If we are all being honest, the Miami Dolphins already had a need at the running back position before the team cut ties with Mark Walton on Tuesday. But with Walton’s dismissal from the team, the Dolphins’ running back room is looking especially barren with just Kalen Ballage, Myles Gaskin and Patrick Laird left as primary ball carriers. Miami would be wise to work in extra carries for Gaskin and Laird over the course of the next six games, after all 2019 is an evaluation year as much as it is anything else for these 2-8 Dolphins.
But no matter what Gaskin and Laird show, Miami is in need of a more dynamic feature ball carrier. Ballage is big, fast and explosive but hasn’t shown effectiveness in an increased role. Ideally the offensive line would provide him with more clear paths as well, but we’ve seen former Dolphins runners such as Walton and Drake find more room to work than Ballage, mainly because Kalen is at his best in straight line situations.
The good news for Miami is that good running backs aren’t too difficult to find, given the surplus of talent in the backfield as ball carriers. The question then becomes one of value. Would it make sense for the Dolphins to invest one of their three 1st-round picks in a rookie back like Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor or Clemson’s Travis Etienne? Probably not. For some teams, a 1st-round running back can be the final piece of the puzzle, but the Dolphins have hardly gotten the frame of their puzzle set on offense.
The mid-rounds is a much more attractive place for a team with as many needs as Miami to address the running back position. There, potential names like Florida State’s Cam Akers, Utah’s Zack Moss, Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins and others can provide Miami with more diverse runners than Ballage’s straight line approach.
Anyone hoping to see the Dolphins put off addressing a “low value” position like running back should probably begin to adjust their mindset, because the Dolphins’ running game is quite poor and the personnel is a large part of the problem. Those issues were further exacerbated by the correct decision to part ways with Walton and are now more difficult to ignore than ever.
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