What the Miami Dolphins first depth chart revealed. And more reaction on the Bowden trade.

Brian Flores cautioned against reading too much into the Dolphins’ first depth chart because, well, that’s what coaches do. And also, last year’s depth chart didn’t always reflect what happened on the field.

Still, the first depth chart of the season served up some interesting nuggets, including a surprise at tight end and something that was expected -- two rookies designated as starters on the offensive line. The details, by position:

▪ Offensive line: In moves that seemed inevitable based on their consistent first-team work in training camp, first-round draft pick Austin Jackson is the starting left tackle and fourth-round pick Solomon Kindley is the starting right guard.

The other starters, as expected: Ted Karras at center, Ereck Flowers at left guard and Jesse Davis at right tackle.

The backups: Julien Davenport at left tackle, Michael Deiter at center, Adam Pankey at right guard and Robert Hunt at right tackle. There’s no backup listed at left guard.

Asked how starters were decided at open positions on the line, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said: “I think you look at the overall play during camp of guys. You look at it from the maturity aspect, athletic aspect of things.

“When you take all of that into account, you come up with the best five you can get on the field. Not just right guard/right tackle. Coach wants a lot of competition. I think we had that.”

▪ Running back: Jordan Howard is the starter, with Matt Breida, Myles Gaskin and Patrick Laird behind him in that order. Howard and Breida are both expected to play a lot, and Gaskin made a strong case for playing time with a very good training camp.

▪ Wide receiver: DeVante Parker and Preston Williams are the starters, with Jakeem Grant and Isaiah Ford on the second team, Malcolm Perry and Mack Hollins on the third team and newcomer Lynn Bowden Jr. on the fourth team.

▪ Tight end: Durham Smythe was surprisingly listed as the starter, with Mike Gesicki and Adam Shaheen behind him in that order. Twice in the past few weeks, tight ends coach George Godsey spoke of Smythe’s immense value in ways that aren’t always visible on a stat sheet.

“A guy like Mike that’s envisioned as just a receiver and not a blocker, we’ve worked hard to help him get better as a blocker and I think he’s done that,” Gailey said before the depth chart was announced.

“I think we’ve also done the same thing with Durham. We’ve worked hard with him to help his receiving, and he’s worked hard at it, and I think he’s gotten better at it. Hopefully we’ve got balance there, more than people might think at this point.”

▪ Quarterback: As expected, Ryan Fitzpatrick is the starter and Tua Tagovailoa the backup.

▪ Defensive end: Christian Wilkins and Emmanuel Ogbah were listed as the starters in a 3-4 front, backed up by Zach Sieler and Jason Strowbridge.

▪ Nose tackle: Davon Godchaux is the starter, backed up by Raekwon Davis.

▪ Linebacker: The depth chart presented Miami in a 3-4 scheme, with Shaq Lawson, Jerome Baker, Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts listed as the starters. Andrew Van Ginkel, Sam Eguavoen, Calvin Munson and Kamu Grugier-Hill are the second team linebackers.

▪ Safety: As expected, Eric Rowe and Bobby McCain are the starters, with veterans Kavon Frazier and Clayton Fejedelem with the second team and rookie third-round pick Brandon Jones with the third team.

▪ Cornerback: No surprise here of course, with Byron Jones and Xavien Howard listed as the starters in what should be the strength of the team. Noah Igbinoghene and Nik Needham are on the second team, with Jamal Perry on the third team.

The Dolphins have stopped short of saying Howard, off December knee surgery, will be ready for Sunday’s opener at New England.

“He’s making progress,” Flores said. “Xavien’s health is very important to me. I know everyone is excited [about this week] but you’ve got to look longterm as far as a 16-game season. That’s the approach we’ll take. We’re not going to rush anyone. If he’s ready, he’ll be out there” Sunday.

▪ Grant is listed as the first-team kickoff and punt returner. On kickoffs, Igbinoghene is his backup. On punts, Williams is Grant’s backup, with Malcolm Perry third on the depth chart.

Kicker Jason Sanders, punter Matt Haack and long-snapper Blake Ferguson were unopposed in training camp.

EX-PATRIOTS IMPRESS

The decision of Dolphins players to make new additions Van Noy and Roberts co-captains (along with McCain) indicates the respect that the two former Patriots linebackers already have earned from teammates, even without any players being able to spend time in the same room - or same field - with each other at Dolphins headquarters until late July because of COVID-19. (Some worked together off site.)

Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said Van Noy and Roberts - after signing with Miami in March - “reached out to a lot of players on our team to develop relationships.”

Fitzpatrick, Karras and Davis were named captains on offense, and Fejedelem and Frazier were named captains on special teams.

That means three of the eight captains are former Patriots.

MORE BOWDEN FEEDBACK

Flores said he was excited to add rookie wide receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. in a trade on Saturday, and Raiders general manager Mike Mayock blamed himself for believing Bowden would be a good fit in the Raiders’ offense as a running back. The Dolphins see him as a receiver.

“No. 1, it was a football decision only,” Mayock said of trading the 80th overall pick in April’s draft and a conditional sixth-rounder for a fourth-round pick. “Character, off-the-field, the kid did absolutely nothing wrong. We did all our homework on the kid, off the field.

“He worked his tail off, he came to work every day. Quite frankly, I think the position change is a difficult one in any year. But it’s exaggerated in a COVID year with no offseason. So, you’re taking a kid that was a slot receiver in ’18, quarterback in ’19 and asking him to play running back in ’20. And, really, the only other thing I’m going to say about it is, it was my call. He was not able to play today at the level expected and because of that, we felt like we had to make a move. And, again, it’s 100 percent on me.”

Flores said of Bowden: “We’re excited about having him join our team. There’s a lot he’s going to have to learn. He’s not going to jump out and start playing. He has to learn how we do things. He’s got a lot to learn and [that takes] a little bit of time. We’re excited to have him.”

Here’s my Sunday exclusive on all of the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad additions, with the list released Monday. (Please follow me on Twitter, where we broke 20 of the Dolphins’ cuts over the weekend.)

Here’s our Monday story on what Brian Flores had to say today.

Here’s my Monday 6-pack of UM nuggets.

Here’s my Monday Heat piece, including the results of a Herald study that revealed something historic Tyler Herro is doing.

Here’s a way to buy colleague Armando Salguero’s new book on the Dolphins, 100 Things Dolphins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die.