t come and go. They’re elite every game. That’s the definition. What the Dolphins mostly have are a lot of average players.

That’s not being dismissive. You need average players. You can win with average players — so long as a few elite ones are sprinkled on top.

This isn’t about coaching. You want to talk coaching? The Dolphins’ defense had Brady so confused at the start that he completed three of his first 12 passes, was remarkably booed after two series by New England fans (shame on them), and his first six possessions went: punt, punt, punt, punt, punt (how many is that?), punt.

Safety Yeremiah Bell went so far as to say, “We had him rattled early on.”

It was the same on the offensive side under coordinator Brian Daboll. The Dolphins had 255 yards of offense in the first half, scored 17 points and did what good offenses should against the worst-ranked Patriot defense.

“We had a great first half,” Bell said. “We just didn’t finish. We didn’t execute.”

Throw this game in with the others they’ve lost in the fourth quarter. Cleveland. Denver. New York Giants. Dallas.

The Dolphins have this wacky stat of outscoring opponents 310-296 this year despite their awful record. That’s what a lot of people point at to say the problem is coaching.

Here’s the more relevant stat: they’re outscored 113-55 in fourth quarters. You can draw that up as coaching if you want. But with games on the line, great players make the headlines.

Brady did it Saturday. Wes Welker did it, too. They weren’t stopped in the second half, while Matt Moore couldn’t get the Dolphins’ offense to move the way he had in so many games this year. Another hope that won’t be raised farther than it should be this off-season.

The last time the Dolphins made a strong run at the end of a season was 2005, Nick Saban’s first season as head coach. They won six straight that year. They became the hot Super Bowl pick in 2006. Sports Illustrated put them on the cover.

That year didn’t end in the Super Bowl. It ended with Saban in Alabama.

Maybe Brady didn’t just beat down the Dolphins in the second half. Maybe he did them a favor by giving them a painful reality check.

dhyde@suns-sentinel.com