I disagree on Chris Williams making the team. We'll see. Perhaps the practice squad.
I'm not totally sure that a UDFA will make the team this year. But I said before that if we had to pick two guys to do the best among the UDFAs, for me they are Mark Lewis and Orion Martin.
I know a lot of other people were high on Brennan Marion and Louis Ellis...and I also really liked Marion, but that knee injury of his was way too recent and IMO they pushed him too hard. This was not a guy that had been attached to the Dolphins and their facilities, trainers, medical staff, etc...all the way from November onward, like Greg Camarillo has been. Marion only made it to the Dolphins in May, and they started working him out at the position shortly after. I haven't been comfortable thinking his knee would be fine enough to make it this year and sure enough he re-tore his ACL. As for Big Lou Ellis, I just think he's not only too raw in terms of body shape and fitness, but that he's too raw from a technique standpoint. He won't make the team, but he could be prime candidate for the practice squad.
There was also a lot of positive buzz on the UDFA tight end, Jared Bronson. I didn't watch him much in college. I'll admit that the overwhelming portion of my exposure to him was the All Star game in which he participated. But from that limited exposure, I didn't necessarily like what I saw. I think he was in over his head, and he left the team to start his life instead of pretending he could make it in the NFL.
I just hadn't seen anything from SirVincent Rogers that could convince me he might make it. Same with Ryan Baker. That leaves Orion Martin and Mark Lewis...two guys I think are prime practice squad material.
Sparano noted that Lewis has received 102 scrimmage snaps, second most on the team. He also said that the way you get more snaps is by being impressive. I knew when he was signed that Lewis would grow on the coaching staff because of his demeanor, technique, natural instincts for leverage and willingness to finish blocks. He's yet another of these guys that the front office acquires with the idea that they need to completely revamp their bodies and develop pro strength and conditioning. The idea being, you can't necessarily teach a guy to have a nastier demeanor, more will to engage people physically, or more will to finish blocks...or at least, it's not easy...but you CAN get a guy into the weight room and have your trainers hammer and iron the guy until he goes from looking like tweedledee to looking like hercules reborn.
Orion Martin has not gotten any buzz yet, which is unfortunate. He also hasn't managed to work his way up the special teams ladder yet, also unfortunate. I think he could show up as a solid player in the preseason games, though. He was a standout special teams player at Virginia Tech, and a very good run stopper at defensive end. He also dropped back into coverage a fair amount and did well.
