The Miami Dolphins’ interest in revitalizing their rushing attack is well placed. The team’s rushing attack in 2019 could best be described as putrid — the line couldn’t create gaps, runners didn’t run with feel to pick through the line of scrimmage and if the Dolphins needed a tough yard here in a critical spot, they rarely got it. So to see the Dolphins invest in Ted Karras, Ereck Flowers ands Jordan Howard as a part of their reclamation project on offense is a promising sign.
So, too, is the fact that the Dolphins have aggressively kicked the tires on each of the 2020 NFL Draft’s top running backs. Along with a new offensive tackle, the Dolphins figure to enter the season with at least three new starters on the offensive line and another two lead backs in the backfield.
But with the likes of Jonathan Taylor, JK Dobbins, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, D’Andre Swift and Cam Akers (amongst others) all lingering in this year’s draft and with the Dolphins showing some degree of pre-draft interest in all of them, the team should not be in a rush to draft a running back. The Dolphins’ picks are littered all throughout the top 70 selections and given the positional value of the running back position, it stands within reason that Miami could see themselves on the clock at 39 and still have all of the top RBs in this year’s class available to them.
If that’s the case, the Dolphins strategy should be simple: keep waiting. The Dolphins are in need of so much talent on their roster to quickly turn things around — drafting the top running back available would definitely land the Dolphins an impact player, but how big would the drop off be from RB1 at 39 versus RB4 at 56 and getting a better candidate to fill another position earlier in the draft? That’s the dilemma the Dolphins must reconcile. And while coming off the heels of such a putrid rushing season in 2019, it would be understandable for Miami to want to swing early.
But the wise move here would be to take advantage of the running back depth and “read the room” for when to draft a running back instead of starting the run and drafting the first one on their own.